ok any doctors in the house ?
so a few months say 3 months ago, i was ill with traumatic head pain (tight headband headches constantly for 12 weeks, which Mri scan showed nothing serious,,, so the next thing was to have a neck x-ray as the pain originally started in my neck which caused terrific ‘headpain’… so just got the results back today and i have a straighter neck than normal…. most peoples necks have a nice curve in it…but mine is almost upright. the discs show nice spaces between them so thats not a problem, looks like muscle spasms coming from the neck….. whilst out riding last nite i had alot of neck pain with the heaviness of my water didnt help (i was on along ride…glad to get home,,,, anyway why would my neck not be normal ( does it grow like this or have i always had a straighter neck ? who knows…just that getting older makes things appear worse. 😥 and no ive never had whiplash…

People come in all different shapes and sizes.

What would I do? I’d be looking at getting some physio to help me strengthen my neck, back and shoulder muscles and see if they could do anything about my posture.

im in the process now …. you know what its like to get help from the N.H.S …very poor… 14 weeks wait for physio… im ringing docs tomorow just to check im still on the list or even if im on it at all!!
afrien of mine has just waited 15 weeks for phsyio…grrrrrr not good is it.

That kind of wait is not good for either side of the equation. Chronic injuries are much much harder to treat.

Have a chat to a chiropractor, when I damaged my neck I used one and the treatment received worked wonders. The hospital did not even recognise that I had a damaged neck!

Sounds like muscle spasm causing loss of the normal curvature of neck.

Physio good. Also swimming – crawl supposed to help too.

as a long term neck/back pain sufferer I’d second swimming, but crawl, not breast stroke. You can combine with postural stuff too – have a look at ‘Alexander technique’ and ‘Art of Swimming’ I have less pain and swim better now in my mid 40’s than 20 yrs ago.

Same symptoms here, if anything too much curvature, tho’ that’s probably unrelated. Headache came on badly whilst on the roadbike about 9 years ago – muscles in spasm. Had a month of it before physio (possibly) helped. I get a repeat from time-to-time, usually no more than a day. Had a lengthy repeat (of about a month) last year – usual self-manipulation didn’t work, took a couple of months to work out what did.

Xrays/mri (the latter for an ulnar nerve problem) didn’t show up anything, other that some excess curvature – so no real idea of the cause. Too much headbanging as a teenager? Probably not..

I sold the road bike some years back, mtb’s on the limit of comfort, currently all my commuting (or riding, come to that) is on a recumbent. Tho’ I ought to get out on an upright, not doing so’s probably allowing the neck muscles to weaken a bit, and the recumbent doesn’t use the back muscles (or the legs) in the same way.
On the bright side – it’s a good reason for another bike…or few 😉

A few things that help me – hot flannel on back of the neck, hot bath, dropping the head down so the chin’s on the chest.

I’ve done Pilates for years, doesn’t help directly but helps posture a little, plus body awareness – as IainC suggested, Alexander Technique could well be useful to help identify bad habits.

I must admit I’d be inclined to splash out on some physio whilst you’re waiting for the nhs, it might give you some early relief – the two things that seemed to help me at the the was manipulation of the vertebrae right at the top of the neck under the skull, and some traction on the neck. Got a few useful exercises to do, too. Nowadays the problem site seems to have dropped lower down the neck.
YMMV, of course.

Good luck with getting it sorted, it’s a bloody nuisance at times 🙁

Something like a wingnut pack may help stop it recurring once you have it sorted out if your current pack is making it worse.

if you are using a camelbak type pack it may that the rucksack is too long try a woman specific one

14 weeks wait for physio

There’ll be a priority order for physio. Go back to your GP and say things like you can’t sleep and it’s affecting your work (assuming these are true) rather than you can’t ride your bike, and you should get an earlier appointment.

whats a wingnut pack ?

whats a wingnut pack ?

here

when you say traumatic head pain, did you suffer an injury? If so, the overly straight neck is probably a reaction to this injury. If muscle tissue is damaged you tend to hold limbs/ head etc in a way that causes you as little pain as possible, it is possible that whilst recovering from this injury you muscles have healed in a manner which affects your posture.

