I have some disk degradation in my C5-C6 joint in my neck resulting in some minor bulging and therefore some minor nerve compression. Its getting on my nerves in other words..

I get tingling in my fingers and also a stiff neck quite often from just day to day activities but it was initial made worse when
mounting biking. I stopped for a while then rode again without a camebak and it helped. When road biking it seems to linger also due to the position im in but the more often I ride the better it gets, infact the fitter I get the better regarding pain. Stress doesn’t help at all.

Biggest issue is the turbo. unless I use it frequently and really focus on not tensing my face/neck at high intensity, it hurts(coz your stronger when you grimace right!). Although if I forget about the issue in the first place the better it is. Arghhhhh!

After seeing the consultant (post MRI) again this week, hes not overly concerned as its not consistent, and he thinks it will go but may take a while, therefore, its not worth getting the scalpels out as the post op recovery will be worse than living with it.

Is there anybody else in the same situation as me. Be nice to here how your getting on and what you do to keep on top of it etc..

I had an episode last year for the first time, that turns out is likely related to crash damage to my neck from about 7 years ago, where I separated my shoulder and wrapped myself around a tree.

Lots of rear shoulder, tricep and hand pain, loss of sensation and significant loss of power from my right arm. I went from being to bash out 35 press ups in one go to not being able to manage 1.
Resultant muscle wastage was fairly severe, and I’m still not back up to what I was. Consultant says I’m unlikely to ever fully recover since the nerve root apertures are narrowed permanently and nerves don’t always fully recover from damage.

I don’t ride road bikes at all, and haven’t for years but at one stage wasn’t strong enough to support my weight against the bars. Posture at my office desk became ultra important and I recovered over about 5 months. It’s always there and reminds me in no time when I slouch.

My consultant said they don’t treat for loss of function, only pain and since I was recovering very well (his words). He recommended exercises for posture and living with it.

He said that outcomes from surgery to decompress nerves in the neck were often marginal over the original symptoms, and putting recovery time of fairly invasive surety on top meant the value case didn’t really stack up.

The thing that really help me was understanding that after the initial event resulting in the nerve injury/irritation, the problem is compounded by inflammatory response. Hitting it hard with ibuprofen, whilst not a good long term strategy, had the single largest impact in being able to manage it. Infact, heavy anti-inflammatory use really put me in a place to start my longer term recovery.

I have had issues in the past with my neck (c4) and got the pins and needles down the arm etc. When it flares up I find a few accupuncture sessions does enough to reduce the inflammation. I thought it was all mumbo jumbo in till I tried it and it works for me when physio and medication did not.

I damaged two discs in my lower back. For some months I couldn’t sit upright or walk very far. Caused by being knocked into a ditch when out time trialling one night. Finished me testing because I couldnt bend over.
Concentrated on mountain biking as I could choose my speed and route, and stop when I fancied. Even that became too much so I had a couple of years off the bike. Now I’m back but age and wear and tear on my body means that I’m only good for a couple of hours ride per day.

Discs have largely repaired themselves as they apparently do, but they never quite go back to how they should be so I’ll never be perfect again.

C’est la vie.