I’ve been having pretty bad pain and tightness in my lower back and upper gluteal muscles the past couple weeks. They’ve gotten really bad when I run. At first, it was just when I’d run off the bike; however, the pain/tightness has even gotten really bad when I just run. I’ve tried Motrin, but it doesn’t help. Any ideas? Thank you so much!!!
Do you only experience the pain while you run? Or do you have pain at rest as well? Any history of low back pain? What do you do for your occupation? What other activities cause your pain? What makes it feel better?
If it’s really bad, then a trip to your physician is in order.
It’s impossible to give an internet diagnosis but with the description as it could be a number of things. A chiro or PT is likely your best bet.
Not a medical professional and hardly enough info to go on but I would advise cutting back on the running until you get professional help from a sports ortho. My experience with similar symptoms was a bulging disk that eventually caused the leg to alternate between numbness and sciatica. YMMV, but the non muscle related pain is something you should listen to.
I too had a lot of lower back and butt pain. For me it was clear that it was linked to long rides. I went to have my fit checked and only had minor alterations. Did a lot of stretching using the back stretches they had in triathlon magazine in the April issue. Key to me was strengthening my lower back. I did not take any pain killers: if the pain is too much then I know that I am doing damage. If it is riding causing it, then have your fit checked and work through it.
I had some lower back pain which got pretty bad towards then end of fall to where it was hard to put on socks and shoes. I got a referral to a PT and got put on a stretch/core/stabilizer muscle routine. I continue to do the routine and have very little pain. plus my plantar fascia in my foot and pain in my hip went away.
you really can’t go wrong with getting a referral to a recommended physical therapist.
I experienced some lower back pain last year also while running, especially right after the bike. In my case, it turned out to be very tight hamstrings. Once I started to stretch my hamstrings regularly, the lower back pain went away.
There could be a few reasons for this.
- your aero position might not be the best. The most aerodynamic is not always the most comfortable, try adjusting your seat, bars, etc. to allow you to “settle in”.
- your run posture. One of the most common postural mistakes in running is when people let their butt “sag out back”. Pre had this problem (not to the same degree as many) which Bowerman corrected, allowing him to run faster. This position can be a strain on the lower back and butt (as it has to work more) and can be relieved by rolling the hips under the torso as opposed to letting your butt kick back.
- Piriformis cramping - very often mistaken as sciatica pain, this muscle runs under your gluteus and can push on the sciatica nerve. Even if you aren’t getting sciatica pain, when this muscle spasms or even cramps, you can be in a good deal of pain. Stretch by placing your leg on a table, indian style (1 leg at a time, while you stand) and lean over with the opposite shoulder to the knee. You will feel the stretch.
- you could have done any number of things to your back. The problem is, once the muscle is in pain, it needs work to correct the problem, and the work can not be accomplished without pain relief, but you can’t get pain relief w/o correcting the problem. It’s a vicious cycle that takes some type of PT/massage/chiropractic care and if muscular, Toradol helps enormously.
Anything that isn’t relieved by any of these situations, probably has more involvement and is most likely linked to more than just your riding. At that point, you should see an MD to look into spinal (usually disc) problems probably.
You need a foam roller - foam roll piriformis muscles.
Might take a couple days of playing with the FR a couple times a day but they are magical, magical tools.
Thanks everyone! I think it may be a piriformis issue; I’m stretching constantly but to no avail. I’m going to have to foam roll more than my current 2-3x/wk. I also think I’m going to talk to my coach about my positioning.
Cheers,
Michelle
if the foam roller doesn’t cut it try a rolling pin
disclaimer, this has worked for me but I have also gotten some minor bruises from it. It’s obviously denser = more pressure.
Or an old, squishy tennis ball. IMO better than a foam roller and extremely painful. Another possible issue is tight hammies, even though you may be able to stretch normally. I found a great stretch is to sit in an office chair with regular height arms…sit sort of diagonally and put your leg up over the arm of the chair pressing in various areas of the hamstring. I’m sitting like this right now…tight hamstrings causing lower back problems…sometimes I sit like this for 10-20 minutes at a time.
Your piriformis is just at the end of the kinetic chain wherever your issue originated, probably in low back–psoas, erector spinae, weak glute medius.
Foam roller is good, but better for piriformis is the hard ball right on it. I have a series of stretches that I used to eradicate piriformis issues but that also led to better care for the low back. PM me with email addy if you want them.
