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Neck Pain with Cycling
If you're having some pain in your shoulder or neck, seeing a specialist could save you a ton of time and money. Until then, get to know your culprit a bit better. There’s a lot of reasons why you can be having pain. There are 17 muscles alone that touch the shoulder blade than overlay joints, ligaments, and ribs.
How you work is probably how you ride..
Do you spend a lot of time at a desk? At the computer? Me too! Heck I’m slouched on the couch writing this right now.
Now think of your posture on the bike…it probably mimics how you’re sitting at work.
This is not a bad thing! It’s not realistic to find perfect posture all day, on the bike or at the desk. But spending time finding better posture and more postures throughout the day could help to build a better cycling and work experience.
Rounding your shoulders and ‘hunching’ your back tends to overwork muscles - chest, upper traps, and even certain neck muscles. Overworked muscles create knots or “trigger points” which have the potential to refer pain toward your shoulder blade
Car Back!
Each vertebrae of your spine has joints on the right and left side called “facets.” These joints allow for your neck to move. on your left!
These facet joints host and highway a ton of nerves. Those nerves travel through a tunnel between the vertebrae and go to different parts of your arm; giving you both sensation and muscle activity.
When looking up from your drops or looking back at a car or another rider you put pressure on these joints which can refer to pain in different areas of your shoulder and arm. and might also explain some of those tingling palms and fingers.
What Should I do?
Check out this Instagram post for 3 stretches to help counter back and neck tightness!
You should always consult with a qualified PT or medical professional to learn the true underlying reason for why you're having pain. There is the potential of referred pain from cardiovascular and GI systems that can mimic pain at your neck.
You can use me as your first stop to be evaluated, I am trained to be a direct access provider. During an evaluation we go through extensive tests to learn the root cause of your pain; if I think physical therapy can help I can start working with you right away without having a referral from a doctor. If we come to the conclusion you should visit with your doctor prior to starting physical therapy we will talk about that and get you to the right person.