Surfing Waves

This is gona be a kooky question but whatever haha. so after surfing for a while, the back of my neck starts to hurt. i know its happening because of paddling and my neck just being in that position for long periods of time, but i was wondering is that normal? do all surfers get it? i would ask my surfer friends, but i dont have any =(. and i go to school in santa cruz, go figure.

oh i forgot my old password, so i made this new account. i used to be sweatthesalt, if any of you knew that username. just so you know im not totally new to this website haha.

okay thanks

I would say you should go to a chiropractor and see what he says. And make sure you stretch your kneck more before you go out.

Most surfers get some pain in the lower back, or in the neck.

Time in the water to build up the muscles, and stretches before and after should sort it.

many of us get that neck pain. here is what I do to minimize it (almost no pain now):
1. Dry land exercise daily: stand with feet shoulder width apart and hands on hips. Then roll head clockwise 360 degrees while stretching neck a little bit. This is done 12 times in one direction. Then it is done counterclockwise for 12 times. Don't do it too fast. You'll know things are improving when you don't hear your joints popping. After two weeks of this, then repeat the excerise so that you do two reps. After a couple of months, do three reps.

2. Don't hold head up on long paddles. Turn head to side and hold above water level on board. This helps a lot.

Sweatthesalt ---> SheReflectsLove
Sweatthesalt = Imagies of a fat man who swallows so much water when he's flapping around the shallows that he actually sweats salt.
SheReflectsLove = Imagies of angelic stunner of a girl skipping around the beach skimpy clothing rippling in the breeze.

What happened in the time from creating your first user name to the second?

Oh, I used to and sometimes still get a sore lower back. Because I'm lazy and can't be bothered warming up properly.






Real Pol = Images of................?

billie_morini wrote:many of us get that neck pain. here is what I do to minimize it (almost no pain now):
1. Dry land exercise daily: stand with feet shoulder width apart and hands on hips. Then roll head clockwise 360 degrees while stretching neck a little bit. This is done 12 times in one direction. Then it is done counterclockwise for 12 times. Don't do it too fast. You'll know things are improving when you don't hear your joints popping. After two weeks of this, then repeat the excerise so that you do two reps. After a couple of months, do three reps.

2. Don't hold head up on long paddles. Turn head to side and hold above water level on board. This helps a lot.

The 360 degrees rolling of the neck can be quite harmful when you are rolling the neck backwards.... do the same thing, but just start at one side, roll forward and to the other side, and then go back to the side you started on, so dont extend your neck...
Extending your neck compresses the joints of the spine and that (in combination with muscle stiffness) is probably the cause of the neck pain whilst surfing (personal experience). It's the same in the lower back... but i find with myself that pain in the lower back after surfing is caused by muscle stiffness.

So try to minimize the extension of the neck when surfing... (i know it's difficult, but, indeed, turning your head to a side can help i reckon) (make sure you turn it to alternate sides though, not always the same side) Do not rotate your head AND extend the neck... that's just asking for trouble!

Still too much neck pain? go see a chiropractor! they're awesome! (may i recommend the AECC Chiro clinic in Boscombe, Bournemouth...)

Mathieu

hahaha realPol. well to me sweatthesalt was supposed to symbolic of how as a surfer i spend so much time in the water that my sweat is extra salty because its mixed with ocean salt or somethin haha. and then shereflectslove is about how the ocean can reflect/show love if you allow it to. both are supposed to be centered around the ocean. but haha i get what you mean.

as for your name, i have no idea what to make of it. maybe, that your a real polish man? besides that i have no idea.

thanks everyone, so far, for all your comments, they are informative and helpful

FYI "Pol" is pronounced "Paul". Back when I was a kid and I used to play Wonder Boy and Bubble Bobble in the arcade you were only allowed to used 3 characters when entering your name, hence where Pol comes from. I registered Pol with a number of sites and then one time I found someone else had registered Pol, hence where Real came in and now it's stuck. I'm also registered as The Real Pol somewhere cause I forgot my password.

Not that Paul's my name or anything!

*Must not reveal information about myself in the real world*

Give the evolvesurf.com, CHEST WEDGE a try. It wont cure anything, but it will give you a paddling boost and ease the neck bit.

Make sure you warm up and stretching may also help with pain. If I don't practice nervous, I will walk away and come back about 5 minutes later. If it's difficult to switch to a completely different approach, then make the appropriate rest adjustments before you get tired. The electric heating pad for neck is your good friend. If the situation gets worse, please contact your doctor.