I’ve had some back pain for a little while now (about 2.5-3 months), never anything before prior to this. After about two months of pain and trying to stretch out whatever issue I had in my back & having no luck, I started to see my Chiropractor. He diagnosed it as a bulged/Herniated Disc and told me to stop running immediately, until it’s remedied (I was actually able to run pretty well with no pain). I’ve been seeing him 3x a week for the last two weeks and it’s only moderately better… Still very tight, but less sharp pain. Well, yesterday the pain came back. So I’m wondering… I’ve never had any back issues before and it’s a little irritating/disheartening to have something like this that I cant just work through. I’ve been cycling on the trainer solidly through all this and I’m wondering if I should just completely stop everything, and if so, for how long? Any tips on fixing a herniated disc?
Had a blown L4/L5 that actually required surgery… find the best back specialist in your area, make an appointment and don’t see a chiro again. Back issues are serious and can lifelong affects take it to a pro.
McKenzie stretches 3x a day, PT for months to correct the muscle imbalances that came as a result of it, chiro visits and supplementing with glucosamine liquid and liquid fish oil religiously.
L5/S1 Herniation.
I did everything; Chiro, Accupuncture, Hung upside down, Saw Dr. Sarno (google him). Then found a great ortho. And did, PT, Cortisone, Epidoral, Oxycodeine etc. After a year plus of that, my ortho finally said: “We’ve done all we can, when you can’t take the pain anymore, I’ll recommend a surgeon.” Soon thereafter I a micro-discectomy.
That was 2001. Pain free since. Done 2 IM, many HIM’s, marathons etc.
Get the MRI and find a good doctor. Try everything. Surgery is, and should always be, the last resort.
I’ve had disc problems on and off for the last 10 years. As others have mentioned get an MRI done. I met with a Neurosurgeon who outlined a plan to deal with it. Luckily, he doesn’t like to perform back surgery unless it is a last resort. He had me do lots of PT and said swimming is one of the better things you can do since it takes the weight and stress off your back. Good luck and make sure you take a long term approach to getting better.
I had some serious back pain crop up last winter, culminating in two weeks of sciatic pain that was so bad I could barely walk. Saw an orthopedic doc and got an mri. Diagnosis was bulging discs in L4/L5, L5/S1. The remedy for me was just to restore flexibility in my hamstrings, glutes, and quads, which I had lost when I foolishly stopped stretching. I also have a standing desk at work now so I’m not sitting for extended periods. For me, biking was worse than running. I was off the bike for about 8-9 months, but was able to run again after 4-5 months. Now I don’t really have any issues. I occasionally get some mild pain on long rides and runs, but its not limiting. Find a good doctor who works with athletes and listen to what he/she says. Good luck.
In my experience you won’t be cured until you run out of money.
The reason you never had the pain before is
A) You were never this old before
B) You never trained this way or this hard, before
C) Combination of above.
D) the list only gets longer
In all seriousness, get an MRI and stay away from surgeons, chiropractors, painkillers that are addictive, and then swim more.
This sounds like me. I am currently doing PT and doing the strengthening stuff. I sit at work and that creates a lot of pain. Haven’t been on the bike for weeks. Haven’t ran in weeks. Still swimming. Back problems suck. And what is even more scary is that a large percentage of people that I know who went the surgery route only ended up with more problems. So like someone said, stay away from surgeons as long as possible, see a good PT and good luck! My doc told me that if you did a MRI of 100 people over the age of 40 most all of them would have some sort of disc irregularity (bulge, protrusion, etc.).
Discs do not heal quickly if that’s the issue. Get a MRI, hopefully it will identify the problem and go from there. There’s no single best way to treat every low back pain. If there was, there wouldn’t be a million infomercials, TV and radio ads, etc… telling you this and that. Best of luck.
I have a slight herniation at L5-S1 of about 3mm. Injured it bout 3 years ago taking my daughter and her carseat out of the car the wrong way. For awhile it gave me pain during everyday activity but now it only bothers me on the bike. Chiropractor and acupuncture did not work well for me but that is individual. My advice:
-Get the MRI, you need more information
-McKenzie exercises (cobra stretch etc…). I found a combination of pumping and holding worked better than one or the other. Sometimes on the floor, other times while standing. Do this a few times a day.
-Strenghten your core if you feel it is weak.
-Give it some time and see if it gets better. For me I would only consider surgery if it affected daily life.
Does your back give you issue of the trainer on road rides? Mine only bothers me on the road. Fine on the trainer.
