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On your Left New
Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 74
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 2:06 pm GMT +0000 Post subject: shoulder tendinitis |
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Dear Doc:
I've been diagnosed with bi-lateral tendinitis at my shoulders. The pain travels down the front side of both shoulders. At first I thought it was related to weight lifting but now I am 85% certain it is aggravated by my bike. I'm not sure why but my best guess is the position of the handlebars (about a 2 in riser) although it didn't bother me for as long as I've had the bike.
What can I do to address this painful problem? Move/change handlebars, certain exercises, diet, etc.? is this common?
I was on anti-inflammatories but had to stop b/c of stomach pain.
Thanks very much in advance. |
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The Bike Doc 250+
Joined: 08 May 2003 Posts: 1398 Location: Corpus Christi and Warda, Texas
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Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 9:09 am GMT +0000 Post subject: |
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drichman:
The toughest part of the therapy will be laying low and not aggravating the injury until fully healed. Translation: no biking or weight lifting for the next 4-6 weeks. Do range of motion exercises to keep things limber. A vist with a physical therapist can be invaluable in desiging a rehab program for your shoulders. When you do get back on the bike look at the handle bars. You may want to consider more back sweap of 5-8 degrees to put your upper arms in a more neutral position when riding. Also look at the width of the bars. You do not want them too wide or too narrow. Set the width about equal to the width of your shoulders. You may even benefit from slightly more rise to help unload your shoulders weight bearing. For road biking, look seriously at a recumbent bicycle to completely unload your shoulders. (Mountain bikes rule off road!) I became a recumbent convert in 1995 when I was having progressively worsening shoulder and neck problems from my road bike even though I had ridden and commuted by bicycle since grade school. (It is called getting old... ) Check out www.bentrideronline.com and http://www.recumbentcyclistnews.com for some great information and reviews of recumbent bikes. Also here is a link to an article I wrote regarding recumbent bicycles. http://www.bikeroute.com/Recumbents/BentMedBenefits.php
Thanks, _________________ Paul K. Nolan, MD
AKA: The Bike Doc |
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