anyone got some suggestions for neck/right shoulder pain. got a new set of 16's installed and now experiencing a pinched nerve in my neck radiating down to my right shoulder and arm. been to the chiro twice, made it worse. did the massage thing last night night and ditto. worse. can't deal with pain meds as they make me sick and generally feel like ****, not to mention job issues. am wondering if the new positioning of my arms on the apes is the cause of this or just coincidence. feels like someone is jamming a knife in my shoulder blade. got scheduled for some tests with an ortho and may be looking at getting cut, but thought maybe someone has a miracle cure out there or at least something that has worked for them in the past. the way these doctors move and run you through the patient mill i might be looking at weeks to get this dealt with. i am willing to try just about anything now short of voodoo to get some relief. just a thought. getting desperate. need to ride!
Jeff

 

Well, if the pain only started after you put the apes on then the way I see it, there's one sure cure. Take off the apes. I'm surprised that you would go through all of the medical stuff & expense, when it's pretty clear what the problem is.

Although, and I hate to throw this out there, I had a friend who developed pain in his upper shoulder and thought it was just from playing softball. He let it go for months until it became unbearable. Turns out it was cancer and he was gone within a year. So, maybe it is a good thing to have it checked out thoroughly. Good luck!

 

Jeff--------I am an orthopaedic spine physician assistant and in my humble opinion your upper extremity radiculopathy was exacerbated by the apes, but the underling problem was already there. It would most likely have been just a matter of time before symptoms developed. Before getting a cervical fusion you should first exhaust non-operative treatment options. I would try a taper dose of prednisone (Medrol dose pack) to see if you can calm down your symptoms and get you back to your baseline. If symptoms persist you will need a MRI. Let me know how everything turns out.

 

Stop riding for a week or two and see if the pain goes away. If it does and comes back when you ride again, you've found your problem. Listen to your body. If it doesn't like apes, try different bars. Least expensive and risky option imo.

But follow through with the ortho doctor. An MRI and emg will tell what's going on with your neck and if it's pinching a nerve.

Anyone wants to cut your neck, always get a 2nd and even 3rd opinion. Don't assume all drs are the same because they're not. Been to ton of them. Pain management offices are filled with prior surgery patients.

 

Well, there ya go - internet diagnosis and it was free! Hey, can you write him a script?

 

I have some pinched nerve issues in my neck too. I respond well to physical therapy and I really like my over the door traction unit. About 12 pounds of weight pulling up on my neck for 10 minutes feels great and makes the problem go away for weeks at a time.

 

Who said anything about free, bill is already in the mail!!!!

 

I have a similar problem, I can ride for around 45 minutes then I get an achey pain that runs from my neck onto my left shoulder, it is bearable but if I carry on for over an hour or so it gets really painfull especially when I change gear, I used to have drag bars but have changed to mini ape hangers which I find are a bit better, I think in my case it's the fact that I ride most of the time on motorway/ interstate type roads without a screen.

 

My father in law had a similar problem with his Wide Glide and apes. He tried all kinds of fixes, but what actually was causing the problem was his front end.

Turns out that his front end was out of alignment just a bit, causing the bike to pull to the right. To counter that he had to constantly keep pressure on it by pulling with his left hand or pushing with his right. This in turn caused the upper back/shoulder/neck pain on his left side since it was always tight.

The misalignment was so slight that no one noticed it until his shop was doing a complete rebuild of the front end.

 

Sounds like a rhomboid spasm, same as I've got. The computer seems to be a major cause - do you work at a desk? Doctors and chriopractors were also no help.

Try stretching your rhomboid, with these stretches. It's helping me.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/38...oid-stretches/

Muscle relaxers wioll help some too, as well as changing your sleeping position, computer desk, etc.