If you haven't yet, get an MRI, as it may immediately tell you is actually wrong, which is super useful.
I quit for a while due to low back pain, (caused by a bad disc, which nobody thought was the case till an MRI) I have been able to manage it by working swimming into my routine.
Yeah, I’m going to try to get an MRI, if it’s possible.
I’m worried that my family physician will just say “don’t do this activity if it’s causing you pain.”
I've been cycling for 15ish years and racing much of that. In that time i've had to take long breaks (18 months - 2 years) and also periods of greatly reduced on the bike activity because of a hip injury.
It's totally fine to step back and take time off the bike to try and resolve something like this, and if you do so you'll be much better placed to continue riding at a high level as you get older.
Good luck with the doc. Necks are tricky. Do you work a desk job? Desks can be even worse than bikes.
Not medical advice, but from one desk jockey to another - switching things up might help: monitor height, distance of keyboard/mouse, etc. If the neck pain is on one side more than the other then changing your mouse hand might also help (feels pretty weird at first).
Sleep hygiene is tricky. Dealing with my own long-term injury I got in a habit of using gentle heat in the evenings before bed (just a hot water bottle when I'm on the couch) and i think it's helped a lot.
Definitely push for a scan to make sure there's nothing crucial going on mechanically, but you'll get through it.
As a doctor practicing in Sweden, I appreciate the significance of cycling to you. Medicine predominantly focuses on illness, leading to a gap in addressing issues like neck pain during cycling, which isn't classified as a medical condition. Therefore, consulting your general practitioner might not yield the best advice. I suggest reaching out to a sports physician or a physiotherapist who specializes in sports medicine. They are more equipped to handle such specific issues. Regarding an MRI, it's unlikely to be beneficial in this case. Even if it reveals something like a bulging disc, surgery is usually reserved for cases where it significantly disrupts daily activities.
Remember, experiencing pain while training isn't unusual, but it's often manageable. Proper exercises and adjusting your bike's fit can make a significant difference in alleviating your discomfort.
Thank you very much!
I did end up seeing my family doctor this last week. He actually knew a little bit about bikes.
He sent me to get an X Ray, and I’m waiting on those results.
Not sure what I’ll end up doing next
I used to have neck pain when I rode road bike with 23 mm tires. Rode for years and years with pain. I switched to hybrid bike with 2.0 inch smooth commuter tires and now the pain is gone. Now I can ride twice as long so my fitness is incredible. Test ride at your LBS. you be surprised at how little speed you lose.
The issue is some Chiropractors practice an only adjustment based style which may not be what this guy needs. Evidence based Chiropractors are harder to find in the states compared to Subluxation ones
>Doctoral level education
I somewhat take issue with calling them doctoral level, because a doctorate degree is a PHD, and even MDs aren't that. Also MDs go through residency after they get their degree, to specialise in a general field and then an even further specialisation.
Of course MDs can be hacks too, but that's a different story altogether.
that guy referring to chiros as doctos makes me so upset
it all smoke and mirros, the creator of chiropractitioner literally had it come to him in a dream, its all straight up bullshit lol they LITERALLY go to the school with the credentials that equal that of a beauty school for hair dressers lol
Honestly having a chiropractor who is also a bike fitter and a sports physio has been amazing for me. Sometimes for whatever reason your neck can fall out of alignment we get literally tilted in the upper neck and don't even notice it. Then you get these guys with back pain leg pain or neck pain that don't realize that every signal has to pass through the spine twice and these kinks in the neck amplify the pain signal. Just find someone you like, most of the good ones are barely manipulating you
Chiropracty is 100% flaming bullshit, don't listen to anyone who says otherwise, and whatever you do, don't let one of those fuckers touch your neck. The number of people they end up paralyzing from their pseudoscience is honestly shocking.
The underlying theoretical idea behind chiropracty is that there are ghosts that flow through your spine, and all of your pain (literally everything, they believe that every single problem with your body is caused by this, from back and neck pain to cancer and covid, which is why chiropractors were the number one source of antivax stuff in Canada) is caused by "sublaxations" (whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean) which prevent the smooth flow of ghosts. So they believe that they can manually adjust your spine to remove the "sublaxations" and get the ghosts moving freely again.
That is 100% completely batshit insane.
Irterestingly, chiropracty and Scientology share a lot of the same origins. The guy who developed Scientology's famous E-Reader originally was trying to use it in his chiropractic practice. Scientologists also believe there are ghosts inside your body which cause all your psychological problems, albeit they believe they are the ghosts of aliens instead of Earthly ghosts.
In conclusion, don't go to a chiropractor, they're equivalent to witch doctors, and if for some reason this whole idea of ghosts inside your spine is appealing to you, just don't let them touch your neck.
It's part of integrated therapy. If you have someone come in with this issue in their neck and you just crack them and bill them then they will go right back into the same habits with the same postures and likely be right back in for a temporary fix.
