Well I’ve had the result of my MRI scan and its not good….
“The report identifies a small intraforaminal disc protrusion on the right which appears to be compromising the exiting L4 nerve root. This would explain your symptoms and the lumbo-sacral instability”
Looking back I think have had something going on in my lower back for sometime and that Russian jump just finished me off. I wouldn’t be surprised that the original cause was the Wiggle 6 Enduro in May when I finished after nearly 7 hours in the saddle of jarring racing on concrete-like surfaces with a very sore back. Even my feet hurt from the pounding I got that day.
I’ve also had lower back ache when riding my rigid singlespeed on Follow the Dog and Monkey Trail!
Treatment options at the moment are continued rest and icing (as I overdid it over the weekend organizing the event on Saturday) before starting a course of traction (being stretched to relieve the pressure on the disc). If this isn’t successful, apparently I could have an injection into the spine but it would need orthopedic evaluation and assessment which I would have to pay for or get onto a very long NHS waiting list (8 months+).
So unfortunately it looks like my plans for 2012 and a medal at the World Masters have been scuppered. I’ve had 3 months off training so far and even if the traction works I will have to be very conservative with my training for several months until I get the all-clear.
So not all bad as at least there are treatments available, but I think my days of lightweight, racey, hard-tail mountain bikes might be over. Time to buy a sofa bike?
One bit of advice – don’t jump off 3 meter walls!
