Biking: a favorite pastime for all age groups--from school-age children riding their bikes around the neighborhood and staying close to home, to teenagers experiencing their first taste of freedom as they pedal away from their homes toward popular hangouts with friends. For many people, these types of experiences mark the beginning of their favorite pastime evolving into a passion and becoming a favorite sport: cycling.
But just as with any sport, cyclists are often sidelined with injuries that prevent them from enjoying what they love most--the solitary, exhilarating rides through the countryside and the adrenaline-fueled team competitions that cover endless miles across the state.
What are some common cycling injuries? And how can they be avoided and treated?
1. Impact-Related Injuries
If a cyclist logs in enough miles, chances are there will be at least one crash in the books. Whether from a tire blowout, brake failure, or collision, impact injuries are inevitable. Concussions, road rashes from hitting the pavement, broken collarbones, and pulled back muscles require treatment to hasten the healing process. Some of these injuries, such as concussions and broken collarbones, can take weeks to heal, but others can heal rather quickly with proper treatment.
The best way to prevent impact-related injuries is to make sure one's bicycle is in excellent riding condition and that safe-riding practices are always adhered to.
2. Posture-related Injuries
If not the result of an impact injury, a cyclist’s lower back pain is often the result of poor posture while riding. Staying hunched over for long periods of time leads to posture problems not just while riding, but also while off the bicycle. This poor posture can lead to piriformis syndrome where the sciatic nerve is compressed around the piriformis muscle. Luckily, these types of injuries can often be prevented by simply raising the handlebars, working on maintaining good posture off the bike, and improving one's core strength.
A cyclist’s neck pain is often the result of holding the neck and head in the same, hyperextended position for long periods of time. Sometimes neck pain in a cyclist, as with the lower back pain, is caused by handlebars being set too low. To alleviate future neck pain, raise the handlebar stem and try to sit as upright as possible.
When wrist pain accompanies neck pain, it is also often caused by improper riding posture; 60% of the cyclist’s body should be positioned toward the rear of the bike and 40% toward the front. When this is ratio is out of balance, and more of the body is positioned toward the front of the bicycle, too much pressure pushes down from the front onto the handlebars causing the pain. To eliminate these problems and maintain a good cycling posture, check the reach to the handlebars to make sure it isn’t too long and that the handlebars aren’t set too low.
3. Equipment-Related Injuries
Other cycling injuries can often be traced back to poor bicycle fitting. If the saddle is too low, there will often be the front-of-the-knee pain; if the saddle is too high, the back of the knee hurts and sustains injury. If the lateral and medial aspects of the knee are affected, it is often due to setting up cleats incorrectly. Simple adjustments can prevent damage from ever occurring.
If bicycle handles are positioned at unnatural angles, handlebar palsy or even carpal tunnel syndrome can result in causing various types of tingling and numbness in fingers and wrists. By simply rotating handlebars upwards, pressure can be relieved and wrists and fingers can be spared damage.
If the undersides of a cyclist’s feet burn with pain, it could be from pressure on the nerves of the ball of the feet due to incorrect cleat placement. If the pressure when pedaling isn’t properly spread across the balls of the feet, then a cyclist may want to look for larger cleat platforms.
If saddle sores emerge, it is often the result of an incorrectly sized seat. Try replacing your saddle with a gender-specific type of seat and purchase padded biking shorts to add extra protection.
As amazing as cycling is, it is not an injury-free sport. Impact-related injuries from falls, crashes, and equipment failures are common; posture-related injuries from sitting too long in unnatural or improper cycling positions abound; and simple-to-fix bicycle-related injuries from poorly fitting bicycles are ever present. Injuries may seem inevitable, but they are preventable through implementing safe riding procedures, improving one’s posture, and making needed adjustments to properly fit one's bicycle. Making these simple adjustments can keep cyclists off the sidelines enjoying the sport they love.
