(Some of you won’t get that reference… but it’s worth it for anyone who does)

I just got home from the doctor’s office, and, the MRI shows that nothing in my lumbar spine is impinging on anything. The only thing that does show up is that my lowest lumbar vertebrae are “dry” looking… which is the start of the degenerative process (you can see in the image below that most of the cartilage discs are white, but the lowest is very dark). I’m guessing that’s why I’ve started experiencing a little stiffness in the area when I bend over or sit wrong for prolonged periods of time. Enough about that, though… I’m just really happy to have the “worst” of the possible diagnoses eliminated.

Since he did previously find some inflammation (via ultrasound) of the bursa under my left sitbone, he still suspects that it may be the spot where my sciatic nerve is getting irritated on longer rides. However, since the pain is originating at my hamstring, we’re going to first  try to address the knots in the area that hurts with some physical therapy. If it doesn’t alleviate the issues, then we’ll go back to the pelvis with another MRI and possibly a cortisone injection into the sitbone bursa (I’ll tell you now… there are going to have to be some heavy anti-anxiety meds in place before I go in for that one if it happens).

Therapy starts next Wednesday. W00t!