BACK PAIN MYTHS DEBUNKED

Finding himself immobilised by lower back pain, CW fitness editor David Bradford goes in urgent search of expert advice to quell his fears and get him back on his bike

- David Bradford

It’s an uncomfortable truth that lower back pain is common among cyclists. But are we really more prone to back issues than people who do other sports and activities? And if so, is it caused directly by our position on the bike, being leant over to varying degrees, or other less obvious factors? In other words, how can we separate the truths from the presumptions, the researched facts from the pseudo-science-spun myths? In doing so, maybe at least some of us can avoid falling victim to back pain in the first place.

My interest in this topic piqued very suddenly one Sunday morning a few weeks ago when, having dipped into a squat in my home gym, I began to push up and… Aaargh! A paroxysm of pain shot through my torso with such intensity that instinct took over and hurled me onto the adjacent sofa as the dumbbells hitherto at my shoulders clattered to the floor. For a few hours, I wasn’t sure what to do: my back was completely seized and any significant movement, e.g. getting up, felt not just too painful but literally impossible. I’m in serious trouble here, was all I could think.

I called 111 but couldn’t get through, so eventually – having satisfied myself that I had no sinister symptoms such as loss of feeling – I very tentatively hauled myself to my feet. A few agonising steps later, I prostrated myself on my bed and lay motionless, fearing the next spasm. For the next few days, I could neither stand nor walk unsupported. Getting around meant a snail’s pace shuffle using my office chair like a Zimmer frame. I even needed to be propped up to go for a pee; ‘humiliating’ barely covers it.