It's now been two weeks since my last ride. To date, I've had three acupuncture/PT appointments. I have an MRI scheduled tomorrow and Drs appointments on July 6th and 13th. As things stand, I'm no longer having the "OMFG bolt of lightning, I can't stand it" kind of pain (which, believe me, is a very good thing) but do have residual pain in my back, almost continuous tightness in my left calf and numbness in my left foot (I walk with a pronounced limp). When I sit for any length of time my left hamstring starts to get a burning sensation which gradually gets worse until I have to stand.
I'm no longer doing any kind of strengthening, only stretching with focus on relieving pressure on the disk (inversion table) and stretching my hip flexors which are one of the culprits causing my problem.
I've continued to ponder the future, especially with respect to doing longer rides. I'm by nature an optimist so I tend to favor the rosier scenario:
- I didn't do anything overtly stupid like try to pick up a car so the current problem is more a result of doing more than my back muscles could handle (N.B. by "back muscles" I mean lower back, glutes, hamstrings, etc) rather than trauma.
- Given that, it's not likely that I have e.g., a herniated disk. Instead, the muscles just got excessively overworked, locked up and compressed my spine on the nerve.
- Given that, it's likely that with continued therapy and rest the problem will resolve itself and I'll be no worse (or no better) than I was before.
So in this best case scenario, I'm off the bike for some period of time then basically return to normal service with the addition of more rigorous and regular core strengthening and an increased focus on stretching post-ride.
But in the event I'm wrong, I've started thinking about a less rosy scenario where I did actually do some permanent damage that's not going to just "go away". And while we're being negative, let's roll with it and assume no amount of PT and non-invasive therapies make any difference and the only alternative is surgery (gulp).
I've said in the past that I wouldn't have surgery. I'll say now that if the way I feel today is as good as it gets there's no way I'd want to live the rest of my life like this. I'm in just enough pain that I'm really not able to do much. I've learned how to move to avoid aggravating my back and am so limited in what I can do that I'm barely functional.
So if I go under the knife, what does that mean for my riding future?
Well, certainly I'm done for 2020. It's hard to imagine any form of back surgery that wouldn't require 3-6 months of recovery. Ideally, if the surgery is successful I'll go back to business as usual. But if I'm limited in any way, it might mean no more long rides and it's this scenario I've been pondering of late.
Would I continue as RBA if I'm not able to ride my own brevets? Right now, the answer is no and I think that's unlikely to change.
Would I continue to try and ride the longest distances that my back would allow? I'm not sure. To be honest, right now I feel like I'm sitting on a keg of dynamite playing with matches. It might go off any second. It's not a good feeling.
One "good thing" about my back issues historically is that they've been localized to my back with no sciatic nerve involvement. Over the years and through some fair amount of painful experimentation I learned the several things that would cause me back problems and learned to avoid them.
But this is a whole 'nuther thing. I never want to have this again. Ever.
So I'm less inclined to skate toward the edge of the ice in the hope it won't crack.
Let's hope that we're going down the "rosy scenario" path.
Stay tuned!