Typically by the time the piriformis is involved, other muscles have been overcompensating and are tight and full of trigger points, but you still need to fix the piriformis first. And then maybe work with a PT to uncover your special problems that led to it in the first place.
Best self-treatment book: Trigger Point Therapy Workbook Worth its weight in GOLD!
It’s impossible to give an internet diagnosis but with the description as it could be a number of things. A chiro or PT is likely your best bet.
on the contrary, nothing is easier than to give an internet diagnosis!
now, an accurate internet diagnosis, that’s another matter altogether.
I’m in the midst of recovering from something similar – rapid onset, lower-back and gluteal pain when running. I originally though piriformis, but the ortho’s first evalulation indicated to be more likely an inflamed/affected nerve. Spent a few weeks getting ART therapy, but it wasn’t healing as we expected, so he ordered an MRI. Turns out to be a stress fracture in my sacrum (lower spine). You should seriously consider a professional evaluation and get tested so that you know what you should be treating. Just guessing could make it much worse.
If these other suggestions/items aren’t helping, this may be the beginning of a sciatic nerve issue…perhaps coming from S1, L5, L4 area, and compression on nerve with disc swelling. Be careful, this may start to move further down the leg. Take some time off and re-evaluate your racing/training for a few months, let it cool down a bit. Stop running, swimming and riding (if position is good) will be fine.
Do you have any unusual knee pain on same side also?
How many hours do you sit in a chair during the day?
Do you keep your wallet in your back pocket?
How tight are your hamstrings/do you stretch after every workout?
Lot’s of us sit too much, sit on one side of our body more than the other, guys are guilty of sitting on their wallet and putting a lot of pressure on their hammies.
Stretching post workout and getting up for 5mins every hour when sitting will help.
Otherwise find a good Athletic therapist or massage therapist to check for muscle imbalance
Andrew
I have the same pain but I also have a torn labrum in the hip. Of course, you need an MRI to find out if that’s your problem.
Foam rolling, stretching, etc., are all good habits addressing muscle tightness and imbalances. However, follow the advice of those that are suggesting going to a medical professional for an evaluation. Many times, a local physical therapist will perform a screen at no charge. They will be able to screen out different things and really discern whether a referral to a physician is in order. If it’s not that serious, they will be able to suggest exercises to do that may help the symptoms.
Right now, you are only chasing down symptoms and not really hitting the source. A qualified PT will be able to assess where the pain is coming from. It could be hypomobile or hypermobile lumbar segments or something in the pelvis that may not be moving well. It could be a stuck nerve that is referring pain. That fact that you haven’t complained of leg pain is good.
Do yourself a favor, get an evaluation from a medical professional. I think it’s the best route.
I used to have significant low back pain especially on climbs while riding. When I started doing core “bridging” exercises (also called planks), the pain went away for the most part. With increased core stabilization, I also began transferring power more efficiently into my crank arms. My climbing performance increased with LESS bike training. Going faster with less training is always a good thing with my schedule complications!
Aside from an actual disc or bone issue, there are two basic “physical” issues with back pain-mobility and stability. The hard structural damage is rare with most people which is good news because fitness can be a solution–not surgery and medication. If your back is “tight”, you don’t have good free movement around the joints i.e. mobility problems. If it is weak, you can’t stabilize i.e. control movement. Many times I find people have both issues. Beyond physical, is the “psychological” side of back pain. Boeing did a great study over a decade ago on back pain. The biggest reason for employee back pain was psychological stress–not a muscle or joint problem! Digging deeper, they found it to be the worst when people did not get along with their boss. So in reality, your boss is not really a pain in the a** but a pain in the back!
About 95% of the people that see me about back pain are fixed with 5-10 of core work 2-3X per week. Some dynamic stretching to help with mobility and core bridging for stability will usually fix most people up within 1-2 weeks. All this only requires body weight and can be done independently without any help after you know how to do it. Pretty amazing! Stuart McGill, PhD in Canada has some great stabilization and bridging research studies, but basically, it works and works well to decrease back pain. According to McGill’s research, the single MOST important thing you can do to prevent back injuries is core bridging. And of course, reducing stress will also help.
Cheers,
Ron Jones, MS
Corporate Wellcoach
ACSM Health Fitness Specialist
www.ronjones.org