Rstyle

There is a recent thread about drop bars and developing neck pain.
My question is assuming, as it is in my case, no surgery, no history of trauma, minimal degenerative changes on X-ray and pain only when riding my bike.

After taking a 6-8 month break from riding, I have started again ( Trek with drop bars - same bike as before) and after 25-30 miles I start getting pain in my lower neck and shoulders ( also but unrelated to my question in medial epicondyles of elbows possibly from putting too much weight on arms when leaning instead of core muscles).
Several people in the other thread reported significant improvement with stretches and exercises for the neck. I have heard shoulder shrugs with dumbells help.......any other suggestions or references. Thanks

Carbonfiberboy 

First, read this thread:
https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...discovery.html

Next, move your saddle back until, while riding with hands on the hoods, you can briefly lift both hands off the bars without sliding forward on the saddle. This assumes a level saddle. You should be able to ride with one hand behind your back without it being uncomfortable. This may require a set-back seatpost if you don't already have one. You want to look like this rider:
That will get most of the weight off your hands. Then exercises. Yes, dumbbells. Shrugs, overhead presses, lateral raises, front raises, bent-over raises. I also do bench and incline dumbbell presses. Youtube. Use enough weight that the 12th rep is very difficult. To cut down on the time required, I'll superset the 3 raises all with the same weight.

canklecat

Very familiar problem. I have a permanent C2 injury from a car wreck so re-adapting to a road bike has been a struggle. Heck, it was difficult adapting to anything but an upright comfort hybrid but I've gradually improved since 2015.

Bike fit helps. Exercise for strengthening and flexibility helps. But depending on the physical problem there may always be some discomfort and limitations.

I've been on a road bike for five weeks as of yesterday. The first two weeks were painful, not much fun. But I rode nearly every day in June and most days so far in July, mostly on the road bike. And exercises. By last week it was finally less uncomfortable and I felt energized after rides rather than exhausted and needing a couple of ibuprofen and soaking in a hot bath of epsom salts.

For now I'm keeping most rides on the road bike down to 10-20 miles, mostly doing hill training intervals. I still prefer my hybrid for longer enjoyable rides. But it'll improve with time. I just need to remind myself to keep doing the stretches and strengthening exercises. I'd rather just ride but it won't work that way.

Rstyle

Thank you.
The info is exactly what i was looking for.
Will start working on it tomorrow

steelbikeguy

I had neck issues starting around age 46 or so. It hurt a bit when riding and was causing pinched nerves while sleeping and such. In retrospect, I should have seen a doctor at that point. Some physical therapy could have prevented issues.

Instead, I assumed that this was normal aging, and ended up with some seriously pinched nerves that caused lasting damage. A poorly skilled neurologist kept me from getting proper physical therapy for many years. Fortunately, the physical therapy was quite useful! The correct stretches and exercises got me back on my bikes and I'm doing quite well now.

The trick, of course, is getting a proper diagnosis and identifying what your specific problem is and what is needed to correct it. Most people can benefit from general stretching and core exercises, but there aren't many reasons to not go to a trained professional who has the correct training and experience.

I will say that even with good care from a physical therapist, it still took me over a year to get the muscles back into condition and be able to ride more than 40 or 50 miles without neck issues.


Steve in Peoria

rossiny

Just throwing this out there. Do u wear glasses,? I have a stiff neck from riding and noticed I have to raise my neck higher when on the drops or else I am not looking thru my glasses which I need of course, so when I lift my head further up to look thru my glasses I get a bit uncomfortable and not as relaxed. I got to figure some thing out about this , maybe different glasses or a stem that puts me more upright??

canklecat

I had a similar experience -- misdiagnosis by an incompetent neurologist who seemed more concerned with whining about his pending divorce. He was dismissive of my complaints about dizziness, nausea and severe headaches.

A couple of years later an alert radiologist noticed my C2 vertebrae was splintered into three pieces. The second neurologist confirmed the damage. Unfortunately by then the case was settled and I had no recourse. The insurance settlement barely covered my medical expenses just for the year after the accident, let alone the 15 years of recovery and physical therapy I did completely on my own.

Good point. I had to try several pairs of sunglasses to find a set that sat naturally on the bridge of my nose so I could peek up from the drops without craning my neck into an unnatural position.

I took that kind of mobility for granted when I was younger before the injury, but the simple act of craning my neck upward as road racers do routinely, or even looking up at the night sky, became very difficult after the injury. Even now, although I'm doing better, if I look up too quickly, or try to peek over my shoulder while riding rather than using the mirror, I'll feel a sudden stabbing pain in the eyes and dizziness.

Machka 

Easy fix ... don't ride in the drops.

Set the bicycle up so that you're comfortable riding on the hoods.

ironwood

A taller stem ,if you have a quill stem, or an extender for threadless, might help. For me a Nitto Technomic stem was one of my best investmrents.

Rstyle

Thanks for all the responses.
I do wear glasses- sunglasses..
I do change my position, hoods, drops, bar frequently.
Not as concerned about a medical issue because I do not have pain in the neck any other time ( I play golf, scuba dive, hike). Only when riding the bike while looking up
for a prolonged period of time.
No refered pain, no numbness and the feeling that a good massage in the lower neck and medial aspect of the shoulders after the ride would be amazing

peterws

Craning your neck is never going to do anybody good. go over a pothole and see what happens . . . .
I develop sore shoulders and neck if the handlebars are either too far forward or too low, or both.
Straights with bar ends are good. Plus a long stem, and you'll find your sweet spot.

Rstyle

I raised the nose of my seat to level and raised- turned hoods up maybe 1/2 inch,
Handlebar at same height.
Did two 40 mile rides. Significant improvements.
Legs and butt fine
No numbness in hands and no elbow pain ( I figure I was leaning forward too much).
Still some neck discomfort but much later in the ride.
Doing shoulder neck stretches and exercises.
May raise handlebar a little bit .
Happy! Closer to the " sweet spot"

3949dxer

I wear glasses and had that exact problem. I added a Richey extension on my drop bars to life them up about 2.5", and also rotated then upward a little bit. That combination was a perfect solution for me, no more neck pain.

CliffordK

One question. Did you ever have neck pain last year, or is this all new from after the break. Perhaps it will just take a bit of time to get used to the bike again.

On a similar note, I noticed that the visors on my cheap helmets obscured the top of my field of vision, so now the visors are the first thing to go.

I do have glasses. I remember when I got the last pair, the shop asked me if they should fit above or below the eyebrows. Since sweat is a problem above the eyebrows, I said below... but now that I'm thinking about cycling, I'm not sure if that is the correct, but maybe not wrong either.

However, my distance vision is good enough that I can also peer through the gap between the glasses and they eyebrows It can also be of a benefit when it is just too wet or foggy out to see through the glasses, but I still need the glasses to protect the eyeballs.

Machka 

Good.

Getting the fit right makes a world of difference.

canklecat

Since my last post to this thread I've added foam pads to my drop bars. Big difference in comfort. The palm/wrist numbness and elbow aches have eased up. Less neck discomfort from road chatter over chipseal and rough pavement. I'm not bunching my shoulders or tensing up as much.

The foam is rather thick, about 1/2", raising the effective bar height more than I needed. So I lowered the stem about 1/4" and may go even lower. The effective height of the top of the bar is still about an inch below saddle height.