I'll tell you about my experience, even though your anatomy and pathology may be different. Full disclosure: I'm a retired physician but I did kidneys. What I know about back stuff I learned from my own problems.
I had lower back pain for years but in the last year the predominant symptom became leg pain due to the irritated nerve root, like sciatica, which occurred because the disc had completely deteriorated. It got to the point where I couldn't walk 10-15 minutes, or be on my feet, without excruciating pain down the outside of my right leg. Yet I was still able to do 2 wonderful multi-day bike trips this summer on my road bike, with drops level with the seat. How? Think of a Roman arch: the bricks on the inside of the curve are touching, but those on the outside of the curve have significant space between them. On a road bike with drops, your back is in a gentle arch and the posterior space between the vertebrae opens up, relieving the pressure on the nerve (posterior=towards the back, anterior=towards the front). In fact, when I tried Alba bars for a more upright, old man with back pain position, things got worse. When you are upright, the vertebrae are stacked one on top of another, and without a normal disc between them as a cushion, the pressure on the nerve root increases. I couldn't take the pain anymore and in Sept. I had a L5-S1 spinal fusion by an experienced spine surgeon. While this is a complex procedure, it is pretty routine and results are almost always good. It is a definitive treatment for the problem, at least for me. If your symptoms are severe and you do nothing, there is the risk of permanent nerve damage with resultant leg weakness. Not good for anyone, let alone a cyclist. Running is clearly a no-no, but you should experiment with other cockpits and not assume that upright is always better for a bad back. Conservative management includes physical therapy to strengthen the muscles that support the spine, Pilates and abdominal work in particular,stretching and swimming. If you are near a major medical center, an orthopedist who specializes in spinal problems is your best bet, not a general orthopedist. And a good physical therapist can teach you a lot, even is you've been active all your life. So that's my story..as I said initially, your situation may be different but this is what I've learned from my problems. Hope it helps. Best, Alan On Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at 8:54:50 AM UTC-5, michael sellers wrote: > > Hi to all and hope the new year is starting well. After a year of sporadic > back problems i recently spent some time with a bone and joint specialist > and was told i have Degenerative Disc(sp?) Disease. Not terrible but not > really fixable without drastic measures. My Dr also advised me that time on > my Riv was certainly preferable to the running i was also doing.Having said > that i plan on adding some time to my current riding.Currently i have > Albatross bars on my Atlantis frame but my riding thus far has been mostly > short trips to town and back and short rides then breaks to eat,fish,etc. > As i increase the length of my rides will the Albatross(or some other > upright style bar you recommend) still be my best bet or will drops be a > better option? Thanks in advance for any advice, Mike > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
