Long time sufferer here too! Was driven to develop a “cure” but nothing is foolproof and occasionally have set-backs like this past couple days. Finally got a ride in this morning with none of the random excruciating pains.
I like all the theories but as most know the professionals don’t have a clue. I had one doctor tell me it was all in my head and prescribed a tall canister of Calm. (magnesium supplement) Thanks for nothing!
I read through previous posts and it took a while, towards the end my attention was fading so I apologize if I missed something.
Here’s the deal, it truly believe it is all spinal related. It’s inflammation, pinched nerves, all related to nerves getting impacted in the L4 and L5 spinal segments. Wear and tear on the spine also creates stenosis which starts to clog up/limit the space/narrowing of channels where the nerve bundles run through. I’m not sure what it is with the biking but being hunched over in just the right way sparks the nerves that travel through the lower spine. I was about to give it up because getting stranded everywhere, and not being able to consistently compete, or even take a ride with friends was embarrassing.
Triggers: walking down hill, walking down stairs, moderate biking, sitting in the car too long, traveling, vacations, holidays, hotel beds, lifting a bunch of crap like helping someone move.
What’s with everyone’s rest days? And then I realized my travel days are just like rest days, after long trips it comes on like gangbusters! I’ve had the pains start even while driving.
When I was young, fat, and happily drinking beer and margaritas all weekend never had a problem. It was only until deciding to get fit, shed 40 pounds, and enjoy challenging outdoor mountain biking did this all start. I thought the body was meant to perform, and I became the strongest ever in my life from cycling , hiking, and running. (mid 40’s) Eating the healthiest, etc! Then things took a dark detour.
Family wanted me to go on a weekend cruise to Mexico, I thought why not even though it will mess with my exercise regiment, I can always hike the ships stairs like an insane person, plus eat and drink a ton. Waiting to board I had 40+ pounds of luggage in each hand plus Grandma’s luggage draped around my neck, a real workhorse but not knowing the weight of carrying everyone’s shite was slowly compressing my spine.
Ship sails off and hit the stairs to burn some calories before the buffet. Go one flight down and the quads immediately seize, like a cramp but worse can’t even walk. WTF is this some medical emergency? If you stop it relents but if you push through I can’t even think of what would happen. Does it go away, hell no, I think it’s either check into the infirmary or just jump overboard because something serious is going on and you’re going to die shortly anyway.
Alright enough with the stories, have too many of them.
My cure:
If you are out biking and feel it coming on, get off the bike, lay on the ground stomach down and push up with your hands creating the upward dog. When I do this I can feel the pain start to fade away and it departs just as quickly as it got there, why? Perhaps the spine channels open up just enough. Usually hold it for 15 seconds and start biking again. Pain comes back, do it again. I’ve been out in the middle of nowhere and it can take 3-6 cycles of doing this and it’s gone for good for the day. The trick is not to let the pain continue too long because then you’re screwed for 24 hours.
Anti-inflammatories help, but I’m not into popping those like candy. Sometimes they are just enough to quiet down your wiring in the spine.
I just learned that THC/CBD salves really work well after the fact especially on sore blasted quads. CBD alone does nothing. And it has to be potent. If pain is deep in the glutes it can’t really reach, but for pain near the surface it surprised the hell out of me that it can knock it out within minutes.
What you eat or don’t doesn’t matter at all, same with alcohol but to a point. If you go on a weekend bender you inflame your whole body, and if it’s combined with a vacation good luck! It’s easy to fall down the rabbit hole of diet and rare syndromes but none of us ever had a problem before, this is different. We aren’t having some energy conversion problem, crap, I can bike, hike, and lift weights beast mode style while in a 40 hour fast, and feel great.
Sometimes the inflammation is just enough to ruin everything.
Walking down hill just compresses your spine, and it starts! Before I knew how to reverse it I’d go out on a 10 minute walk with the dog and get stuck on a hillside for an hour and unable to walk down. I hike now with trekking poles and that helps.
Stretching helps, especially those that improve spinal flexibility.
Spinal doctors can help, look for those that have decompression machines, and hot/cold treatments, ultra sound/light therapy, etc. It isn’t cheap but may just do the trick, same with hanging from a pull up bar and letting your legs dangle.
Sorry for the book report, hope it is useful!
Big thanks
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram