# cervical issues with degenerative / compressed disc



## Guest (Jul 5, 2016)

Any and all associated issues your willing to share in the subject matter. What was your course of action to assess, address, and ultimately aid your desire to carry on with your passion to ride?? Was it all medical or did you make bike part changes, i.e stem, rise bars and the like??


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## honkinunit (Aug 6, 2004)

nvphatty said:


> Any and all associated issues your willing to share in the subject matter. What was your course of action to assess, address, and ultimately aid your desire to carry on with your passion to ride?? Was it all medical or did did you make bike part changes, i.e stem, rise bars and the like??


Do you mean degenerative/compressed disk issues?

Your vertebra don't compress, unless you break them.

I have a two level cervical fusion. Look in "Rider Down" for my thread as well as many others.


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## Guest (Jul 5, 2016)

honkinunit said:


> Do you mean degenerative/compressed disk issues?
> 
> I have a two level cervical fusion. Look in "Rider Down" for my thread as well as many others.


yes disc (no not disc golf either) ok i'll check them thanks.


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## jeffscott (May 10, 2006)

exercise, stretch, 

Voltaran gel and pills.

pay very close attention to posture, correct techniques (lifting, sitting).

I did raise the bars, but that didn't change the issues so I dropped them back down.

Seat is at its highest ever.


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## ilanarama (May 20, 2010)

Core work. Lots and lots of core work. Some PT and massage. I had cortisone injections but they only helped for a while. Also I ditched my desk chair and got a kneeling chair, which was probably the biggest help.

I just got back from the San Juan Hut System Durango-Moab ride and only had to take naproxen (the most effective otc drug for my back) 3 times during the 7 days.


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## Guest (Jul 21, 2016)

My PC physician suggested PT as a start point assessment. With the symptoms i have the next day after a ride (neck/shoulder spasms when standing erect or tilting head up) it would seem to me atleast on the surface a nerve/s issue that would generate such feelings.


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## Oh My Sack! (Aug 21, 2006)

Feeling it in your arms or hands? Pain, tingling, numbness?


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## Guest (Jul 21, 2016)

Oh My Sack! said:


> Feeling it in your arms or hands? Pain, tingling, numbness?


absolutely nothing during the ride, all the symptoms rear their ugly head the day after. no tingling or numbness in extremities or hands but right arm ache that eventually subsides just like the neck/shoulder spasms.


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## not2shabby (Sep 19, 2014)

I got a 70 degree, 90mm stem for my Farley. Raised the bars up and back. I had a pinched nerve between C5 and C6 a few years back that required a cortisone shot to relieve the burning, tingling, numbness running down my right arm and just can't stand to be in the 'attack' position all the time. No issues so far with this setup. 
It's easier to look down the trail now too without craning my neck causing stiffness and pain either during or after the ride. The Bluto was a major help too! Now I'm lusting after a new EX8 27 plus for even more comfort.


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## Guest (Sep 20, 2016)

*update*



nvphatty said:


> absolutely nothing during the ride, all the symptoms rear their ugly head the day after. no tingling or numbness in extremities or hands but right arm ache that eventually subsides just like the neck/shoulder spasms.


Had an appointment with the neurologist today (a cyclist) that was quite enlightening after some good Q & A conversation. In summation he's convinced I have the following condition from my rides, not all rides mind you but the kind where the exertion is intense enough to trigger the migraine.

https://migraine.com/headache-types/exertion-headaches/


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## fatcat (Mar 11, 2006)

ugh read that article, 2 days of a migraine sounds awful. Hope things get better for you brother


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## Sanchofula (Dec 30, 2007)

I've had back pain since I was a teen, multiple traumas from MVAs and high speed mishaps. Sometimes I can't bend far enough to get my socks on, most of the time it just hurts. 

I've had the full report with MRI, etc, tried PT and chiropractic (hogwash), used to stretch a ton and that only seems to aggravate the nerves, so I just muddle.

NSAIDs help, I use them prophylactically, got some ulceration with Naproxin so I switched to Tylenol which works fine.

The bummer about back pain is that it generally gets worse because the openings in the spine get smaller as we use our backs because bone grows in all directions; ie the holes the nerves pass though will shrink.

I like biking because I have five points of contact; sometimes I'm more comfirtable riding than walking 

It could always be worse...


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## Sanchofula (Dec 30, 2007)

nvphatty said:


> My PC physician suggested PT as a start point assessment. With the symptoms i have the next day after a ride (neck/shoulder spasms when standing erect or tilting head up) it would seem to me atleast on the surface a nerve/s issue that would generate such feelings.


Yes. Like that, after nearly every ride, at timed it hurts so bad i can't get comfortable sleeping.

Massage helps, fortunately my masseuse sleeps next to me


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