Lower back pain advice

Stretch every day
Hot bath
Ibuprofen
Good physio

Maybe worth consulting a physio to help with diagnosis and exercises to help with recovery as there can be a number of reasons ranging from poor flexibility and core strength through to poor alignment/posture, muscular imbalance and more serious issues like ruptured discs?

Hiya,

What Andy said plus a standing desk. If you do sit have a stool and not a chair with a backrest.

BR
JeZ

Start with the good physio, to identify and correct the underlying cause.

Do their recommended exercises religiously for the rest of your life.

32 years of dealing with back issues arising from a powerlifting injury when I was young and dumb, and a tendency to sack off the physio work if it's late, I'm tired, drunk, fat, it's Thursday....

Can anyone point me in the direction of some good exercises to start with please?

I have been looking but there is so much out there I dont know what is good or bad...

Isn't spinal decompression by hanging from a bar (if you have access to one) the one thing that is likely to help and not make the condition worse?

As someone who has endured 15 years of chronic lower back pain (caused initially by putting a folding bike in the boot of a car ffs!), I can say that for me its a case of managing it and it will never go away fully.

Things that have helped: Gentle yoga concentrating on core muscles and thighs.

gentle! stretching and trying to lengthen hamstrings but sloooooowly

Cycling, paddleboarding and walking

Things that have NOT helped: Running, sitting at a desk, sitting in a car or train, getting very cold, standing around (say at a train station or in a museum/gallery), shopping with heavy baskets in supermarket

oh, and get the most expensive mattress you can afford

.

Can anyone point me in the direction of some good exercises to start with please?

what’s the point? Your bad back is in all likelihood the result of something else. That something  else is different for different people. A physio will look at you and assertain what that cause is and recommend actions and watch and make sure you’re doing them properly

the medicine for my problems probably won’t solve yours.

Check with your local gp as you can usually refer yourself to a local physio and it’s free.

I’ve had back issues for about the same time as Winston and non of my excercises - which work pretty well when they’re needed - are the same as his

This is about the third time this has happened in recent years and it always feels like its the same problem.

I have this. In my case, it's a nerve which gets confused and tells my brain something is 'wrong' so my brain puts my lower back into protective spasm which locks up my lower back.

It's triggered by a whole range of things, lifting heavy weights (which is a PITA), anything which can jar my back eg tripping over a curb. I've done it mid walk jumping off a trig point after a photo.

As for fixing it, I don't think it will ever go away, so you just learn to live with it. A good physio quote is 'motion is lotion' and generally lots of stretching and movement relieves it, but it can linger for days. Eg it pinged at the cafe stop on Wednesday's ride (50km from home) as a result of squats on Monday evening. I could feel it thinking about pinging and sort of knew it could go at any time after Monday night. Luckily getting back on the bike and riding a bit calmed it down so I got home ok after 5 or so minutes of discomfort.

If it's really bad, pain killers, hot water bottle / hot shower works, but it rarely needs that now - partly I think as I just know it's nothing serious which reduces the pain (as pain is all in the mind quite literally).

I have had to give up deadlifts as it really doesn't like that. Initially it would only happen near my 1 RM (160kg), but over time the trigger threshold dropped to 100 kg, as which point it's barely worth bothering. The bad news is I triggered it squatting on Monday, which I really hope doesn't become a thing as I'll have to abandon that as well!

My experience of this. In the last ten or so years my back has been bomb-proof. The last six weeks I've been suffering. All the symptoms lead me to believe it's a strain or tear in my iliolumbar ligament. My GP saw me within 2 hours of phoning, took bloods, urine and organised an Xray which was done 24hrs after she saw me. Follow up is in a week.

My advice would be to let a medical professional have a look. They're there for a reason & it would be the sensible place to start.

See a physiotherapist (not physical therapist)

Ideally privately if you can afford 1-3 appointments, otherwise you'll be waiting ages.

Don't try and guess what it is. You need to see a professional - and the professional is a physio not a GP (unless you think it's an organ or something not muscular / skeletal)

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Its probably related to an old injury or adaptation to bad posture leading to muscle spasm.

Advice above is good - you need to find the cause and get a treatment programme

Grumbling achy back? Basic yoga every day.

Actual proper back pain? Physio. Get the cause identified properly

Ideally privately if you can afford 1-3 appointments, otherwise you’ll be waiting ages.

Your milage will vary massively on that front - lots of things I've had to wait a very long time for locally - a nurologist I never got to see one despite losing the use of my legs for 5 months, I've been waiting to join a dermatology clinic to monitor for skin cancer since a biopsy in 2018. But it reliably takes a week or less to get a physio appointment - the service travels between gp surgeries in the area and pops up at mine every Tuesday - I'm sure if I was in an hurry I could just go see them somewhere else on their rounds.