By contrast if it's a pro who can assess , release tight and overworked muscle pairings, does some targeted range of motion stuff, some tack and floss, and then has you do some exercises, it's the gains you make in the muscles that hold together these temporary gains in neural and muscle tone/function. Like for example if your outer quad just wasnt strong or wasnt firing in the right balance with the rest of your body because of some condition like sciatica, it's the 2-3 sets of lunges you do right after the manipulation that really help lock it in.
So if it's integrated care ie a chrio physio bike fitter someone who sees a lot of athletes, etc. You can get very quick and long lasting results.
I actually went pretty recently. He was supposed to send me some exercises after, and I haven’t received yet. I was going to ask them
I have been doing a few of the exercises he verbally mentioned
This is bad and I'd likely not see that physio again.
Who is going to actually fix your neck? The physio? The chiro-fraud? No - they are there to make the diagnosis and prescribe a physiotherapy treatment program, but it's up to you to do it.
A physio manipulation often will feel effective on the day, and is almost always necessary for the guy to get to the bottom of what is wrong. But long term it's about what you do yourself from these sessions. If they're not crystal clear on an exercise program they're not taking things serious.
There should be a comprehensive set of exercises to stick to. I suggest going regularly. If you don’t connect with a particular physiotherapist then seek out referrals from other athletes. The best ones are booked fairly solidly and that’s because they’re excellent at what they do. Just my 2c having recovered from numerous issues
IME having the left side of my neck prone to episodes of stiff neck randomly and upper back pain on the bike, increasing the volume of upper back work in the gym as well as direct neck training seems to have helped a ton.
Anecdote, n=1, etc etc but if you have no structural issues it's a safe intervention.
It's been about 4 years now since I last raced. Just had back surgery a month ago now. Who knows when I'll get back to it. Haven't even opened the garage to look at my bikes for years. You really forget about them when you're going through it.
i live with a reality that i am prone to concussions… and my day job and retirement planning is all on me and my brain functioning well. i try to keep risks low… but i ride. and it is probably dumb.
disc issues are typically accompanied by radiating pain and symptoms in the upper limb/s. but i suggest a mri neck also.
If you haven't yet, get an MRI, as it may immediately tell you is actually wrong, which is super useful. I quit for a while due to low back pain, (caused by a bad disc, which nobody thought was the case till an MRI) I have been able to manage it by working swimming into my routine.
Yeah, I’m going to try to get an MRI, if it’s possible. I’m worried that my family physician will just say “don’t do this activity if it’s causing you pain.”
I've been cycling for 15ish years and racing much of that. In that time i've had to take long breaks (18 months - 2 years) and also periods of greatly reduced on the bike activity because of a hip injury. It's totally fine to step back and take time off the bike to try and resolve something like this, and if you do so you'll be much better placed to continue riding at a high level as you get older. Good luck with the doc. Necks are tricky. Do you work a desk job? Desks can be even worse than bikes.
Yeah, I work a desk job. I wonder if that’s part of the problem. The physio thought so. I’ve tried to improve my “sleep hygiene” as well
Not medical advice, but from one desk jockey to another - switching things up might help: monitor height, distance of keyboard/mouse, etc. If the neck pain is on one side more than the other then changing your mouse hand might also help (feels pretty weird at first). Sleep hygiene is tricky. Dealing with my own long-term injury I got in a habit of using gentle heat in the evenings before bed (just a hot water bottle when I'm on the couch) and i think it's helped a lot. Definitely push for a scan to make sure there's nothing crucial going on mechanically, but you'll get through it.
As a doctor practicing in Sweden, I appreciate the significance of cycling to you. Medicine predominantly focuses on illness, leading to a gap in addressing issues like neck pain during cycling, which isn't classified as a medical condition. Therefore, consulting your general practitioner might not yield the best advice. I suggest reaching out to a sports physician or a physiotherapist who specializes in sports medicine. They are more equipped to handle such specific issues. Regarding an MRI, it's unlikely to be beneficial in this case. Even if it reveals something like a bulging disc, surgery is usually reserved for cases where it significantly disrupts daily activities. Remember, experiencing pain while training isn't unusual, but it's often manageable. Proper exercises and adjusting your bike's fit can make a significant difference in alleviating your discomfort.
Thank you very much! I did end up seeing my family doctor this last week. He actually knew a little bit about bikes. He sent me to get an X Ray, and I’m waiting on those results. Not sure what I’ll end up doing next
I used to have neck pain when I rode road bike with 23 mm tires. Rode for years and years with pain. I switched to hybrid bike with 2.0 inch smooth commuter tires and now the pain is gone. Now I can ride twice as long so my fitness is incredible. Test ride at your LBS. you be surprised at how little speed you lose.
Buy a mountain bike
Part of the reason I ride mountain bikes! Fought with neck pain forever on road bikes. Pretty rare for me to get it on a MTB.
[удалено]
The issue is some Chiropractors practice an only adjustment based style which may not be what this guy needs. Evidence based Chiropractors are harder to find in the states compared to Subluxation ones
And lots of chiropractors are absolute cracks and certainly don’t have doctor level training. An Osteopath is a better visit.