Are you on a road bike, road bike with aerobars, tri bike? A tri bike may put your back in a more open relaxed position while in aero.
I’m two weeks post-op from a bilateral discectomy. As others, I tried everything for 6 months…even the “decompression table” at the chiropractor (which was silly IMO). The pain was so bad in my lower legs the day of the surgery that I had a hard time just getting to the surgery center.
This was an outpatient surgery so I “walked” out a couple hours after surgery with no pain in my legs…obviously I was ecstatic.
A chiro cannot diagnose a herniated disc…get an MRI. There could be a number of other things going on that an MRI will reveal. Whether you should run or not in the future is up to you. Based on your diagnosis, how you got this point, etc., etc. will help you determine that.
Early April 2015 I developed left hip pain/discomfort. Two days later, I had shin pain. Another two days I developed a weak left foot drop condition. I had no lumbar pain, no sciatic pain. Swimming induced hip discomfort that I relieved with use of the pull buoy. Biking did not induce pain in the lumbar region even in the aero position. However, running was not right as I had a slight gait deviation that caused an uneven/un-normal left foot strike. I began taking over the counter NSAID/aspirins and used topical applications in an attempt to solve the issue. Developed left hip pain after two-three hours of sleeping on my right side–could not sleep on my left at all. Family doctor referred me to a prescription NSAID. The third week of April I quit biking on my trainer in an attempt to see if this would help with the issue. I did began to feel better and continued my swimming, core exercises and plenty of walking. The last week in April I started biking again that appeared to be uneventful. The 5th of May I develop a severe left hip and shin pain along with a limping gait. I could not sleep. Took self to the local ER and was told get a workup. Contacted the local rehab MD and got an x-ray and then MRI 5-20-15. MRI revealed L4 herniated disc with a ruptured piece in my left sciatic notch. Told to avoid the bicycling aero position. Did extension (McKenzie) exercises, bounce on a swiss ball, plenty of walking -often over 20,000 steps in a day). Resumed slow and broken running (walk-run intervals) before the end of May. 1st week of June restarted bicycling but mostly sitting up. Revisited
the MD after 4 weeks who was surprised the rapid recovery and basically pain free status. Gradual resumption of bicycling routine and now in August, almost always in the aero position. Still have some weakness in left leg and gait is not quite as smooth as before the injury. Body has the ability to absorb excess disc material. You need to check for disc space between the lumbar bones. Mine has been maintain but I have a mild scolosis condition and need to monitor for the rest of my life.
Ok, getting an MRI… after that, what did you guys do to get better?
Stretching, swimming and lots of drugs for about a year, herniated discs take time to heal, but they can eventually come good without surgery.
I blew out a disc when i was 23, i seen two specialists as it was a work cover accident and they are not keen on surgery at young ages unless it’s really bad. Where people come unstuck is not giving the injury enough time to heal, they go a month or two and demand surgery, when in reality the fluid from inside the disc takes a long time to clear up. For me it was a year of hell, I was in a dark place until i went on Anti depressants which really reduced the pain due to just feeling more positive about my future. After a year i was no longer on painkillers and started swimming club racing, now at 28 I’m into triathlon and do anywhere from 8 to 13 hours a week training without any issue.
Sorry, I missed this part of your question. So what should you do?
As you know by now, there is no one fix for back pain or you’d have had it, and in general and your best fix depends on your back. So with that said, there are distinct categories of back pain that tend to respond favorably to certain treatments. People with stiffness, recent onset, no symptoms below the knee tend to do well with manipulation or adjustment AND exercise (think trunk strengthening). People whose symptoms and signs respond either positively or negatively to specific directions of movement (forward bending, backward bending, rotation, combinations) tend to, well, do well with that approach (McKenzie, etc). People that are extra-flexible and have loss of precision of movement like catching during movement, funky patterns, etc. do well with just strengthening designed to control lumbar mobility. And then people with clear neurologic deficits or radicular pain into the leg sort-of do well, or best with (yet not exceedingly so) with traction treatments, and strengthening.
I would worry less about what it is and more about how it acts and what it needs. We know conclusively that treatments based on anatomic diagnoses (herniated disc, spondylolisthesis, stenosis, and on and on) are less effective than treatments based on your exam findings.
What’s the common denominator from all the above categories? Trunk strengthening. So without knowing what your category is, you can keep moving, let your symptoms be your guide (if running doesn’t hurt during or after, then why not??), and work on your core via isometrics called stabilization training (think Pilates).
Where are you located? I’d be glad to see if there’s someone nearby that can provide any more specific help if you would like (seems you would).