i’ve had this back problem for a while now.most of the time my back is fine,but whenever i am standing for any length of time (e.g either watching a gig, or if i play my guitar standing up).my lower back just feels like it’s locking up,and i end up walking like john wayne (it’s also painful when trying to sit down/stand up).
i did go to the doctor’s about it,but they weren’t much help at all (just stated that i had bad posture/didn’t offer me any advice on how to fix it e.t.c)
anyone have any recommendations what i could do to try and sort my back out? thanks 🙂

get a decent physio to give you some core strengthening exercises and a bit of a massage.

pilates to strengthen your core

Tight hip flexors at a guess.

Are you fat, if so loose the weight.

If not then its very dependant on what type of pain.

Go to see a different doctor, sometime they talk crap just to get rid of you. If it really is that bad then they should be taking it more seriously.

Physio might help, they can give you stretching excercises to do.

Get yourself checked out by a good physio. Could be that you are standing flat footed.. this can lead to internal rotation of the lower limb and anterior tilt of your pelvis leading to pain in the small of your back when standing for any period.. In that case go and see a Biomech specialist Podiatrist and not a physio as it can be curable with the use of orthosis

Physio to identify the problem followed by yoga\pilates to fix it 🙂

I have had a nagging back for about the last 12 years.
Sometimes my back would go and it was so painful to the point where i couldnt walk for a day or 2.

Just had my very first visit to a chiropractor last week for an assessment and some treatment.

He found out exactly what the problem was and even after one session it felt so much better.
I am booked in to have 4 sessions over the next 2 weeks but i’m feeling really optimistic about it.

I had restricted movement in my facet joints (think thats what he called them) which was restricting movement in my right leg.

He cracked my spine (which sounds awful) and stretched my muscles but i immediately had 50% more movement there than previously.

After my second visit yesterday the movement in my right leg is now almost equal to the left. Another 2 sessions and to go and then i will see him maybe every 4 months

Go see a chiro – well worth it

What bike do you ride? I switched from hardtails due to ongoing back issues. The bike wasn’t the main cause but it didn’t help.

Don’t laugh, I had this as a present and gave a reserved t’thanks’ but it really helped my back. Mine is posture related and I’d had physio for two years, lost weight, did all the suggested exercises etc. and this has been the only thing that has relieved/ prevented it.

thanks everyone for all the advice. i’m going to make another appointment with my local gp to see about getting some treatment for my back,as it really does make me walk like john wayne when standing in one spot for any length of time (i’m getting old 🙁

p.s i weigh between 9-9 1/2 stone on a good day and i ride a charge duster (i don’t have a problem when riding tbh/just occasionally my lower back goes to sleep)

I have one of those too. I think it’s excellent after a long ride. It feels like it resets my back.

you could try the twisting exercise I was recommended when you get this lower back pain. in the seated position keeping your back straight twist your shoulders and upper back as far as they go in one direction, and then back in the reverse direction and repeat about 10 times. When I do this my back will give audible clicks on the first few rotations. I often have to do it mid ride on my roadie.

Personally I’d borrow someones full suss and see if it helps your back. I use to love hardtails but as I’ve been getting ‘older’ it took longer for me to recover from a ride – felt tired/stiff after and I realised when my back started going that my body couldn’t take the pounding anymore.

My chiropractor also found that my hip/ass’ flexor? muscles were twisted/super-tight on one side due to the effort etc and that took him an age to iron out.

If you work at a desk, get a good chair.

…and maybe a proper cushion: http://www.coccyx.org/coping/cushions.htm

See a decent physio. My OH saw a physio for persistent back problems and it’s literally changed their life.

Forget NHS. Start by finding a good physio to diagnose the root cause and lay out a programme of treatment/rehabilitation. Then get your wallet out.

Pilates effectively cured my semi-chronic lower back pain after being advised to go by my osteopath – did himself out of a few quid there

Physiotherapist – GP might send you, you might have to find your own.

I had wasted lower back muscles on one side, with desperately bad flexibility thrown in, and a herniated disk – all from a snowboard crash two years old. I saw a private physio TWICE, and am without symptoms. If you do what they say, you’ll get better.

(chiropractic/acupuncture users say things like “he’s really good, I’ve been seeing him for 10 years”. Why aren’t they better yet?)

Don’t laugh, I had this as a present and gave a reserved t’thanks’ but it really helped my back

looks like it is restoring your ‘lordosis’, which is the basis of the McKenzie method.

Apparently he discovered it when a patient arrived and he told him to go into the consulting room and lie on the couch face down – when he went in to the consulting room a while later he saw that he had left the couch with the back part raised a little from the previous patient, so this patient was ‘doubled’ back on himself. Horrified he asked him to get up slowly, and to his surprise the patient exclaimed that his back felt much better!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lordosis.

I get that pain – when I used to play hooker at 19 I then couldn’t walk properly until Thursday!

A good stretch for me is to try to touch my toes, but keep my lower back straight so I am trying to get my back parallel to the ground – like women do but men do a ? shape. It stretches the gluts.

Also hip flexor stretches (knee across towards opposite shoulder).

Also the TRX suspension band system is suppossed to be very good for strengthening up the back:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trx-Suspension-Trainer-Pro-Pack/dp/B002YIA6SM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1326802837&sr=8-2

someone else on the forum gave it a strong recommendation a while ago.

(chiropractic/acupuncture users say things like “he’s really good, I’ve been seeing him for 10 years”. Why aren’t they better yet?)

chiros seem to try to get you into a course of treatment, whereas most osteos I know will try to fix you as quickly as possible – witness the pilates recommendation above.

I’ve v similar symptoms and as above, could be lots of things … but after many years have found that daily loosening tight hamstrings helps, along with press ups. That combo keeps me pretty mobile (and have tried numerous other things / experts etc)

+1 for go and see a decent physio, if possible get one who is recomended by acquaintances. I would not bother with a chiropractor, they having failed to diagnose my lower back problem. Mine was similar to yours for a long time and went completely in October, this was after chiro, stretches, core exercises over the years. The Consultant was very good but refered me almost straight away to a physio, he did spend time explaining how the back was a very very complicated system. It seems my lower left hand side back problems relate to posture problems in my right side upper ribs and exerecise postural change has greatly relieved the problem.