General Cycling Discussion - Eyeglass mirrors cause neck pain/pinched nerves?

I used to swear by those little "Third Eye", eyeglass mirrors, since I ride with music sometimes. Plus I just like to be able to see what's coming up from behind without having to turn.

Late in the season last year I began to have a lot of neck pain and pinched nerve feeling in my neck and back on my left side. Eventually it got pretty severe and I was in a lot of pain for a month or so. Over the winter it has gradually subsided and now it's pretty much gone, but it was pretty bad for awhile. I've been riding over the winter but I haven't been using those mirrors anymore, because when the pain was bad I couldn't move my neck much.

Anyways, I've been riding quite a bit for the last month or so and it dawned on me that it might have been the constant movement from checking that rear view mirror that caused, or at least contributed to, the injury. Now I have a small bar end mirror, and instead of moving my head up and to the left to check what's behind, now I just have to swivel my eyes a little bit down and to the left, which seems to be a much more natural movement.

Somewhere I read that the optic nerve in your eyes are connected to the nerves in your neck and back and blah, blah, medical science and all that confusing crap. But the concept that the constant repetitive movement of your eyes and neck muscles in one direction could cause an injury makes some sense.

I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced anything like neck pain, pinched nerves, etc. from having either eyeglass or helmet mounted mini-mirrors?

Sorry, didn't feel that pain from the glasses mirrors I used for years. Then I switched to glasses that didn't have rigid frames and had to stop using them. The ones attached to helmets worked when I had a rigid shell helmet. The glued on kinds always quickly failed. I HAVE had the neck pains but they were always related to repetitive motion activities I do. What else could be causing the problem? While I am not wild about Chiropractors they may be the people to deal with your problem. Or a sports medicine doctor. Or a physical therapist.

I use a helmet-visor-mounted mirror and have a bar-end mirror on one of my bikes.
My head barely moves when using the helmet mirror, but I have to look down to use the bar-end.

Maybe you just didn't find the mirror's optimal position.

As a chiropractor myself I can tell you that repetitive motion can most certainly be a cause of irritation to both the vertebrae themselves and possibly their surrounding tissue (including nerves.) I have many patients who suffer from repetitive motion injuries...carpenters, factory workers, fork-lift drivers..the list goes on and on. Our body is very good at adapting to the positions we put it in and the motions we put it through but often that comes at a price. While I can't say for sure if chiropractic care would benefit you I would recommend you get your neck checked out. Chiropractors vary wildly in technique and ability and as such I further recommend you select one thoughtfully. If you would like to PM me with your location I would be happy to see if I can refer you to someone in your area.

Hope that helped.