Middle back pain

[claireh]

Whenever I ride for more than half an hour I get quite a severe backache in the middle bit of my back- kind of in line with the bottom of my rib-cage.

Anyone have any tips as to how I can stop this happening?
It may be to do with my position and posture, but my instructor seems to think both have improved dramatically since I started having lessons. Also, it is never as bad after an hours lesson as it is after an hours hack on my own horse.

Could it be because I wear a body protector?

Any thoughts, tips or suggestions gratefully recieved! :D

[Showjumper]

I sumpathise - I get the same thing, and have no idea what causes it, although the support from my body protector helps reduce it...

[floppy]

do you wear your body protector for your lessons and hacks?
Doe syour riding instructor constantly tell you to sit up straight or put your shoulders back during a lesson?
i cant tell you exactly what it is but a few things it could be is : during a lesson one always rides better than they would alone.The instructor always tells you to pull your shoulders back or sit up so you do it and you remember it for next lesson and try super hard so they dont constantly have to tell you to sit up etc. but when you ride by yourself with no instructor telling you to do things you tend to relax a bit too much and ehm..slouch in the saddle...
another thing that could be is that you are not sitting squarely.
I dont have a problem with riding but if i dont sit squarely in a chair i get back ache.
I did have another reason but it appears to have slipped my mind.

[claireh]

Thankyou both for your replies!
I think Floppy may have hit the nail on the head on two counts- trying harder to sit straight when on a lesson and also- duh! why didn't I think of it- I wear the B.P when hacking Pageant 'cause hes only 4, still a bit of an unknown quantity and all that, but I don't wear it for lessons! So, maybe its the body protector!

[floppy]

maybe its the body protector with the combined effort of slouching...you should try the body protector during a lesson to see whats the score there and if it doesnt hurt whilst having a lesson then you are slouching on your hacks(winter time might be best tiem to try so you dont over heat!:D)

[Yann]

Sometimes non riding things can contribute to the problem, when I started having lessons I had almost continuous aching in the small of my back. I spend a lot of time in the car at work and eventually I tried altering my seat position, the aching soon disappeared. Doing spells of heavy physical work also causes me problems. Maybe it's something outside of riding that is being aggravated by it?

[Pam2]

How about the fact that you might be sitting up toooooo straight and hollowing your back too much - this could cause an ache where you mentioned.
Pam

[London Rider]

Claire,

Might it just be that your thongey thingey is a little too tight - shrunk in the wash maybe ??

I'm only joking - thought a laugh might might cheer you up, and after all your kindly underwear advice to me I couldn't resist the comment.

Seriously, back pain is no joke and I can sympathise with you on this. Posture combined with the back protector could be the answer - though don't stop wearing it. Have you thought about seeing an osteopath ? Find a good one by local recomendation as there are various osteopathy techniques with suit different people. If you do, take the back protector with you as the osteopath will be able to see how it is affecting your spine.

Hope you get this resolved soon. Best wishes for a complete recovery.

[claireh]

Hi!
Thanks for all the replys!

Floppy- I don't THINK I'm slouching! Will try your idea though!

Yann- Good point, but I don't think so- the pain started a while ago & since then I have changed my job & have a completely different routine- no change in the pain though! I thought it may be to do with driving too much as I was doing at least 100miles a day in my previous job, but now I don't drive at all for work (apart from getting there & back!) and I still have the pain!

Pam2- You could be right- I'll try 'slouching' a bit next time I ride & see if it makes a difference!

LondonRider- Thanks for the reply- I needed a smile after all the terrible news we have all had to hear today.

Am actually having a bit of a problem with the thongy thingys lately- went for an unscheduled ride in the 'wrong garment' last weekend and ehm.. well I won't go into details but I definitley won't be riding in that one again! (If indeed, I ever manage to sit down again!!)

Someone else suggested an osteopath- will try to get a reccomendation & go!

[London Rider]

How is the back problem progressing - hope it has improved.

Sorry for delay in reply. Was much amused by your "can't sit down - wrong riding thongey" comments.

Can definitely sympathise with that. Expect you'll recall the first one I tried around the house was a "sit down carefully type". Still not sure whether it was a non-horse riding style or I just had it on back to front !!!!

Haven't been riding for couple of weeks, still haven't decided whether I'll venture out in a "thingey"
But if I do summon up the courage I'll take an "emergency release device." A pair of safety (folding) scissors.

If necessary I could feign a call of nature, hop off, hide behind a tree, partially undo jods and cut the waist band on both sides of the offending garment. Sound drastic but removing them intact involves taking off at least one long boot and one leg completely from my jods. (See, I've done the logistics !) Removing boots and jods is never an easy operation in the comfort of my home - one heck of a job out in the woods with the rest of the ride waiting for me !

[msp]

Hi Claireh,

Maybe you are over flexing in the middle? I used to do that, and it caused middle back pain whenever I went for a longer hack (1 1/2hour). What I think was happening was that I was flexing my back until I ran out of movement, and coming up against the "end stop". I now try and make sure my hip angle also opens as the horse moves and the problem appears to have gone away. In particular when my back is going concave, I try and make sure I sort of open the hip angle to push my upper legs forwards and down with the horses movement.

Let us all know ow you get on!

Good Luck
Mark