When you’re better try this every morning

you need to find the cause and get a treatment programme

It's actually very tricky with lower back pain to find the root cause, in many cases it will never be known.

Eg MRIs are next to useless unless you've done something big like rupture a disc (which accounts for a tiny % of cases), as everyone over 30 will show wear and tear in their spine on an MRI, but most will be completely pain free.

Your milage will vary massively on that front – lots of things I’ve had to wait a very long time for locally

I can normally see a sports therapist the next week (privately). Something like £45 for the initial consultation and £35 for half hour follow up slots.

I have had back spasms since my late teens and used to get them so bad I would have to roll out of bed and be off work for almost a week.

For me it was down to really poor core stability / strength. Only started sorting it out when I went to seea physio.

My advice get your posture right by seeing a physio, use the right muscles and then the muscles that are compensating won't get over worked, give up and spasm.

I had an issue with a knackered disc in lower back, 6 weeks off work after trying to tile behind sink pedestal in bathroom, the most important thing i have found is to build up core and lower back strength, it really has made a world of difference, and has meant instead of 5-6 episodes a year, i maybe get a couple of days at most.

Yoga works wonders to keep it at bay. Fixing it permanently is tricky mines just recovered after being jumped on by my dog I've also had issues with tripping up a curb very painful.
Yoga for back pain on YouTube

My lower back randomly went pop again recently, guess it was from either our food delivery trays or buckets of water for my fish, my carrying abilities have not been great for a few months now since Covid last September.

My back improved a lot when I started cycling more in '17 beyond commuting and popping out to shops etc. and I became complacent about doing back/core exercises.

This recent back pop has got me doing some of those exercises again every couple of days, such as "the plank" and "the bridge."

If you have private healthcare via your employer, then usually back pain is something you can dead easily do a self-referral for and get access to a physio.

"It’s actually very tricky with lower back pain to find the root cause, in many cases it will never be known."

This x 10

For all those saying go see a doctor, find out what it is etc etc - hmmm good luck. Despite having seen numorous doctors in two countries and had MRI scans, X rays and the like - the root cause of my back pain has never been etablished. However its still put me in hospital 3 times so far and after one episode I was unable to walk for two weeks......

I think for a lot of this type of thing it really is 'all in the head' but unfortunately if the brain is telling you it hurts....it hurts!

I think for a lot of this type of thing it really is ‘all in the head’ but unfortunately if the brain is telling you it hurts….it hurts!

Dr John E Sarno would agree with you.

I used to get a bad back once a year or so, then twice, then far more regularly for a year or two so started improving my core and as long as I keep it up I have no problems. I can tell if I've been a bit slack though, back starts to zip. Core fitness helps in loads of other ways too so just look on Youtube for a basic program to start or go to some gym classes.

I think for a lot of this type of thing it really is ‘all in the head’ but unfortunately if the brain is telling you it hurts….it hurts!

Until you decide it really isn't that bad at which point it doesn't hurt so much....

Most of physio / sports therapy works by tricking the brain into thinking it's not as bad as it first thought. That's basically what pressure point release is, find the muscle in spasm, apply pressure which should make things worse, but the brain then goes 'oh, we're not dead yet, maybe it's not so bad after all' and eases off the spasming a bit - repeat and you can not only reduce the pain but also the spasm - which in most cases* is the actual problem.

For every person with real physical damage, there will be 50 or so where it's just a protective mechanism gone awry and there's nothing actually damaged.

Re: NHS physio, I’d assumed there would be a massive wait time. Recently called the GP and saw the NHS physio at the local surgery two days later. Probably won’t be the same situation but definitely worth asking!

Dr John E Sarno would agree with you.

Yep. Changed my life, after suffering with chronic back pain. Seriously. See also Alan Gordon

Un-seriously/funny enough, I tweaked my back last night. But that was just being a dick in the gym and doing too much. Hobbling today.

It's a fascinating subject. In many cases back pain triggers a set of negative feedback loops which end up making things much worse than the original issue. In most cases movement would be the best course of action in the short / medium term, but a combination of the pain and fear of having done some damage, generally mean people do the exact opposite, which can end up making things worse long term...

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Generally the first things physio do is try and get the person moving as much as they can...

My wife saw her GP on a same day appointment for back pain. Referred to hospital same day. MRI Scan. Slipped discs were compressing her spine. Up to this point she had great service from the NHS. Then she got lucky as well. Orthopaedics where her GP had sent her referred her case to neurology. A surgeon who specialises in spinal surgery was visiting the hospital for a week for a series of planned operations. He saw her, told her she needed surgery and operated the next day. 6 days from seeing her GP to lumbar decompression surgery.

Three weeks on all looking good.

