"I have a swim/run brick planned tonight (45mins/12k), can I still do it?"

Honestly, I think only you can answer this question.

This happens to me all the time. Honestly I just grit through it. sometimes it lasts a day sometimes a week. No matter what I do it seems to go away on its own schedule (currently dealing with one that happened while toweling off my hair after my shower yesterday.)

Running and biking might not be bad, but swimming is a biatch b/c I can't turn my head on my strong breathing side.

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This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time. - Fight Club
Industry Brat.

THANKS!!! Glad to hear I'm not the only guy that has this experience...

I'm going to try to swim tonight, but I'll see how it goes. If too much of a struggle, then I will brick out to a run. Grit, well said...

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2008- Ironman USA Lake Placid

Hello. As you can tell by my name, I have experience here. I can't answer the question re working out, that's for you to decide based on the severity. I will say though that I have had 3 cervical herniations (some degeneration there) and 1 of the 3 was doing something as seemingly innocent as measuring something - I think I was twisting moving a light box. The twitch, followed immediately by shoulder/neck stiffness, and pain radiating down both sides of traps. Mine went all the way into rhomboids as well, it really just depends on which disc is out of whack and where the nerves from that disc lead to. And after all, a muscle spasm, though it sounds not too serious (to someone who's never had one), can either be just an inflammation/tightness caused by some pressing on a nerve leading to the muscle, or, worse yet, can be simply the symptom of a more serious herniation which causes the nerve to trigger. I'd get it checked out by a sports doc.

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http://thechuckblog.blogspot.com

hmmmm... that is no good. i've had these that have literally put me down for a day or two because i could not move or breath well. I always thought that is was just a bak 'kink' and not anything more serious - just inconvienient.
I may have to mention this to my new ostiopathic doc neighbor. -love that first visit from the new neighbor, "hey Neighbor, you're a doc right? Mind giving me a quick physical?"

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This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time. - Fight Club
Industry Brat.

The "1-2 day down" thing shouldn't be taken to mean it's not serious just bc it clears up. With me, it almost always lost its edge within 2-3 days, leaving only some lingering tightness. After 2 of them in 6 months, I had an MRI (human burrito) which diagnosed the degeneration and had (physical) therapy. The PT was tough bc was still tight and pain the first couple/few weeks. Then it happened again and I got cortisone injections which loosened everything, leading to much more productive therapy. Been "clean" since 10/05 with only minor tightness every so often. can't reverse the degen, so tweaks will happen bc of the closeness of the vertebrae to each other in the area with the discs have degnerated. In the simplest terms (for those unaware of how it works, as I was also), a doc explained it to me like this. the discs are jelly donuts bw the vertebrae and the nerves shoot out through that area (pretty much). herniation = loss of jelly and the full cushion of the donut, causing the vertebrae to get closer. Short of surgery, the don't move further apart. Prevention handled by (a) being very careful with everything you do (one of mine was caused by picking up my kid) and (b) working on core strength to strengthen the area to prevent lots of looseness and shifting.

Here's the crazy thing. Of course yoga and the like is great for core, but I have trouble sitting in a tough position as required by a lot of that bc puts strain on neck - the same neck trying to strengthen by the exercise. sucks. I pretty much do a core routine w/o yoga or the like. Once you get the injury in order, here is a good routine that works on the core w/o too much strain.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/...il.asp?articleid=486

Look on "other articles" too on the right. Most of the stuff shown in the link above is for general core and some on the right address the cervical area too.

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http://thechuckblog.blogspot.com

Any idea what causes the degredation? i went to a chiro a couple summers ago and had xrays and the like, but he never mentioned anything like this. Does it only show up with an MRI?

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This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time. - Fight Club
Industry Brat.

xrays won't show it bc it's soft tissue. an xray might show vertebrae that seem too close but won't show if this is the cause. everybody degnerates, that's why older people get shorter. it's a matter of the speed in which you do. athletes might be prone sometimes to do it a little quicker bc of the pounding (but can be offset with core strength). with me, it was an old basketball injury - landing on tip of shoulder after getting upended going for a rebound 15 years ago - that knocked neck out of whack for a while. As explained to me, a traumatic event can accelaerate the process (who here hasn't landed on a shoulder falling off a bike?) I seem to recall the doc saying that degeneration can begin in early- to mid-40's but is largely unnoticeable for several years in most cases. With the injury, mid-30's start makes sense. I am closer to 40 than 30, let's just leave it at that !!

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http://thechuckblog.blogspot.com