Not that, but I did crush my left Ulna artery right where my arm pad sits....I think that the rate of injury from repetitive stress is going to rise, maybe. Hell if I know.

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

Yeah, I had that problem. Along with multiple traumas over the years it finally ruptured. I'm back to standard road geometry and much more comfortable. I have no pain in my hands and elbows anymore. Just a little numbness here and there. Good luck and take care of your neck.

Caused intense pain in shoulder - could not sleep for more than about an hour, uncontrollable contractions of tricep and bicep in one arm, numbness in a couple of fingers, pain in back when hitting tiniest road imperfection eventually. Started riding upright, just got better over about six months, now can ride in same stupid aggressive aero position again.

Thanks. I get numbness, tingling and pain in my left arm all the way down to the fingertips. 100K rides probably aren't helping much, but I'm not swimming, too painful.

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Cervelo R3 and Cannondale Synapse, Argon18 Electron Track Bike

Dealing with a minor version. Appointment for medical massage set up soon to hopefully help release some of this mess.

I broke C5 years ago and have chronic neck pain (with very limited mobility) as well as shoulder pain (I can barely lift my right arm above horizontal, to the side or front!) and have chronic tingling an numbness in my thumb and first two finger. On 100km rides on my tri or road bike, I can not really feel the lever for braking or shifting. I just grab and hope!

I broke my neck skiing and various doctors have said there is little that can be done. They've said that if I can do IM, I'm fine. :-)

I have found that self massage of my neck and shoulder, fairly regular voltaren gel massages, as well as plenty of time spent in my spa pool, all seem to help. I'm actually looking at retrofitting a massaging shower head to my spa pool as it's difficult to sit deep enough in the water to get benefit for my neck.

When my neck is bad, I live on anti-inflammatories and pain killers, but they don't seem to help much. Now I suffer or do the massage thing as that works better.

Of course, you could switch from a P3 to a P2 or adjust your position. No use being a cripple, just for a fast bike split. Hell, just think how much your swim has slowed down, not being able to swim!

Remember, to finish first, you must first finish :-)

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Don't know if this is anything like what you are dealing with.

My Doctor, bless his fat soul, laughed and said "it's age". The nerve that goes out through the spine and travels, judging by the pain, along with the pins and needles, completely down the arm into the forefinger and thumb area, is being pinched by calcification of the opening through the spine (it's narrowing).

Add to that the slouch caused by driving, sitting at a computer and being generally unworried about posture, up until now, and you have a lot of pain, inability to ride comfortably, except, for me, in aero. But then I have a very relaxed fit and I don't always look where I'm going..

Haven't tried swimming this time around, but from a previous episode, that causes pins and needles, just as much as anything else.

In my case it goes away somewhat when everything is warmed up and relaxed, but comes back in spades later. My physio is convinced it is a muscle imbalance (from swimming and or weights for swimming, guilty as charged on the weights ) and wants a whole pile of muscle exercise for the back (think pulling and also pads along the spine, with shoulder movements). One instant fix was an elastic bandage applied along the shoulder to provide support.

Massage is effective, but relief is fleeting, and who's going to apply that during a race. So I am relying on balancing the muscles. The calcification I can do nothing about, which will continue to provide my Doctor with entertainment. I have a personal antipathy to any sort of permanent regime of drugs (painkillers included) so I'm hoping for a resolution from correcting posture (car, office,you name it) and exercise.

cheers

The first physical therapy session of traction helped noticeably. None of the follow up traction seemed to work as well, lots of massage for right muscles and exercises for symmetry

