lower back hurts when riding

[aks710]

I’ve had some acute lower back pain (particularly concentrated on the right side) for about a year… some weeks it’s completely nonexistent, and other weeks it’s very persistent. On a scale of 1 - 10, it’s about a 3, so I usually ride through it, but once I hop out of the saddle the pain goes away.

I’ve been seeing a sports medicine doctor/chiropractor and treatments with him are fairly helpful. I run and work out pretty regularly and have worked hard to strengthen my core, and I stretch all the time (including foam roller work). Sometimes my back gets stiff and mildly sore at work because I sit in a chair all day, but it’s really only in the saddle where I feel pain. 2-point can be very difficult.

Have any of you experienced this sort of riding pain and know of solutions or what might be going on?

[tollertwins]

Hard to say…sounds like it’s in the area of your SI joints. Your SI joints might just need to be realigned.

However, I had one sided pain like that for years and years that just kept getting worse. I figured I had a bad back. What I had was a bad hip. I just got it replaced and most of the back pain is gone.

[Invite]

Could it be your saddle? Probably the last question you want to hear!!!

I have severe SI joint problems and sciatica. I can ride in some saddles without increasing my pain level. Some saddles make my left side so bad that my leg completely gives way when I dismount. I don’t just jump to the ground. I have a helper who puts their hands around my hips or waist and eases me to the ground. If I ride in a saddle with too narrow of a twist, I’m the worst.

[pharmgirl]

Hard to say what may be going on w/o more diagnostics, etc. I would possibly say there are some degenerating discs in the lumbar region that like to bulge to the right, which is why therapy and core work has helped.

I second the saddle thought. When I started having back issues, I realized that Wintecs are not my friend :no:. I always hurt after riding in a Wintec, but not other saddles. Something else that helped me was getting jointed stirrups. That really helped how I felt after doing 2 pt or jumping work.