There are two kinds of people: those who have had low back pain, and those who will.

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Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.

thx...
I have a fusion in my cervical spine. A low grade spondylolisthesis in my lumbar spine. Neither area gave me cause for alarm.
This new area, either lower thoracic or upper lumbar area gave no warning other than very tight right afterwards.
3 weeks and the symptoms seem to be getting worse. I have 5 months till IM... so I am a little concerned.

This appears to be non-traumatic and would expect an X-ray not to show anything of relevance. You may see some arthritic changes consistent with your age, nothing that needs addressing. Find a Mckenzie credentialed physical therapist and get a mechanical exam. You should start to see improvement from the first visit. This is easy to treat and will resolve as long as you do your homework and avoid doing things that make it worse.

Thank you.

I lifters something heavy and had same symptoms that eventually led to occasionally losing motor control in one leg. I had an X-ray earlier on that reveal was I had an 8mm protrusion at L2-L3. This was further evaluated with an MRI which resulted in a consultation with neurosurgeon. We decided a fusion would be necessary, but I couldn't be scheduled in for several months. I suffered through two horrid sciatica episodes where massive amounts of morphine barely helped. The fusion was a success and since then I've had the best sports results of my career since.
I hope your solution won't be as drastic and will simply need some sort of PT work and rest.

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Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.

I'm gonna chime in with a possibility, in Jager-theory style :),

The pelvis is a bone structure with the two deform-able SI joints at the back being the biggest issue here. There is one at the front too.

That nest of ligaments and whatever, can be twisted, or irritated by overused, traumatized muscles, or those in spasm - sometimes due to imbalances etc.
Particularly through the right or left side hip areas. Pain is fired in all directions - low lumbar being a typical one.

I have had this for years, negative x-rays, although I have some clunking now. But with this understanding/model of operation I have really the best back of my life right now.

I wrote a post on the trochanter belt, easy to try for a few days to see if things improve. The T-belt actually forces Left/Right symmetry in the pelvis and helps the SI joints out, while they are in recovery. It worked for me.




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You are very likely to be fine. X-ray was not indicated from what you describe and you might receive alarming news from it, it's still common for patients to be told that they have disc degeneration, facet joint arthritis, disc bulges/prolapses, etc etc and while these are totally normal changes, they are often communicated as pathology to the patient in pain. It's not good. Be very critical if your MD tells you any of this and ask how common it is in asymptomatic individuals.

If you want to learn more about back pain, watch this video from prof Peter O'Sullivan.

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Endurance coach | Physiotherapist (primary care) | Bikefitter | Swede

I used to get back pain when upping my mileage and pushing on hills. Two things that helped me were; professional bike fit (I ended up getting a custom frame) and taking up Yoga. The combination of core strength, flexibility and a good fit now have me pain free...Ive even moved to a more aero position on my TT bike. Hope that helps
Dave