The Chainlink

Back problems, cycling

I'm a 62 year old man with a few bad discs, standing about 6'-2" to 6'-3" and weighing 175 lbs. (not overweight).  I do physical therapy exercises for my torso/back about 3X per week, and ride year round, but mostly to work in the spring/summer/fall.  My one way ride to work is down the bike path from North Ave. to Hyde Park (10 miles each way).  Last fall I took my bike to Get A Grip Cycles to have it fit to my body.  They replaced the dropped bars with a straight bar (no ends on it).  My road bike is an old French bike (Mangusta) with a steel chrome plated frame, probably about a 25" in frame size, and a little bit soft seat for a bike of this type.  I typically ride staright through without any stops from start to finish.  I'm still feeling like my back is under a lot of stress, and hurts, even though I haven't started riding to work yet.  Does anyone have any suggestions about what has worked for them with back problems from bicycling, other than buying a recumbandt bike.  I'd love the hear them.  Thank you, John

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Permalink Reply by Steve Courtright on March 12, 2012 at 2:43pm

I have lots of thoughts, John, only some of which I can share here with the short time I have to respond.  I started riding 20+ years ago when I was partially paralyzed after a disc went bad in my back.  So, I am very sensitive to this issue.

 

One important thing after keeping core strength up (and flexibility high) is to have a comfortable bike.  It must fit you, taking into consideration your lack of flexibility and must not transfer bumps up your spine to a great degree.  The current crop of carbon fiber bikes, while expensive, are nearly miraculous in this regard.  If I were you, I would replace that steel bike with a carbon-fiber cyclocross bike, with a carbon fiber fork and seat post, 35mm tires and 3x wheels for an additional bit of cushion.  Cross bikes are more flexible by design with a long wheelbase, and with a slightly more upright position.  That will make a huge difference. 

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on March 12, 2012 at 5:08pm

Assuming we're talking about Lumbar disc problems?

First, good call on the recumbent-- not the right thing for a trashed lower back.

Second-- spend as much time out of the saddle as you can.  When discs go bad, the remaining discs pick up the slack, speeding their demise.  Sitting for 10 miles is murder on your 'surviving' discs.

Permalink Reply by tmacz on March 12, 2012 at 7:06pm

I would love to give you an assesment of your core strength, and lumbar flexibility.  You should not be in pain, and the above advice was really good.  Could you have tweaked your back? Possibly doing something unrelated to the bike, recent lifting boxes, cleaning the basement, moving furniture...Also, getting an x-ray would help by giving you "up to date" skeletal health, as well as alignment and disc thinning.

 

I am the owner of Todays Chiropractic and Yoga Center if you choose to follow-up with me.  Good luck, keep riding, and watch out for geese!!

Permalink Reply by mike w. on March 12, 2012 at 8:04pm

i was diagnosed with stenosis a couple of years ago and eventually had a laminectomy at lumbar 4 & 5. Before the surgery i couldn't stand or walk without severe pain in my legs but could ride virtually pain free. My surgeon told me that i was about 6 months away from a wheelchair.

Later i learnt of a diagnostic indicator for my condition is the "bicycle test." Seems that the forward-leaning position bends the spine such that pressure on the spinal cord is relieved. My condition was such that standing up straight caused excruciating pains in my thighs and calves as well as hellacious cramps -especially at night.

i do have several bulging discs as well as a good case of ol' osteoarthritis... the lumbar region was just the worst hit area... it's hell to get old.

i ride a standard steel framed road bike with drop bars. My concession to age has been to raise the bars to just below seat height.

All this is by way of saying that a more upright position and staight bars may not be the best solution -you may need to be able to ride the drops and get some more curve in your back.

Just my $.02... YMMV. Good luck!

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on March 12, 2012 at 11:16pm

Just because the more upright position caused more pain doesn't mean it was bad for you.

IN spinal stenosis, bending forward puts a stretch on the posterior longitudinal ligament, causing it to thin and giving the cord more room and thus temporarily relieving pain in some individuals.

Unfortunately I can't find an image that shows but the PLL and the spinal cord, but these two combined should give you an idea of the relationship.

That doesn't mean it would benefit you to spend long hours each day in a flexion posture-- think about what the consequence of that would be.

It's also likely that John's problem is fairly dissimilar to yours.

mike w. said:

i was diagnosed with stenosis a couple of years ago and eventually had a laminectomy at lumbar 4 & 5. Before the surgery i couldn't stand or walk without severe pain in my legs but could ride virtually pain free. My surgeon told me that i was about 6 months away from a wheelchair.

Later i learnt of a diagnostic indicator for my condition is the "bicycle test." Seems that the forward-leaning position bends the spine such that pressure on the spinal cord is relieved. My condition was such that standing up straight caused excruciating pains in my thighs and calves as well as hellacious cramps -especially at night.

i do have several bulging discs as well as a good case of ol' osteoarthritis... the lumbar region was just the worst hit area... it's hell to get old.

i ride a standard steel framed road bike with drop bars. My concession to age has been to raise the bars to just below seat height.

