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| Carlemere, (Wiki.) |
Louis Shalako
I’ve been having some problems in between my shoulder
blades. There’s a nagging spot in the neck, and some pain in the right
shoulder. Tonight it’s the left shoulder…
In some instances, it’s so bad that it leads to
chest-encircling pain that is intense, enough so that years ago, I got checked
out for heart problems.
As I write this, there is some pain in the left
shoulder, right up against the vertebral column. If I could see back there,
there’s probably some swelling right about there. I have been riding a bit
lately, going out for an hour or more after supper, for several days in a row. Call
it about ten or twelve k, as I’m really not going that fast.
I’m just some old guy grinding along.
The sports doctors talk about triggers.
***
It seems that psychological stress is one of the
triggers. That’s because under stress, the shoulders and upper back muscles
tend to tense up, and I already have a pre-existing injury.
That kind of stress
is also present in my environment.
With three compression
fractures, the one at T-6 is the one involved here. (The others are L-3 and
L-4.)
T-6 is in the thoracic vertebra, and there is a 2.5 cm
hemangioma growing on the left side of the posterior-lateral process. I don’t
know if that one is related to the original injury or not, but it’s definitely
there.
Stress leads to inflammation, inflammation leads to
pressure on the nerve, pressure on the nerve leads to pain.
There are tell-tales and warning signs, which are
better not to ignore. I don’t think riding is the actual problem, although it
can certainly irritate it. Riding the bike tends also to strengthen the muscles
of the neck, upper back, shoulders, arms, etc. Early in the season, our wrists,
elbows, shoulders, neck can tire quickly. In winter I do some walking, but
virtually nothing in terms of upper body exercises.
In summer, I walk, cycle and swim, but early in the
season it’s obviously not quite so much fun. The body just plain deteriorates
over a long winter, sitting in a chair, clicking away with the right hand exclusively
on the mouse. There is the question of how much pain we are willing to put
ourselves through, early in the season, for some perceived gain later in the
season, also our general
fitness for next winter will
benefit…right?
One of the things I do is just to slow down. Sit up,
and ride with no hands, which unloads the neck and that crimp in the back the
sports doctors talk about. I’m not out to beat the Russians.
I stop and have a
smoke, stand around and drink from my water bottle once in a while.
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| OpenStax College, (Wiki.) |
So far this year, I have not been in the water, and we
are sort of looking forward to that—the
first few times will redefine the notion of pain, as the water tends to be
chill at the best of times and the season is short enough around here.
The thing there is to take it easy. An injury that isn’t
allowed to heal is just going to spoil the whole season, not just for biking
but swimming as well. I injured my right knee back in 2012, about mid-July, and
that one took a whole year before I could really use it with total confidence.
If you’re getting little twinges out of it, just going up a couple of flights
of steps on a cold winter day, that’s a tell-tale.
The author is 56 years old, 197 cm, about 85 or 90
kilos, not particularly athletic, and has prior injuries. My bike has a 2.5”
oversized frame, and worth every penny it was, too.
Your own circumstances and state of health might be
different. Be careful out there and enjoy it as best you can.
END
