Has anyone else suffered severe neck pain, or even worse, nerve injury, from cycling.

 

I ride about 100 km per week.  My last ride was last Sunday.  

 

On Thursday I woke up with a sore neck and shoulder. It persisted and got worse and on a Friday I didn’t feel able to go to work, walking down to my local orthopaedic doctor’s clinic - I didn’t feel well enough to drive or cycle.  The doctor diagnosed a torn muscle and prescribed anti-inflammatories.  Over the course of Friday it got more painful, and I lost the use of the deltoid muscles, resulting in serious limitation of reach on my right arm, so I went back to the clinic on Saturday morning. The duty doctor was somewhat baffled, and I’m off for an MRI tomorrow Monday afternoon.

 

Has anyone else heard of a similar ailment from cycling - perhaps specifically caused by vibration and strain on the arms / shoulders / neck supporting yourself on long road bike rides?

 

SC

Before i had a properly sized bike fitted to me, i had several serious shoulder and wrist issues. Spent months in and out of PT. Once I had a properly sized bike fitted by a professional, all those problems went away.

 

If you haven't already, I suggest getting your bike fitted once you recover. I'd also double-check that setup if the fitter and LBS servicing your bike are different (speaking from experience ). 

What kind of bike are you riding? Roadbike with a sporty low handlebar setup? First thoughts are higher the bars and get more comfortable. Maybe get a one of those adjustable stems that angles up so you can find a comfortable position. 

            I have had neck pain during and after some rides and i found it was more to do with bad posture off the bike. Lounging on the sofa with a laptop on my knees editing videos for hours. Smartphone in hand looking down on the screen again whilst lounging on the sofa etc etc. I addressed those things and and the neck shoulder pain disappeared. 

I went back to the doctor today to look over the MRI results.

He reckons the problem is dessicated (fragmented) discs resulting in pressure on the nerves, possibly as a result of long-term deterioration following a whiplash neck dislocation 30 years ago.

 

I'm not entirely confident that he is correct that there is no short-term issue; also he believes that the muscle pains are caused by nerve impingement rather than real muscle issues, which again I am not 100% confident he is right.  

 

As it is, I am taking the cycling easy - at least doing less.  I managed a fairly quick 25 km, so other than the neck injury, I'm in as good shape as I've been for a long time

 

SC

Things are gradually getting better day by day, but I am worried about long-term recurrence.

 

I'm also setting good strava segments - probably because of the shorter rides, and I'm sure not because of the hydrocortazone the doctor has given me, and besides, it's for medical reasons.

 

I can see me being suspended from Strava after this... and probably thrown out of this forum as well

 

SC

 

Edit: This morning, fastest time this year up the hill by the office, despite being on my town bike with a pannier with change of clothes for the office (my fourth fastest overall, but fastest since 2016); and I wasn't really pushing it today...

In all seriousness, for the sorts of hydrocortisone steroids readily prescribed by the doctor, should there be any significant effect on an amateur's performance?

 

Since the last two weeks, I've been on a variety of hydrocortisone pills and creams for pain relief and swelling reduction, and as mentioned above, being cycling as quickly as I can recall.  

 

Having said that, before the recent neck ailment for which these medicines were prescribed, I'd also improved rapidly since the hip replacement operation, for which I'd been on antibiotics only; I'm just hoping that this is improved fitness and I'm not becoming a 'roid freak.  

 

I'm also nervous about being banned from Pubcycle 2018, Le Tour de Sid's, later this year.  Drug testing is optional, but I'm still confident about passing the alcohol test. 

 

SC

You'll be pleased to hear that my arm is recovering its movement; not fully yet, but still getting better, day by day.  

What kind of bike are you riding? Roadbike with a sporty low handlebar setup? First thoughts are higher the bars and get more comfortable. Maybe get a one of those adjustable stems that angles up so you can find a comfortable position. 

            I have had neck pain during and after some rides and i found it was more to do with bad posture off the bike. Lounging on the sofa with a laptop on my knees editing videos for hours. Smartphone in hand looking down on the screen again whilst lounging on the sofa etc etc. I addressed those things and and the neck shoulder pain disappeared. 

I had exactly the same problem you mentioned, bad posture off the bike. 20+ years of working at a screen which was too low on my desk or using a laptop. 6 months of working with a very high screen position solved that.

Just changed jobs and spent 6 months working from a laptop and the pain in my neck returned whilst cycling. Back to the high screen again now so hopefully it will start to recover again

 

 

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