Catrin- I actually don't know if the back and hip issues are related. Kind of long....but here's the whole story.

I started off with pain in my IT band after really pushing hard on some hills (maybe not coincidentally, a week after I was in a car accident) Went to PT- who said- your hip is out of alignment and got me started on stretching and strengthening. It got worse before it got better, and I started getting a whole constellation of symptoms- my leg/hip was unstable, and had problems all over my left lower quarter- hip, glutes/piriformis etc . So I went back to my doctor. She ordered an x-ray, and her nurse called and said "There's nothing wrong with your hip, but you have severe arthritis in at L4-L5". Nice way to communicate, huh? I kept up with the exercises, and then eventually the symptoms pretty much disappeared. Then I quit the exercises, and about the same time I started training harder for El Tour de Tucson- went from 100 miles a week to almost 200 miles a week... and the problems came back.

I went to my chiropractor and massage therapist because it was more convenient than the doctor. We all agreed the symptoms were similar to what happened in the spring, and I went back to the exercises. Most recent massage- definitely sore around the SI joint too. 2 1/2 months later the hip and leg are improving but not perfect, but the back is cranky just about every morning when I wake up and I have some sciatica type pain . I should probably go back to my doctor and get pointed in the right direction to find someone who knows more- and that might answer my questions.

So I'm curious as to what you find out about the relationship of the arthritis to your symptoms.

Dang, I hate how the decrepitation process is getting in the way of staying healthy.