Not sure if this addresses your particular issue with "compressed vertabrae" but I had bulging/herniated discs at C5 and C7, arm and neck pain and numbness in my hand/fingers on left arm and eventually lost strength in my left arm. Couldn't ride TT position without pain and arm issues. Initially, I went to my GP and was told that it was arthritis in the neck and just overuse/old age and to cut back on my workout routine. Of course, this wasn't what I wanted to hear so I tried some PT but the PT that my general practicioner recommended really didn't help much. Then I went to a sport medicine orthopedic specialist on the neck and spine and was recommended to have a double neck vertabrae fusion at C5 and C7 due to the herniated discs that showed up on the MRI. This of course was not what I was interested in doing since it would have meant no workouts or activity for an extended period and I wanted to try addressing by other non-invasive methods before going to the last resort of vertabrae fusion surgery. Eventually, through research on the internet I ran across the McKenzie Method for relieving disc problems in the back and neck. Did the very simple exercises for about 4-6 weeks and many of the nerve issues started to decrease and even be relieved. Still have some minor issues but much better -- can now swim with pretty much equal power from my left and right arm. Highly recommend the book below for a self-help method for back and neck disc related issues.

If this is part of what you are dealing with Good Luck, definitely not fun to deal with nerve issues in the neck vertabrae.




http://www.amazon.com/...336109091&sr=8-5

My neck wasn't great but when I got tagged in hockey Sidney Crosby style (head twister hit) & got back to the bench I knew trouble was brewing. So that set off a couple of months of research & rehab on necks & whiplash concussion. (I also diagnosed Sid's issue, one month prior to his medical team in January)

As brief as I can - Cycling, hockey, scuba diving, swimming (if not done "correctly"), desk work, driving & contact sports - are activities that most often create a neck imbalance, resulting in improperly loaded vertebrae and a predisposition to injury. If left unmanaged and it becomes chronic you'll get disc issues or in my wife's case severe stenosis that resulted in cleaning out and fusion of C3 C4!

The sport of Rugby is right on top of it - players have died on the field due to the above issues. If you have tingling or numbness you may want to get that checked out (MRI etc) before doing any rehab.

The neck is very complex and tightly integrated structure. Recovery is a lot like an ankle sprain so you need a good 4-6-8 weeks to rehab. I started a rugby rehab routine http://www.physios.co.za/...ersion-July-2010.pdf and within about a week my neck just "blew up". Starterd with that tennis ball thing. With increased ROM the left injured and "inhibited" side just imploded because it was way too weak and tight. Help - Massage therapy she was able to coax those muscles back to function, so tight it was insane. I also went to see a PT who added to the program making sure I was moving my neck in all directions, gave me 4 "AROM's" and a few new stretches. For the isometrics I rigged up a padded waterski handle on my TRX hook. The Isometrics are used to strengthen and rebalance the whole neck structure in 4 basic directions (F-B- 2 Sides).

I thought with my neck I was done - but now it's so nice to be able to move my neck with such range, it's great!!

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Training Tweets: https://twitter.com/Jagersport_com
FM Sports: http://fluidmotionsports.com

4 weeks ago was diagnosed with 3 Herniations of C5 & 6.
Had procedure of Cortisone injections into the affected area 10 days ago. Yesterday is first day I can say that numbness in right hand and pain in upper back has diminished significantly.
My Doctor was not too supportive that I will be able to get back into Triathlon specifically due to the swim. His comment that at my age , 64, it was time to slow down.
And yes that ticked me off big time.Hoping to prove him wrong but time will tell.
Good information on massage in this thread .
Thanks

You don't need to slow down that is a myth. Age is a factor in that you have to be smarter at it, because there is less elasticity and strength in the tissues and recovery to an injury can be a longer.

You need to re-hab, but the key is finding the most effective combination of strengthening the opposites (opposite of the repetitive stress), expert massage and stretching the tight muscle groups.. for your injury. Cortisone is a localized anti-inflammatory which is a quick fix - but that will help getting you into more active rehab.

If you are torquing your neck in the swim then that is improper technique. Swim is actually pretty balanced if you breathe bilaterally and roll properly as well do some backstroke. I swam with a special snorkel this week and it was really cool! You look like a freak with this thing but it really worked well. It would be great for neck issues.

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Training Tweets: https://twitter.com/Jagersport_com
FM Sports: http://fluidmotionsports.com