bloody back pain.

Er500-c1, I doubt the year makes much difference.

Compression fracture to L1 several years ago and considered stable.
Mildly osteoporotic, particularly measured on the neck of the femur.
26 yrs old, 6 ft tall, skinny enough to make Champ look twice (possibly)

I shouldn't have a sore back from riding, surely. Is this happening when I
do my boots up, could it be the backpack I'm wearing, hunching under the
screen when the wind gets whistly or what?

How would I even begin to address this? Having a word with the quacks
might make some sense if my spine is de-laminating furiously.
Do you lot have any advice about posture?
Cheers,
Cat

 

Subservient works for me, as long as you don't try to talk with your
mouth full the details are irrelevant.

 

And round here, ISTR. Want someone to take a look at your riding
position?

When you sit in other positions doing other things (working, eating,
watching tv, wasting time on the internet), what makes it worse? Does
anything make it better? Is it solely on the bike?

IME, your GP won't be able to do that much, and you'll probably have to
go off for x-rays before they'll say anything. I believe Hope Hospital
is a back-pain centre, so you might want to get referred there if you
take that route.

If you want to see an osteopath it'll be on your wallet but it's
working for me and I'll be glad to give you the number for the one
who's sorting me out at the moment. Had 3 sessions and he's working
wonders.

You will need to sit down (heh) and have a think about what hurts, how
it hurts, what makes it better or worse, etc. so you can describe it
and get the best out of whatever route you take.

 

Not about posture, or about choice of bike. But I do have advice about
backpacks; don't. If you take a tumble with a backpack on it can be
bloody painful[1]. Much better to fix the backpack to the bike.

[1] Last time I did this I felt like I'd taken a kicking; which I had...
with my own boots. Not sure if this contributed to the cracked shoulder
blade.

 

I was knocked off an MZ whilst wearing a rucksack with a Moto Guzzi
gearbox in it; how I'm not a paraplegic now is a matter of wonder.

 

Heh. You know, I'd question the veracity of that statement with some
people but I know better with you.

If the gearbox is anything like the weight of a BMW one it must have
been a task and a half to get it on your back in the first place.

 

Not that heavy but it was a big army surplus rucksack.

 

I thought core included all the 'stability' muscles; the deep ones
around joints etc. could be wrong, can't be arsed to google.

 

Gerraway, you only want to look at her arse.

I'll do that.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a

Teach a man to fish and he and his pikey mates will have the
river cleaned out in a day.

 

I have to walk a minimum of 4 miles a day... everyday... including Christmas
day, and what do I get in return? the ability to be able to walk... why?
dunno something to do with motor nerves!

I have found that putting the shocks on the softest and springyest[1]
setting helps my back, doesn't do a lot for the handling but the bike is
still better than me so thats all that matters.

David

[1] Is that a word?

 

I'd also like to put in a word for the T-pro forcefield back protector.
It's jolly comfy when you're strapped into a helicopter.

 

and yoga. get bendy.

 

Indeed. And also long periods of immobility (ie sat at a desk using a
PC) lead to the back muscles becoming more fibrous (if I remember what
the osteopath told me correctly) as they are meant to be used and moved
- not held in a still position for long periods of time.

I generally get up and wander around every half an hour or so and make
sure that I give my back muscles some movement to stop them locking up.
Otherwise I get much the same sort of pain as you do.

And I didn't used to use a backpack either - partly for the reasons
everyone else has mentioned and partly because I used to have Ventura
luggage on my bike which was more convenient.

Phil.

 

The osteopath told me to make sure I flexed the long muscles in the
back (trapeziod?) as they provide stability for the spine and if they
seize up can cause problems with back pain.

Phil

 

Oh, cheers. I'm 6'4" and have yet to have back pain once, thank G-d.

D.

 

Soon, when I feel a bit more secure. You biker boys can be scary you know.

I've half lost the backpack, by undoing the straps loads. It contains my
jeans, trainers and a hoodie. It's not heavy and is quite squishy.
Bungies (or a cargo net) will be got asap.

I did trampoline for a few years, that was fricking *ACE* for pretty
much every muscle I own, especially the lower back support area. It made
my tummy nice too... however being that it's clearly a blood sport, and
the warnings stitched to the sides of the bed are 100% serious, I fell
off, crushed a bone and over stretched the tendons that hold the whole
spine together. They did mumble a bit about fusing a couple of bones but
left it as is in the end. I've done some physio for it, that consisted
of lying on a vibrating heat pad.
What sort of exercises were suggested for doing in the gym, specific to
backs?
I tend to just sit funny once in a while, my back makes a sad little
squish and I spend the next day lying down. The bike's just making
things ache though.

 

I've promised to give my riding school a little more cash in a few
hundred miles, they never said anything about my position, and he
*really* seemed to be a good teacher. I also had no issues at all on the
GS500, I don't think it was bigger, but it was heavier.

Slouching I guess, I said some place else in this thread that if my back
"goes" it goes suddenly with little evident provocation.

Hmm, fair idea. Hope did my bone densiometry in the first instance.

Do you have an email I could get you on? This would be useful, and I
work for a company which seems to be quite keen on keeping their staff
healthy. There could be a discussion to be had with them.

I hate talking to doctors.

Cheers.

 

How long does it take to come on? Are we talking 5 minutes after
sitting on the bike, after 2 hours riding? Is it severe pain, mild
aches?

I do - the one in the headers should work. If not, try the nickname in
my sig @hotmail.com. I was going to email it to you, but I've no idea
how to unmunge yours.

I'm no medical expert BTW, I'm just going off recent experience when
they thought I'd fractured my spine. Happily, this appears not to be
the case.

 

<Snip>

I was going to email it to you, but I've no idea

Emailed, ta.

 

and he seems such a rational sensible chap that Sweller!!
After breaking ribs falling in snow with a mobile phone in my chest pocket I
don't even ride with a Leatherman on my belt.