neck and shoulder pain

[masking_agent]

I've suddenly experienced sharp pain on my left side after 1 hour of riding.
The area is my lower left neck and upper left shoulder. The pain then extends down my left deltoid area after 90mins of riding.

Any ideas on how to alleviate this ? I''m pretty sure is a posture issue that I have to fix. But what do I change ?

saddle height ?
stem ?
handlebars ?

any advice would be greatly appreciated.

thx

 

[Alpechraxler]

I don't know how old you are but i would check with your doctor if it could be heart related.

 

[masking_agent]

I'm 40 years old.

 

[JayKosta]

I'd check seat height to make sure your hips are not tilted or rocking, and not having to 'reach' at bottom of pedal stroke with either leg.
Maybe a slight difference in leg length?

Also do some wrist, arm & upper body stretches daily.
And some push-ups on a daily or every other day basis - not to build bulk, but for a litle better upperbody strength.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

 

[masking_agent]

will take heed, thanks..

 

[DirtyWorks]

I've suddenly experienced sharp pain on my left side after 1 hour of riding.
The area is my lower left neck and upper left shoulder. The pain then extends down my left deltoid area after 90mins of riding.

Any ideas on how to alleviate this ? I''m pretty sure is a posture issue that I have to fix. But what do I change ?

If it is a sudden onset, then what has changed to bring it on?

Along with checking the height of the saddle, check the tilt. You should be able to flap your elbows easily to the point of raising your hands off the bars a few centimeters. If your hips don't sit in the saddle in a relaxed way, then that little experiment will be hard to do over 500 meters.

Secondarily, some general weight training strengthening the upper body and core should give you some clues too. I don't get bulky at 10-15 reps, and I've made the same recommendation over the years with good comments. YMMV.

 

[masking_agent]

could be the ever so slight change in the height of the seat. I raised it, then lowered it and now maybe I'm off my a few mm's which could be affecting me ?

 

[Polyarmour]

I get the same pain and I'm pretty sure it's related to stem length, the neck doesn't like stretching out and looking up. For the moment I'm putting up with it because my position on the drops is pretty aero and it only becomes a problem after a couple of hours on the bike.

 

[masking_agent]

thanks. I can't replace the stem at the moment, (as i'm replacing the entire bike) so I'll simply raise it and hopefully it helps.

 

[brianf7]

Tilt the bars so you have a shorter reach to the hoods and try that first when you get a new bike get it fitted properly stem too far forward seat too far back or too high cleats too far back. Could be anything. But dont let it stop you riding find it and fix it.

 

[Barracuda]

" If pain persists, see your doctor" Seriously, refer to my post under c6 herniated disk....... get it checked out if it doesnt end up being bike related...............

 

[M Sport]

I've suddenly experienced sharp pain on my left side after 1 hour of riding.
The area is my lower left neck and upper left shoulder. The pain then extends down my left deltoid area after 90mins of riding.

Stem too long I would say. Get a 10-20mm shorter one off flea bay and see if it fixes the problem. Or get get someone to take a photo of you side on on the trainer. If it looks like you're doing the superman then that's causing your neck pain.

Your hands on the hoods shouldn't really be more than a 60 degree angle. Your head tube as a reference angle is around about 73 +/- 2

 

[Barracuda]

How are you getting on...???