Ok this is driving me nuts. I'm 30, generally healthy male. The last 2 months I have developed a lower back pain that seems to come from driving. This started about the time I bought a new car, thought that was the cause, but now have a totally different car (had a sporty sedan, now have an SUV) and the pain continues. It is 100% correlated to being in the drivers seat. If I don't drive, after several days the pain goes away. Hard to describe exactly but it feels like a tightness or pinching in one side of my lower butt (right under my right or left sit bones, not really in the center/tailbone), more rarely it will be discomfort in my hip. Usually manifests on the right side but I have had it on the left too. This shows up on as short a drive as 20 minutes. The discomfort doesn't present itself while driving - usually after I get out of the car, and then it will build over the next few hours. Generally I feel better once I wake up the next morning but there does seem to be a cumulative element to it (if I drive a lot on Sat and Sun I feel it Mon morning).
Have driven several kinds of cars/trucks and while some bring it out faster or in different areas, I have yet to find one that is pain-free. Higher/lower driving positions don't seem to make a difference. I'm doing all of the things that a google search says - keeping hips in line with knees, using lumbar support, using power seats and tilt/telescoping steering wheel, etc. Have also tried a variety of stretches but haven't found relief there yet either. While being a passenger in a car is not nearly as bad, I have felt some discomfort after riding (though may be left over from driving). Tried some seat cushions but these just moved the pain around. Tried different seating postures as well.
I have not had back pain before, don't have a preexisting condition or old injury, don't remember doing anything when this started that would've tweaked my back (e.g. lifiting a heavy box). I have been to the doctor once, I will go back this week but I am not sure she'll have a definitive answer or course of action. Physical therapy? Orthapedist? Chiropractor? MRI? I have read info on piriformis syndrome, sciatica, and hamsting tendonitis but nothing conclusive.
The chronic nature of this has really gotten to me. DW is so patient but I know she is getting tired of hearing about this. She also drives me around sometimes but this is not a long term solution - I have to have my own transportation. Taking some advil/aleve which helps some, but the last 2 weeks I have been feeling nauseous and my appetite has declined. I am 6 ft - have gone from 150 lbs to 140 lbs. I usually don't have a problem with advil, but I usually don't take it for multiple days in a row, so this could be causing the nausea - or it could be my mental state. I am definitely starting to feel helpless about this situation. Hard to concentrate at work (sitting at a desk doesn't cause the pain [if someone else drives me to work] but I definitely feel it there if I have been driving). I go on 30 minute walks some times and generally walking/standing is much more comfortable than sitting. I ordered a back pain book that T-Al recommended but it hasn't arrived yet.
I am just throwing all this out there. Maybe someone has an idea.
Have driven several kinds of cars/trucks and while some bring it out faster or in different areas, I have yet to find one that is pain-free. Higher/lower driving positions don't seem to make a difference. I'm doing all of the things that a google search says - keeping hips in line with knees, using lumbar support, using power seats and tilt/telescoping steering wheel, etc. Have also tried a variety of stretches but haven't found relief there yet either. While being a passenger in a car is not nearly as bad, I have felt some discomfort after riding (though may be left over from driving). Tried some seat cushions but these just moved the pain around. Tried different seating postures as well.
I have not had back pain before, don't have a preexisting condition or old injury, don't remember doing anything when this started that would've tweaked my back (e.g. lifiting a heavy box). I have been to the doctor once, I will go back this week but I am not sure she'll have a definitive answer or course of action. Physical therapy? Orthapedist? Chiropractor? MRI? I have read info on piriformis syndrome, sciatica, and hamsting tendonitis but nothing conclusive.
The chronic nature of this has really gotten to me. DW is so patient but I know she is getting tired of hearing about this. She also drives me around sometimes but this is not a long term solution - I have to have my own transportation. Taking some advil/aleve which helps some, but the last 2 weeks I have been feeling nauseous and my appetite has declined. I am 6 ft - have gone from 150 lbs to 140 lbs. I usually don't have a problem with advil, but I usually don't take it for multiple days in a row, so this could be causing the nausea - or it could be my mental state. I am definitely starting to feel helpless about this situation. Hard to concentrate at work (sitting at a desk doesn't cause the pain [if someone else drives me to work] but I definitely feel it there if I have been driving). I go on 30 minute walks some times and generally walking/standing is much more comfortable than sitting. I ordered a back pain book that T-Al recommended but it hasn't arrived yet.
I am just throwing all this out there. Maybe someone has an idea.