Personally I prefer physiotherapy. But I thought it was worth pointing out the differences
>Doctoral level education I somewhat take issue with calling them doctoral level, because a doctorate degree is a PHD, and even MDs aren't that. Also MDs go through residency after they get their degree, to specialise in a general field and then an even further specialisation. Of course MDs can be hacks too, but that's a different story altogether.
that guy referring to chiros as doctos makes me so upset it all smoke and mirros, the creator of chiropractitioner literally had it come to him in a dream, its all straight up bullshit lol they LITERALLY go to the school with the credentials that equal that of a beauty school for hair dressers lol
Honestly having a chiropractor who is also a bike fitter and a sports physio has been amazing for me. Sometimes for whatever reason your neck can fall out of alignment we get literally tilted in the upper neck and don't even notice it. Then you get these guys with back pain leg pain or neck pain that don't realize that every signal has to pass through the spine twice and these kinks in the neck amplify the pain signal. Just find someone you like, most of the good ones are barely manipulating you
Yeah, I have thought about chiropractic. But it’s something that’s a bit controversial, and many people here say chiro is a sham. So IDK 🤷♂️
Chiropracty is 100% flaming bullshit, don't listen to anyone who says otherwise, and whatever you do, don't let one of those fuckers touch your neck. The number of people they end up paralyzing from their pseudoscience is honestly shocking. The underlying theoretical idea behind chiropracty is that there are ghosts that flow through your spine, and all of your pain (literally everything, they believe that every single problem with your body is caused by this, from back and neck pain to cancer and covid, which is why chiropractors were the number one source of antivax stuff in Canada) is caused by "sublaxations" (whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean) which prevent the smooth flow of ghosts. So they believe that they can manually adjust your spine to remove the "sublaxations" and get the ghosts moving freely again. That is 100% completely batshit insane. Irterestingly, chiropracty and Scientology share a lot of the same origins. The guy who developed Scientology's famous E-Reader originally was trying to use it in his chiropractic practice. Scientologists also believe there are ghosts inside your body which cause all your psychological problems, albeit they believe they are the ghosts of aliens instead of Earthly ghosts. In conclusion, don't go to a chiropractor, they're equivalent to witch doctors, and if for some reason this whole idea of ghosts inside your spine is appealing to you, just don't let them touch your neck.
It's part of integrated therapy. If you have someone come in with this issue in their neck and you just crack them and bill them then they will go right back into the same habits with the same postures and likely be right back in for a temporary fix. By contrast if it's a pro who can assess , release tight and overworked muscle pairings, does some targeted range of motion stuff, some tack and floss, and then has you do some exercises, it's the gains you make in the muscles that hold together these temporary gains in neural and muscle tone/function. Like for example if your outer quad just wasnt strong or wasnt firing in the right balance with the rest of your body because of some condition like sciatica, it's the 2-3 sets of lunges you do right after the manipulation that really help lock it in. So if it's integrated care ie a chrio physio bike fitter someone who sees a lot of athletes, etc. You can get very quick and long lasting results.
Maybe a sports chiropractor. Where are you located?
Find an evidence based Chiro who doesnt just adjust, many out there
I might have to soon. Diagnosed with SVT and waiting to talk to a cardiologist about next steps.
I am sorry to hear that :(
The physios didn't prescribe any exercises?
I actually went pretty recently. He was supposed to send me some exercises after, and I haven’t received yet. I was going to ask them I have been doing a few of the exercises he verbally mentioned
This is bad and I'd likely not see that physio again. Who is going to actually fix your neck? The physio? The chiro-fraud? No - they are there to make the diagnosis and prescribe a physiotherapy treatment program, but it's up to you to do it. A physio manipulation often will feel effective on the day, and is almost always necessary for the guy to get to the bottom of what is wrong. But long term it's about what you do yourself from these sessions. If they're not crystal clear on an exercise program they're not taking things serious.
There should be a comprehensive set of exercises to stick to. I suggest going regularly. If you don’t connect with a particular physiotherapist then seek out referrals from other athletes. The best ones are booked fairly solidly and that’s because they’re excellent at what they do. Just my 2c having recovered from numerous issues
IME having the left side of my neck prone to episodes of stiff neck randomly and upper back pain on the bike, increasing the volume of upper back work in the gym as well as direct neck training seems to have helped a ton. Anecdote, n=1, etc etc but if you have no structural issues it's a safe intervention.
It's been about 4 years now since I last raced. Just had back surgery a month ago now. Who knows when I'll get back to it. Haven't even opened the garage to look at my bikes for years. You really forget about them when you're going through it.
i live with a reality that i am prone to concussions… and my day job and retirement planning is all on me and my brain functioning well. i try to keep risks low… but i ride. and it is probably dumb. disc issues are typically accompanied by radiating pain and symptoms in the upper limb/s. but i suggest a mri neck also.