A pain in the neck is a pain in the neck...

[Catrin]

Ok, so I am bowing to necessity and seeing my dr. for the remaining whiplash/neck/thing. As an osteopath he can adjust it and I hope that is all that is required.

The inflammation appears to be gone, but my neck complains when I bend my head forward, and any kind of an aggressive position on the bike causes a pretty severe muscle spasm...and pretty much keeping a low-level headache.

I really hope this is simply muscular, but my spinning instructor/personal trainer chewed me up one end and down the other last night when he saw I was having problems with it and stayed in class (I did back off).

Right now I am debating if riding this afternoon is smart or not - this is my last day off and it is supposed to reach 70 this afternoon...and windy but I've a place to ride when it is windy. I want to mountain bike this afternoon but that doesn't seem smart until I see my doctor.

Pretty much feeling sorry for myself, but I will get over that Probably the last warm weather of the season and I shouldn't ride...at least until I get a clean bill of health

[Grits]

How about a nice gentle ride on a paved trail just for fun and relaxation? You should probably stay off the unpaved stuff and definitely avoid any aggressive position until you get this checked out.

I will join you in your pity party, though, if I may. Just when my injured foot gets better enough to at least do some greenway riding, I get a nasty cold/cough and don't feel well enough to ride. And the weather is beautiful here too!

[Catrin]

Yes, I am considering it It will be windy but if I stay in that park that I am so sick of then I shouldn't have to lean over much to deal with the wind. I DO have a quite upright riding position on that bike.

I still hope to mountain bike this weekend, but we will just have to see.

[Aggie_Ama]

If you can swing it, get a massage. It helped my husband immensely when he was suffering from whiplash this spring but wanted to keep riding and racing.

[OakLeaf]

Or if you can find a good chiropractor ... I jammed my neck really badly when I did my faceplant, and it was the massage therapist who gave me a line on the chiropractor, because I won't go to just any chiro.

[Catrin]

My insurance won't cover chiro..but my doctor is an osteopath and he can do adjustments if he deems it necessary. I happen to have a gift certificate for a massage at my gym, and there is a massage therapist there who rocks, so after I see my doctor tomorrow I will schedule something.

My goal is to do some road riding Saturday and see what my neck thinks about it. If it approves without more muscle spasms, then Sunday I will go mountain biking It has been a MONTH since I last took my Jamis, a month since I did this. It has been almost two weeks since I've been on the road. I am getting antsy but have tried to be good though my spinning instructor chewed me up one side and down the other Monday night for pushing too hard...

[shootingstar]

Perhaps consider smooth pavement cycling for now that's easy and non-stressful route.

Bumpy riding with mtbking might not be a good thing at all with your neck pain right now.

[Catrin]

Perhaps consider smooth pavement cycling for now that's easy and non-stressful route.

Bumpy riding with mtbking might not be a good thing at all with your neck pain right now.

Good point, and I have already decided that I won't mtb until I can road ride without discomfort. My FS Jamis does rock and is very comfortable, and the trails I ride are pretty smooth outside of a few sections...but good point. Thankfully I feel much better than this time a week ago

I will also listen to my doctor, I want no repeats of last winter when the results of sheer stubbornness kept me off the bike for so long

[Catrin]

Saw my doctor...he seems a bit concerned over the swelling but did give me tentative permission to ride on pavement if I stay in an upright position.

My doctor is also a mountain biker who is recovering from his own mishap, this makes it easy to explain what happened. He did say that all of my symptoms can be explained by strained neck muscles that go along with whiplash. No mountain biking, gentle road riding only. I've already learned the hard way that it really matters what my body position is anyway, so I know I can't get aggressive on the bike or fight strong winds which force me to hunker down on the bike.

We are starting with an x-ray, hopefully we won't have to go further as my co-pay for that is more than I can handle right now...He gave me some exercises, suggested a massage (after x-ray results come in), and non-sedating muscle relaxant.

[Catrin]

I finally made myself read the actual MRI report my doctor gave me Wed. morning. I don't have 1 bulged disk in my neck, I have three That is outside of the other things going on with my cervical spine and I must have missed the fact there was more than one of them during my visit. No wonder I had a pain in my neck!

The whiplash itself appears to be much better, so I am thankful. Now I just need to follow my doctor's orders for the rest...hoping the injections will work as well as he seems to think they will! He does think the whiplash caused the bulging disks...

I did get a full hour massage (they didn't charge me since they made a scheduling mistake) and it really did seem to help. I rode my bike for a time yesterday and it went well, so hope to enjoy the 60 degree temps this afternoon for a longer ride - taking advantage of the weather while it is here!

[Dogmama]

Just my experience with chiro - he made it much worse. I don't think neck manipulation is a good idea with bulging discs. My spine doc agreed. Massage, OTOH, is great, especially trigger point therapy.

[Catrin]

Just my experience with chiro - he made it much worse. I don't think neck manipulation is a good idea with bulging discs. My spine doc agreed. Massage, OTOH, is great, especially trigger point therapy.

Thanks for mentioning this. I had considered seeing a chiro until I learned about the bulging disks. Just the nature of what they are made me think it wouldn't be a good idea. I would think that if an adjustment was a good idea that my doctor would have done so - he is an Osteopath, not an MD.

The massage was wonderful and not as painful as I expected. He did massage my neck very lightly, and that did hurt...but he stopped.

I've had a LOT more headaches since all of this developed and can't help but think it is from my neck injury. I almost never get headaches...though it could well be from the muscle tension. I am even waking up with them. Not too bad though, and they do seem to be easing a bit. Either that or I am getting used to them.

[snapdragen]

Yeah, probably a good choice on not seeing a chiro. I see one regularly, as soon as we found out what was happening with my neck she said "no traction, no manipulation". She's not a bone cracker, it's more of a massage with extra movement therapy (for lack of a better description).