Neck/shoulder pain.

A few months back I was getting chronic neck pain, waking up every morning with a cricked neck. Ouch.
It got so bad that I went to see a physio and had a few sessions. Basically mine stemmed from really poor posture, poor core stability, shoulder droop, forward lean - the lot.
After a few massage sessions (oh my, how I hated those! :rolleyes: ) and some exercises from the physio, it's all but cleared up.
She confirmed that riding on a road bike was only exacerbating the problem more.
I've learned to really pull my shoulders back, tighten my abs and pull back my head so it's all in line. I've also found that bringing in my abs more is making things 100% better.
Everyone bangs on about core stability, but it really is the key - you learn to use your abs to do things that you previously used your neck and shoulders to do. When standing up, for instance - don't lift up from your shoulders and neck - use your legs and glutes and abs to get you from the sitting position. Sounds obvious - but have a go at doing it naturally, which muscles do you honestly recruit to stand from a sitting position? It should never be your neck/shoulders, they're just along for the ride! Full marks to those who do it correctly btw! :o
Here's a link to a great website I found, which includes some simple exercises:
http://www.drbookspan.com/NeckPainArticle.html

Hope this helps - sorry, I rambled!

Forgot to mention - I do the double chin exercise on the website, which was the one the physio prescribed.
It's REALLY unattractive (don't ever do it in front of a mirror, I discovered I could make it to about 7 chins! :eek: ), but it's very effective. I was told to imagine that my head is a drawer, and i'm sliding it slowly backwards, back into the dresser. Keep everything in line - shoulders back, abs tight, head upright - the only thing moving is your neck slowly going backwards.

I'll shut up now! :(

So, what about treating injuries? My neck is all messed up from my ride last Sunday, and I'm really confused about the whole heat/ice controversy. I know you're supposed to ice it right after the injury, but I didn't even feel any stiffness until two days after the ride...and it progressively got worse. I think I started noticing it Tuesday morning. By Tuesday evening, I had a hard time turning my head. Now, a good four days after the event, what should I be doing to try to heal it quickly? I've been doing heat, because that's what my acupuncturist recommended, but I've definitely learned through experience to question all medical advice, because it seems like few medical practitioners agree on anything. Would alternating work this late in the game? Any ideas? I was hoping to be better by Sunday, but am gradually losing hope. I can't exactly ride if I can't turn my head to check for traffic...

NotSporty,
Sorry to hear about the injury. I usually find ice more beneficial than heat, because I swell and bruise so easily. Since it's been this long, do what feels best. I'd also take Aleve on a regular basis (2 tabs twice a day) for a few days to see if that helps.

The first chiro I went to was a quack. I found one that told me if I was diligent with my excersices, I could put the curve back in my neck by the end of the year. I had to buy a $10 foam pillow that is about 6 inches in diameter with grooves that run the length of it (not sure how to describe it). I have to lay with that under my neck for 15 minutes a day, then lay my head on my pillow with this pillow just below it for 45 minutes a day. At first it hurt my neck to lay with that pillow under my neck. It felt like I was hyperextending my neck! After about 4 days it got comfortable and now it actually feels good. I've had 4 adjustments in the past month and he says he can see a difference already and my daily headaches are gone! I'll see if I can last 2 weeks before another adjustment and play them by ear, but I'll keep doing my exercises. Good luck with your neck issues!

Usual rule is ice initially to stop the internal bleeding and therefore reduce internal damage and swelling.
Next day use heat packs

I swear by arnica - cream, massage oil, drops to drink, pillules to chew... made from extracts from the arnica plant it is the best thing I know to reduce internal and/or external bruising. Only rule with it is do not put the cream or oil onto open skin (grazes/cuts)

Wishing you the best with the healing...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mtbdarby

Now I'm doing simple exercises to put the curve back into my neck so it shouldn't be a problem next summer.

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Someone posted on this forum a great link regarding neck streching exercises but somehow I can't find it right now.
What kind of exercises are you doing mtbdarby?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by emily_in_nc

....and for me, the web between my thumb and forefinger, from riding on the hoods......
Emily

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Emily - what kind of gloves do you have? I'm finding myself having this kind of pain as well and I was thinking it would be great to find some gloves that have some padding in there. The one's I have are fingerless and the palms are really well padded, but not the web area between the thumb and forefinger.

Thanks!

I had the chance during a long ride on Saturday (we had actual no rain and sometimes sun....) to notice my riding stance and the effect on my neck. I realized that sometimes climbing a long/steep hill, or when tired, I tend to kind of collapse my neck and shoulders. I tried what the yogis/pilates folks call putting attention on, or energizing, that area. I was almost pushing lightly on the handlebars and keeping strength and attention on neck/shoulders. Does that make sense? I noticed that when I did this that my "core" ab muscles were more engaged and I rode better, and did not have soreness in my neck. I tend to have bad neck issues, probably from years of reading, writing and looking at computer screens.

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Originally Posted by wabisabi

I tend to have bad neck issues, probably from years of reading, writing and looking at computer screens.

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Not to be an alarmist, but have you had this checked out? I had years of neck issues too and was recently diagnosed with two collapsed disks, huge arthritic spurs that were compressing my spinal cord. The numbness and weakness in my arm finally conviced me to see a doc. In December I had major surgery where they replaced two discs (with bone from my hip), shaved off the spurs and fused the whole thing. It has been quite an ordeal - by the time I got into surgery, one disk had impaled itself onto my spinal cord and it took the doc 45 minutes to pull it out.

I, like you, figured it was years of cycling, computer stuff, etc. Turned out to be much much worse.

Yikes! I am glad to hear that you got a good diagnosis and repair work; it sounds like it is working out Ok for you. Thanks for the concern; I do get pretty regular treatment and have had x-rays of the area which seems to have none of those issues. I havy corrected some postural issues and have had improvement. Interestingly, when I have time off from work, the issues pretty much go away. I am planning to stop working a more high powered and stressful job (downshifting, as it is now called) in the next couple of years.