 Well, after 9 months of back pain, about 15 appointments and a number of random guesses later I finally have a diagnosis!  I had enough of being passed on from one person to another so I went to see a orthopaedic consultant privately, had MRI, and the final verdict is that the facet joints in my lower back are worn because I’m hypermobile. Being diagnosed as hypermobile didn’t really come as a surprise (dislocating your shoulder 7 times is not quite normal after all) but I had no idea how much other stuff is associated with it. So basically my spine is moving too much and therefore wearing out the joints that link the vertebra together. The discs were all fine so that’s good news. The first treatment is specific physiotherapy to really strengthen all the muscles to hold my spine in place. I have done pilates and core physio stuff before and I don’t think my core strength is too bad but I suppose with this condition I need a core of steel! Once I get all that sorted my back shouldn’t bother me on the bike. And it should sort out the leg pain I’ve had since April. Fingers crossed! At the moment my biking is limited to gently bumbling on the roads. Back starts hurting after about an hour but even more annoying is the effect of the performance decreasing drugs (beta-blockers) I’m taking as a migraine preventative. I can’t get my heart rate up at all and I get knackered (and frustrated! ) very easily. I’ll just write off 2007 as a really crap year – roll on 2008! I’ll be fighting fit, pain free and have a 6-pack to hold my spine together!
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 I'm glad you've finally got a diagnosis Anu. At least it's something that can be improved with some physio and sports massage.
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 hope you get well soon Anu. At least now you know what it is so you can start trying to fix it! roll on 2008
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OOoooohh. Thats rough. At least there is some treatment available for it (I hope its on the NHS and you don't have to pay to go private!) Do they know what causes hypermobility? A mate of mine has just been told that her back problems are caused by hypermobility and she's a big horse rider.
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 After all this time glad you can name what's wrong, that makes a big difference psycologically (sp?) because now you know how to help get yourself better. Well done though for not giving up and good luck on your road to recovery. Anyways, I know I for one will be dead jealous of your 6 pack... good luck with the training and see you in 2008 x PS I have worn facet joints too but for difference reasons and can vouch they are painful so you have my sympathy. Also, mine didn't show until I had MRI too and that took a lot of pushing to get on the NHS !
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Hypermobility is in most cases inherited and can range in severity quite significantly. I don't think mine is particularly bad - I've had one operation to my shoulder when I was 15 when it kept popping out. (strange that no-one mentioned this condition then...?) Apart from the shoulder and the current back issue I haven't had any problems. Hypermobility makes me prone to osteoarthritis so I started taking glucosamine and I need to choose my sport accordingly (no playing rugby for me  ) CJ - I take it your facet joints are pain free now? Did you get there through physiotherapy or something more radical? The last guy I saw on the NHS said "no point taking any scans because you can't see anything from them anyway" What a pr*ck!
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  There's a whole lot of things that can only be diagnosed by MRI. Dumbarse.
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 i don't think you have quite the physique for rugby anyway anu... you would snap am glad you know what it is at last though
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I thought I'd be good as a wing if I bulk up a bit... Nah, better stick with biking - at least most injuries will be self-inflicted.
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 i have hyper-extensive joints - my elbows ar particularly noticeable - never considered that it might affect my back - is that the same thing do you think Anu?
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Polly, over-extending elbows are one indicator but don't necessarily mean you are classed as hypermobile. Have a look at diagnostic criteria for bening joint hypermobility syndrome. (see bottom of that page) Description of the Beighton score they talk about can be found here. I tick the boxes for one major criteria and two minor criterias, so it could be lot worse. My beighton score is 5.
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After having a quick look, I think possibly I have one major and two minors also -( my beighton score is 7 - would be more if they included shoulders and hips!)
Do you think this is why my thumb injury took so long to heal?
Also, my mum (from whom i inherited the flexibility) had juvenile arthritis - is that a connection too?
Never seen it as a problem though, my elbows have always been my party trick (can rotate them nearly 360) - is there anything i should be doing to prevent myself falling to bits in the near future?
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OMG...
Joint and spinal pains may increase during the course of the pregnancy.
There is a tendency to rapid labour.
tell me about it!
Blimey - well i just thought i was weird - thanks Anu
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Anu - pleased to hear that you now have a proper diagnosis and are getting sorted. Get well soon and it would be nice to see you again at the Swinley ride in December.
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 My chiropractor told me I was hypermobile as I had a Beighton score of about 5 - though I still think having short legs enables me to get my hands flat on the floor! He gave me loads of leaflets on it and seemed to present it to me as something serious, I read all the stuff and didn't see how it applied to me at all as I generally don't have joint pains but I do have to be careful of my elbows when climbing or weight training as I have a tendency to overextend them under load but that's it. Interestingly my knees have become much less "flexible" since I started running as more muscles have built up to complement the cycling ones. I have no back pain at all. I went to see the chiro about my SI joint which was locked but has been fine ever since he freed it, he reckons it was trauma (falling off my bike basically). The best way to stop yourself falling apart is to strengthen the muscles round the joints. In my case climbing helps keep my back muscles strong though I could still do with doing core work, cycling and running help build the legs. Not sure what I would be like without the muscles developed from running/climbing/cycling as I was very flexible in my early twenties when I did Tae Kwon Do, stiff as a board now though. A friend of mine is even more hypermobile than me but she doesn't have any problems either, though she does do Pilates and lots of all over body strengthening work and has done for a long time.
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Anu - my worn facet joints are pain free some of the time. I get flare ups because its osteoarthritis. I have lumbar spinal fusions which has and continues to wear away the vertebrae/ facets etc above & below them. Nothing I can do about unfortunately, been there since I was 13... It was explained to me that the facets are like corrugated iron and they can sort of jump out of alignment, even just a small amount can be very painful. Then they will pop back into place, swelling goes down and you feel a lot better. However, in the meanwhile muscular spasm occurs (for me anyway) which can be more painful than the arthritis. When this happens I resort to more sports massage (I have one every month now anyway) and / or acupuncture, heat treatment etc to help release the spasm. Its painful but annoying more than anything because it affects everything you do. You have my sympathy but by the sound of it if you keep everything strong you can keep it under control. That is really good news ... let us know how you are getting on. You'll be featuring on Worlds Strongest Woman in no time
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