Experiencing some pain on just ONE side of neck.

Sunderland Supporter

What do you make of this ? I am 5 ft 8 inches and I ride a 54cm frame, I believe this is classified as a size medium by a lot of manufacturers. I checked a fair few sizing charts and all specified for my height that a size medium was appropriate . The stem size I use is 100mm also. Im not reaching out for the hoods ,nor do I feel overstretched and the bike feels very comfortable to ride on. A niggle is that after about 30 miles, I often get a kind of stiffness down the left side of my neck , whilst the right side is 101 % fine. I try to deal with it by stretching my neck muscles from time to time, but Im curious as to why just the one side. Anybody able to offer advice which may be of some help ?

desweller

What sort of job do you do? Does it involve sitting at a computer for long periods of time?

I'm getting pain in the left of my neck which I think is caused by computer use and aggravated by cycling. Going for a bike fit soon so will find out one way or another.

Sunderland Supporter

DesWeller wrote:

What sort of job do you do? Does it involve sitting at a computer for long periods of time?

I'm getting pain in the left of my neck which I think is caused by computer use and aggravated by cycling. Going for a bike fit soon so will find out one way or another.

Yeah I work in an office..........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, wonder if its related in any way

andrewjoseph

nobody is symmetrical, maybe one arm is shorter than the other, try moving the left shifter back a bit.

also, make sure you are looking around a lot and do neck and shoulder exercises whilst riding. twist your neck as far as you can each direction, roll your shoulders forward and back etc.

marcusjb

I've suffered neck pain on one side of the neck before - and totally agree that it is possibly something that is nothing to do with the cycling that is causing it (I wouldn't recommend a bike fit as the first step - I'd work on identifying the cause of the issue before trying to compensate for it on a bike).

If you are a desk worker - then position of keyboard, monitor etc. may be causing you to look one way more than the other - have a look at your position and see if you're twisting (I was doing so to work on a second monitor which was angled at one side of my desk off from my laptop - I ended up moving them both flat onto me centrally).

It's certainly worth talking to your GP about - I was referred to the local physio clinic and got a series of appointments that both helped with sorting the issue out, and easing any discomfort if my neck gets sore now.

Bike fit is obviously important (but, as I said before, get the underlying problem identified first) - but as andrewjoseph mentions - move around on the bike - drop your arms (one at a time!) by your side, shake them out a bit, roll your shoulders and neck about.

Learn to drink/eat with both hands and alternate - when you are drinking (in particular), you are putting a lot of weight on the hand you've left on the bars, whilst (usually) twisting your neck/head upwards - it's not a great position for the neck - so try and drink from both hands alternatively.

A buff around the neck can help - just keeps any cold drafts off the neck which may aggravate things (even in summer).

Once you've solved the underlying issues - treat yourself to a fitting session - then you'll be setup perfectly!

I hope you get it sorted!

Sunderland Supporter

When out riding, does anyone mainly focus on the road to say within 10metres directly ahead of the front wheel ? I find the lifting of the head to look directly straight ahead can be felt in the neck muscles.

andrewjoseph

Sunderland Supporter wrote:

When out riding, does anyone mainly focus on the road to say within 10metres directly ahead of the front wheel ? I find the lifting of the head to look directly straight ahead can be felt in the neck muscles.

No, you should look as far down the road as I can see. if you are not looking down the road as far as possible then you are not getting yourself ready in time to cope with any sudden dangers.

if you can't lift your head comfortably to look down the road then your position is off. lift the stem up or get a different stem. You need to see where you want to go. 10m is way too short a distance.

Dougal_bug

I suffer a bit from migraines and headaches, and like yourself, having extended my rides, found that I was begininning to suffer from one sided neck pain. Did a bit of a google search, and the results mirrors what others have said. I have found that I put more weight on my left side, and never reach for the drinks bottle with the left hand, so am working on this.

Have also found - working in an office, since I noticed it, that i tend to lean on my left arm when typing. Although my balance is good, my natural reaction is to be more reliant on my left arm when leaning and holding myself up. Also where I sit in the office the aircon unit blows doen my left shoulder, so I take more care to keep warm, especially during lunch hours when the office tends to get a bit colder as people pop up for a while!

By trying to teach myself to share the weight, it has helped reduce the problem and improve my posture. At the same time I started to have a bath after the ride rather than a shower, and that seems to have added benefit too.

ilm_zero7

it does sound a bit like you have an issue with your stem length

incog24

Do you sleep on your front? This can result in you having a lot of tension in one side of your neck that might play up on the bike.

Sunderland Supporter

ILM Zero7 wrote:

it does sound a bit like you have an issue with your stem length

explain please

andrewjoseph

if the stem is too long or too low, you are leaning too far forward and can't lift your head high enough to see far enough down the road.

if there are any spacers above the stem, swap them to underneath. if you still can't see far enough, then you may need a shorter stem or one with more rise.

does your stem point down? if it does try reversing it so it points up.

wardieboy

Could be how you are turning around to check behind you? I ride with a buddy and sometimes get robot neck (old ju jitsu injury) when checking over my shoulder to quickly.

Rigged

I notice this is the 2nd thread you've mentioned your neck being a problem; how is your neck off the bike? Can you turn your head to the sides normally without pain? Can you tip your head back to look straight up to the sky comfortably? Can you touch your chin to your chest ok?