Shoulder and neck pain, driving me mad!!

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speccy1

Guest
Anybody else had this??

It started last Sunday and hasn`t let up since:angry:. I`ve been really getting the miles in recently, so I`m thinking maybe it is due to that?? I`ve tried hot baths, frozen peas, deep heat, pain killers etc, and it doesn`t seem to be getting much better, just a niggling muscular pain 24/7

Booked a docs appointment for next week but was just wondering if anybody else has experienced the same thing. Oddly, a couple of hours on the bike seems to ease it:wacko:, and it gets worse when I`m laying in bed:wacko:
 

Mark_Robson

Senior Member
I had a car crash in 95 and ended up with whiplash and I've had problems with my neck ever since. The biggest factor for me is what happens when I'm asleep. Some mornings I wake up with a really stiff sore neck and some days I am fine.
My advice would be to make sure that you sleep relatively flat, seek out some physio and try and keep your neck as mobile as possible. I always move mine from side to side and up and down but I was told to avoid circular movements.
 
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speccy1

speccy1

Guest
Thanks Mark:smile:

It reminds me very much of whiplash but I haven`t been in an accident, but it`s all the same symptoms:wacko:

I work in a hospital so may well have a chat with the physio guys and see what they say
 

gbs

Guru
Location
Fulham
You may care to try this to relieve tension created by less than perfect posture when seated on chairs, in front of screens and dare I say it,when in the saddle.

Standing or seated. straighten the spine by imagining that a thread is pulling yr head up. Go into a "hands up response" position with palms facing forward. Now drop the elbows down and in towards the waist being sure to pull back so that yr hands are in line with yr shoulders. You may feel a pull across the chest muscles

Try it at yr desk, at traffic lights etc - two or three times a day for 20-30 seconds.
 

MacB

Lover of things that come in 3's
Have you made any adjustments to your bike, it doesn't take much? If you've recently upped your mileage what are we talking here? Have you previously done this osrt of mielage level on the same bike with the same setup and no issues? I'd look at:-

Bike setup - make sure it all suits you, lots of resource here and elsewhere discussing how best to do this

Your fitness - it's not uncommon to see people saying things like a saddle's only comfy up to 60 miles, or they get pains after 30 miles but are fine for anything less etc. Sheldon Brown has an excellent article about posture and bike fit. It's really just common sense, as you get tired it becomes harder to maintain the correct posture. Also we can pick up poor posture riding styles that are fine for shorter distances but don't transfer well to longer ones. The problem is that it can be very hard to identify specific things as it all shifts with fitness and minute adjustments.

An easy experiment is to try different pedalling styles when you're still fresh. If you pedal hard you can feel that there's less pressure brought to bear on your upper body and bum as the feet/legs are taking more. Then try to emulate your pedalling style as if you were knackered. You should feel more generally slumped and with less weight being taken by your lower body.
 
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speccy1

speccy1

Guest
I`m doing 3 40 mile rides a week at the moment on top of getting to work and all the short journeys etc, been doing that for about 3 weeks now, prior to that I had been on holiday, and away on training courses so not many miles done for a while:blush:

I will pay attention to my posture when pedalling at the beginning and end of rides to see if there is any difference. As for the bike setup, nothing has really changed apart from a new seatpost a while ago
 

Manonabike

Über Member
I was having the same symptoms a few weeks ago. I had also upped the miles. Somebody here suggested I should look at my bike setup so I moved the seat back in small steps. The result is that I can do 90 miles and I don't get as much neck, and shoulder pain as I was getting a few weeks ago after doing 40 or 50 miles. The thing is that now I seem to slide forward and after 30 miles or so I begin to change positions on the saddle trying to find comfort. Yesterday I raised the tip of the saddle a little and today I went for a 35 miles ride and I notice that while riding with a headwind I could not find a good position after the first 10 miles or so. On the way back, with a tailwind it wasn't too bad. That would suggest that peddaling harder makes it more uncomfortable.

So, if I were you, I would look at your seat position and test.
 
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speccy1

speccy1

Guest
Funny you should say that, because I am aware of sliding forward quite often but don`t really take any notice of it. I`ll try putting the seat back a bit then

Cheers:smile::laugh:
 

Trek Trauma Chris

New Member
Location
Cornwall
Go see a Chiropractor, get him to check your neck vertebrae to make sure its not a trapped nerve (the pain can be similar to a pulled muscle) because as you ride along you go across those mini pot holes or dips in the road and they jolt your whole body if you are not prepared for them.

Your head and neck are the most vulnerable as everything else is gripping, clipped in or sitting on the bike and therefore fairly stable, so you can get a little whiplash effect.

After that try massage.
 

Chrisc

Guru
Location
Huddersfield
+1 on the neck nerve. Physio sorted me out in a few sessions after 8 months of chronic pain. Had numbness in the arm, pains in the neck and shoulder. All down to bad posture and seized up facet joints in the neck which, once mobilised and with a few simple exercises to strengthen my back muscles to correct my slouch, sorted it.
Now I sit up straight. like my mother told me....
 

Bandini

Guest
I get aches after longer rides - just see it as inevitable as I am coming up to 40!

I know this isn't bike related, but if you are at a desk a lot, maybe worth thinking about other things. I also use a lumbar role on my chair to correct posture, and I have a 'Posturite; board on my desk I use for working on - can use as a reading/writing slope and, although it doesn't advertise it for this, you can put your laptop on it:

http://www.posturite.co.uk/PosturiteSite/product/1011.htm
 
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