That's a great diagram footflaps. Some of it corresponds well with the advice below

https://www.painoutsidethebox.com/dr-sarno-12-daily-reminders

I suffer from anxiety and depression. My back started with a twinge, and my head most certainly took that and ran with it! I've learned a lot about myself, and my head along the journey!

I saw someone describing similar to what I had, and trying similar things to rid it. They mentioned John E Sarno. Having exhausted most things, I picked up his healing backp pain book. It instantly made sense to me. Following on from that, a bit more research I found Alan Gordon's podcasts which are a better and more up to date respresentation of the topic ( https://www.curablehealth.com/podcast/your-pain) if you can get past the American cheese, they're really fantastic.

(The excellent) Andrew Huberman has several bits on it too - described as neuroplasticity. Similar to @footflaps diagram, essentially a proprioceptive misunderstanding.

Once I came around to the idea my chronic back pain may be not structural (as above). I did King Alfred's Way on my gravel bike with some mates. Point proved! (to myself)

Loads of excellent advice here. I'm missing half of my L1 with some damage to the discs either side - broke the T12 and L1 having a fight with a car when on my bike. My main issues are keeping still too long, especially after riding to work. If I've sat at the desk too long, I can hardly move when I get up. You've got to keep getting moving.

A good sports physio to ascertain what you've done. At least with my accident, I had numerous scans, and despite the damage, the rest of my spine is tip top. My discs are excellent for my age. It's just the broken bits that cause issues.

If you've any numbness, toilet issues, tingling, weakness, then these are red flags and then off to the hospital you must go.

Single leg glute bridges, 3 x 10 daily

So I have back issues, ever since the young days when I tried to stop a 20kg bag from hitting the floor.

I do yoga as often as I can, always doing the yoga with Adriene ones for lower back. Move making sure you put more focus on your legs rather than your back bending.

I find it I rush and I’ve done it twice just bending down fast after a shower I’ve caused my back to go and it’s inflamed badly for 2 days and in those two days I can’t stand up straight.

It’s all about prevention anyway, what works for one won’t necessarily work for all

All my mates who complain of having back pain are those that sit (or stand) at a desk for six to eight hours a day and then think they're some sort of super hero on the weekend, either skiing/snowboarding or riding their bike down a hill. On Monday they're a wreck.

After a long day riding or a day off bike park I can feel my back mostly due to the berms and the compressions.

Core exercises help. Over the past three months I've been taking the time to do simple core strength exercises.... Stand on one leg whilst doing your teeth.
Feel already that it is helping.

Essentially, move more.

I had an appointment with a chiropractor yesterday, its a bulging disc, so no cycling for a while! 🙁

Pay about £300 and go private for an MRI which then clinically informs your physio on rehab.

I'm lucky enough to have private medical insurance. I had MRI for my back and hip problems. They found several things wrong; hip impingment, TWO bulgining discs! Which were possibly pressing on the spinal nerves. etc etc. All quite terrifying.

Then I read the John Sarno book.

I posed exactly the same question here several weeks ago, thread below for info.

https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/useful-stretches-for-lower-back-pain/

In my case after several months of trying various stretches and yoga poses on Youtube without any success I saw a physio and had some pretty greats advice in the space of 45mins. Within the one session he ruled out any slipped disc(s), sciatica etc which was a relief and diagnosed it as a posture issue- in my case it is something called "sway back" and is an exaggerated leaning back posture when standing and walking.

I had a load of exercises to do daily which for once I actually did and also he gave me some pointers on how to adjust my posture. His view was that the exercises will help a lot but in the long term adjusting my poor postural habits would be the key driver of recovery.

To be honest I have seen my physio several times before for totally unrelated strains and injuries to hamstrings and calves etc and I think he had already clocked my poor posture as he had mentioned it to me in passing previously but I hadn't really paid much attention. So whilst he was thorough in diagnosing me I suspect he was already pretty sure what my problem was before I even walked through the door.

So whilst a lot of people struggle to diagnose the exact cause of their issue in my case I was lucky and the physio revealed my exact problem within less than an hour. Its a lot better now but I do think I'm kind of on a sliding a scale of "not very good" to "really good" at any given time depending on what I've been doing, rather than simply "cured", if that makes sense.

I had an appointment with a chiropractor yesterday, its a bulging disc, so no cycling for a while! 🙁

I'd suggest getting the opinion of a medical professional would be good next step.

I’d suggest getting the opinion of a medical professional would be good next step.

I could probably train to become a surgeon in less time than it takes to to get a doctors appointment 😉

I've suffered lower back problems since the age of 5....being a builder doesn't help it, but I have foundcycling makes it better and stronger....my GP years ago told me I'm going toget arthritis in my back when I'm older tho....well I'm 50
...so anytime now...lol