Having said that, you also say that there is no history of whiplash, so i’m not sure if there has been any history of trauma?

If this is the case, and the pain is not a result of traumatic injury then it is most likely a result of your own posture, as said above, every one is different, it may be that you have spent the last few years with your head/neck shoulders held in a position which is comfortable for you, but implies undue straightening to your neck? Or, it could be a natural state for your neck, and as discussed above it could be muscular spasm.

Unfortunately the NHS is stretched to a level where non emergency treatment is pushed so far down the list it might as well just not happen, I would suggest seeing a private physiotherapist, or as suggested above a chiropractor. I appreciate that many people are sceptical towards the practice of chiropractic, but it worked for me.

Good luck

Necks support a lot of weight and yet when we exercise we very rarely target the neck to build neck strength.

If it is as serious a problem as it sounds it might probably be worth getting measured for position on bike at one of these specialist bike shops; a few mm or degrees change in stem could make all the difference.

I developed some upper back/neck pain back in June (thought it was just a crick in the neck to start with but got worse and ended up not being able to turn my neck and even staying in a neutral position was painful).

As I wanted to see someone quickly I rang the local physio/chiro clinic and they only had a chrio slot free that day so went with that (never used either before and would have preferred a physio after reading some of the anti-chiro stuff on here). Although she did a bit of neck/back ‘cracking’ she did lots of muscle work to and knew exactly where all the tender spots were without me pointing them out. I wasn’t magically cured after the session but it was enough that wasn’t painful in a neutral position and could move my head a bit.

Been back a few times now and it’s getting better, ofc it might have anyway but I still thing there’s something underlying that’s wrong (possibly related to when I clipped a tree at speed on the MTB…) so I’m also waiting on x-ray stuff now (GP examined and said there’s nothing wrong but chiro wants to check as a second opinion for alignment etc.). The sessions are £35 each time (first couple were a week apart, then went to two weeks and now at 6 weeks) so not exactly cheap but not much in the scheme of things and she does suggest various strecthes/strengthing exercises so it’s far different to what I thought a chiro would be and am happy with the treatment I’ve received. Certainly no way I’d have waited 14 weeks for someone to see me!

well i phoned the docs today just to check i was on the physio list and after waiting x amount of weeks i find out im not even on the list (argggghh doctors fault diabolical failur ! i said i was no way going to wait another 12 weeks so he said if you aint heard anything in a months time then ring up agin…. god its shite this N.H.S..you are like sheep being hearded round and round and getting stuck in the middle ring sometimes..grrrr
in the meantimes ive found a massuer (massager who will let me have a massage for 20 quid, whilst i wait for physio ..

I would not wait. Make an appointment to see either a physio/chiropractor/osteopath. Chiropractor has always sorted me out but would suggest you go by personal recommendation.

With regard to the Wingnut, I have been using one for a couple of years now. Previously used a Camelbak but found it pulled on my shoulders due to the depth of it, ie how far it stuck out.

The Wingnut is brilliant but, from memory, you are petite. Mine needed to be adjusted (by sewing machine) at the shoulders and also the chest strap set at a different level. The weight is better distributed.

I really don’t think you should ignore this pain any longer, that in itself can cause problems with your body compensating.

Good luck and do report back. 🙂

You’re getting old 😉
Death is just around the corner

geez cheers Dyna thats just what i wanted to hear ! 😉

in the meantimes ive found a massuer (massager who will let me have a massage for 20 quid, whilst i wait for physio ..

You shouldn’t pay much more than that for a private physio appointment and will probably be much more useful in the long term.

ditch the rucksack and look to your riding position / posture. Your spine has a series of curves in it and cycling distorts these curves

Sports massage might help as well.