I’ve had pain in my back and glutes for months and finally got round to seeing a physio. After an MRI scan, I have found out I have a herniated disc L5/S1.

I’ve been advised to stop riding as it makes it worse. I haven’t ridden my bike for 6 weeks and am miserable. Pretty depressed at the thought of up to 6 months off the bike and possibly surgery. Doing the right things in terms of resting and rehab, but this injury has really got me down.

Anyone got any positive stories to cheer me up? Lots of grim reading on the internet.

I had a herniated disc about 6 years ago. Months of sciatic pain nightmare. All sorted via physio and came back better for it. Still have to keep the core stability work up but all good so far.

Physio took about 2-3 months to sort it out BTW

mrs flap_jack had l4/5 disc removed 15 years ago. A month ago she rode 115 miles at 13.5 mph. It’s all about dedication during rehab.

I’ve also had back pain for months. Went to the doctors because I have two lumps on my spine appear. I’ve been waiting for an appointment for a scan at the hospital. Not wishing to jump the gun, but is that what they possibly are? Herniated discs? Cheers Tim

same here.same herniation in same place,have suffered with it for a few yrs now,on and off.physio will help and did help me.learn to do the exercises you are shown correctly and do them and keep up with them,sometimes you may feel they arent any use but try and stick with it.also ask physio about nerve flossing exercises no doubt they will show you these,this helped with my sciatic pain in my left bum cheek.with regards to surgery it really depends on just how bad you are,i saw a surgeon and even though i have a broad base disc prolapse he advised against surgery.

I had zero pain in my back, it was all sciatic nerve stuff all the way down one leg to the foot. Some horse tranquillizer style meds were required to take the edge off the pain 🙂

I had two ruptured lumber discs about 15 years ago, I struggled to walk, sit or lie for any length of time, I couldn’t feel the sole of my left foot. I was massively OD’ing on painkillers and extremely down in the dumps after 3 years I received a disc replacement operation.

I took about a year to recover, I was given odds of 70% likely to get 70% better, that was pretty accurate until I got back in to mountain biking. The more often I excise the better I feel 🙂

I get the odd ache and pain now and then, but I have never needed to take a day of work or biking ever since.

Keep excising if you can, hope you feel better soon.

yeh as wagenwheel says,you need to rest initially 3 or 4 days then get moving as soon as you can,little at a time,whatever you can manage,a short walk etc,dont sit for long periods,keep up with your medication,dont take too much on an empty stomach and faint like i did :roll::ive found i can keep on top of it if i keep up with the targeted exercises,i can sympathise with the getting you down bit though when i suffer from it feel like an 80 yr old potterin around.

I had the same injury L5/S1 herniated disk. The problem started almost a year ago aka sciatic pain in the butt, left leg and loss of sensation in the foot. So GP referred to tier 2 physio who sorted a MRI. Physio discussed options and recommended a referral to the regional neuro surgery team. Op 4 weeks from seeing consultant, back at work in 4 weeks and riding in 8 although I have had to spend a lot of time adjusting my riding position. Still get twinges every now and then but they are reducing in intensity as time goes by. Surgery is pretty much the last resort and not for everyone; it has worked for me but there are significant risks. Still regularly see a physio and focus a lot more on core stability exercises.

I too have L5/S1 issues.

Went the first time a good few years ago twisting to get the young un out of the bath.

At the time the GP told me it was muscle strain with no further diagnosis. I was sent home with pain killers which did not a lot.

Private medical sent me for an MRI and found the herniated disc.

I was told of the 3 options surgery has to be absolutely the last resort.

Tried a general pain killing injection which did nothing and ultimately ended up with x-ray guided root block / anti inflamotory injections. 8 of the damn things either side of my spine.

Took a few days to take true effect and I was back on the bike 3 weeks later,

Occasionally it goes again with a weird electric shock type painful spasm. Despite recent reports saying not to rest when your back goes, the only thing I can do is lay down. After that it is diclofenac and co-codamol which sorts it after 48 hours.

Don’t lose heart, it’s possible to get over this condition, but you need to be persistent and patient.
My lumbar disc went pop in December 2011, put up with pretty intense pain when sitting and loss of function in my left calf for two weeks, then saw a local sports physio who immediately diagnosed the lumbar hernia.
After a few sessions of treatment I started to see a slow improvement but I was really disciplined in doing the necessary movements/ stretches etc. The physio did NOT recommend lots of rest, just the opposite – walk when you can, don’t spend lots of time sitting at desk at work.
I was able to cycle on the turbo by early march 2012 and this helped no end. Was back out on the roads by April and then gradually got on top of my back condition.
I was well enough to do a 10 mile fell race by the end of June 2012 and was getting back to full fitness on the bike by then also. Had a few relapses up until nov 2013, but I learned that I needed to cut out things that aggravated my back such as 5 a side footy and road running.
It helped ( I think) that I was fit and carrying no excess weight when my back gave out, but try and do the ‘right things’ and give your back the chance to sort itself out. Find a good therapist whose opinion and advice you trust.
Keep plugging away and I hope you can get back to full fitness.

I herniated my L1 (the one right at the bottom of your spine) about 4 years ago. I had a fairly constant ache in the centre of my left buttock until one day when clearing snow away from the car. I dug into the snow and pulled up and away from the car. The shovel didn’t move because it was stuck under a layer of ice. The pain down my leg was like lightning. It took months to get a definitive diagnosis on the NHS. In total it took 18 months to recover with about a year off my bikes. I couldn’t sit for most of that year. The sciatica was terrible. Constant numbness, pins and needles and all sorts of pain in my left leg. Driving for more than 10-15 minutes was agony. Luckily I only worked 10 minutes drive away and work built me a standing desk.

Definitely agree with remaining as active as possible. You must avoid anything that can exacerbate it. Remaining careful, taking ibuprofen, nightly hot water bottles and ice packs and just letting it heal was really hard. It felt never ending but now I’m back on my bike and have an 11 month old daughter that keeps testing how well it’s healed! I just have to be careful lifting and twisting.
Good luck. It will get better.

Sorry, L5/S1 is right at the bottom, not L1. Also, steroid injection in epidural space did FA.

Not herniated, but compressed l5/s1 here. It’s 50% of its original height and I have some lower back and torso weakness from nerve compression through the facet joints where the tolerances are closer than they should be.

Injured at 18 doing stupid heavy dead lifts in the gym. Went home on my hands and knees, wore a weightlifting belt for 5months and slowly, slowly it went away until life was pretty normal until I did to much pogoing at a party at about 25. The next 7 years of my life I was in constant pain with the NHs being really rubbish. Eventually I went private and found out about the injury. I had a rehabilitation programme over about two years that progressively saw me improve and mostly I have no pain at all now, but it’s permanently managed. I recognise the signs and step of the psoas stretches and core stability exercises. Perversely, single speeding is really good for it, I suspect because it calls on the core muscles during all those out of the saddle efforts.

Feeling a tad more positive about it. I’m joining the local leisure centre so I can swim a few times a week.

That and lots of rehab and core stability, will hopefully make a difference.

Had a hernia at L3, tried physic, exercise, injections. No good. Had a night in hospital and a keyhole op, and afterwards what happened was that initially it felt fine, then felt bad again, then suddenly completely cleared. Nothing since (knowck on wood).