All this is by way of saying that a more upright position and staight bars may not be the best solution -you may need to be able to ride the drops and get some more curve in your back.

Just my $.02... YMMV. Good luck!

Permalink Reply by buddaa38 on March 13, 2012 at 12:04am

Hey Howard,

Marlene just had spinal fusion done. Just a little pass 3months. Today was her 1st day back to work. I got her the best of the best of Doctor's from N.M.H. He was just voted top Doc's in this country. I agree totally with you. I think that she's going back to soon. at least they won't release her to water aerobics or her bike. He did say that if she wanted to use a stationary bike make it a recumbent . She thinks that she'll be back in the saddle by middle to end of this summer. I don't think so. Or she may have round 2 done. If anybody needs this Doctors name please contact me. He is the best. The back is VERY serious . Yes when she gets back in the saddle it would be more upright. Her Dr. wants her to keep her back straight up when sitting down. Like an L shape. I hope this may help.If not well it's their.

h' said:

Just because the more upright position caused more pain doesn't mean it was bad for you.

IN spinal stenosis, bending forward puts a stretch on the posterior longitudinal ligament, causing it to thin and giving the cord more room and thus temporarily relieving pain in some individuals.

Unfortunately I can't find an image that shows but the PLL and the spinal cord, but these two combined should give you an idea of the relationship.

That doesn't mean it would benefit you to spend long hours each day in a flexion posture-- think about what the consequence of that would be.

It's also likely that John's problem is fairly dissimilar to yours.

mike w. said:

i was diagnosed with stenosis a couple of years ago and eventually had a laminectomy at lumbar 4 & 5. Before the surgery i couldn't stand or walk without severe pain in my legs but could ride virtually pain free. My surgeon told me that i was about 6 months away from a wheelchair.

Later i learnt of a diagnostic indicator for my condition is the "bicycle test." Seems that the forward-leaning position bends the spine such that pressure on the spinal cord is relieved. My condition was such that standing up straight caused excruciating pains in my thighs and calves as well as hellacious cramps -especially at night.

i do have several bulging discs as well as a good case of ol' osteoarthritis... the lumbar region was just the worst hit area... it's hell to get old.

i ride a standard steel framed road bike with drop bars. My concession to age has been to raise the bars to just below seat height.

All this is by way of saying that a more upright position and straight bars may not be the best solution -you may need to be able to ride the drops and get some more curve in your back.

Just my $.02... YMMV. Good luck!

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on March 13, 2012 at 12:48am

Recovery time from a fusion depends greatly on the type of fusion done (plates/rods/bone chips etc.) and to a large extent on the subjective opinion of the surgeon, having seen what's going on in there and knowing first-hand how confident s/he feels in that particular repair job.  So the surgeon is really the best judge of how soon is too soon IMO.  Hope she's able to tolerate a full workday.

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on March 16, 2012 at 2:55pm

John- 

Dr. Tom (tmacz) is my chiropractor and amazing healer. I recommend contacting him if you haven't yet. I didn't believe in chiropractic care until I was so desperate, had constant pain, and finally took a friend's advice to see him.

tmacz said:

I would love to give you an assesment of your core strength, and lumbar flexibility.  You should not be in pain, and the above advice was really good.  Could you have tweaked your back? Possibly doing something unrelated to the bike, recent lifting boxes, cleaning the basement, moving furniture...Also, getting an x-ray would help by giving you "up to date" skeletal health, as well as alignment and disc thinning.

 

I am the owner of Todays Chiropractic and Yoga Center if you choose to follow-up with me.  Good luck, keep riding, and watch out for geese!!

Permalink Reply by John N. Phillips on March 16, 2012 at 3:22pm

Julie - I have had 3 MRIs done on my back at considerable personal expense in the last 10 years, which basically told me I have three bad discs.  I do physical therapy for them 3 - 4X per week, and don't really live with much, if any pain.  But it does impede my bike riding enjoyment, and the amount of time I can spend on my bike.  The feedback here from this web site has been tremendous.  i will actually be setting up a chiropractor appointment in a week or two, but I think that I will also begin wearing a back brace when biking too (beginning this weekend).  I also might start looking into a carbon-fiber frame, and giving one a test drive soon.  Thanks to all for your comments, and to this site too.  Regards, John

Julie Hochstadter said:

John- 

Dr. Tom (tmacz) is my chiropractor and amazing healer. I recommend contacting him if you haven't yet. I didn't believe in chiropractic care until I was so desperate, had constant pain, and finally took a friend's advice to see him.

tmacz said:

I would love to give you an assesment of your core strength, and lumbar flexibility.  You should not be in pain, and the above advice was really good.  Could you have tweaked your back? Possibly doing something unrelated to the bike, recent lifting boxes, cleaning the basement, moving furniture...Also, getting an x-ray would help by giving you "up to date" skeletal health, as well as alignment and disc thinning.

 

I am the owner of Todays Chiropractic and Yoga Center if you choose to follow-up with me.  Good luck, keep riding, and watch out for geese!!

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