Surfing Waves

I've had neck pain that's been bothering me for nearly 3 weeks now. Originally I thought I got it from driving long distance and sleeping terribly in a hotel bed. However it's been 3 weeks and hasn't gone away so I suspect it might be related to my excessive surf schedule.

The pain stems from around the muscles on the back on the spine. Past few weeks when I surf, the pain would just go away and would return after the surf session. However when I surf the other day, it surely made it much worse the longer I surf the more painful it got.

Has anyone experienced this type of neck pain from surfing? I'm hoping to see a doctor in a week or so but just figure I check if anyone has similar experience.

I got neck pain from carrying the board on my head. After resting for a week and avoiding the head-carry I feel great again!

Sure! The surfing can cause a neck pain and aggravate a pre-existing condition. I have neck issues myself and have to go to Chiro every week to maintain status quo.
The neck is could be tight to avoid nose diving just before popping up. Even mere paddling involves the neck.
If the MRI does not show any substantial damage to your cervical, you can fix it by physical therapy and exercises: stretching and developing muscles.

Anyway, a couple of weeks’ rest from surfing is recommended.

Couple of weeks resting? I don't think I can go more than a week without surfing.

I'm trying a few things, adjusting my seating posture. Wearing a neck pillow, sleeping without a pillow.

Acupuncture mat; and neck stretching exercises (just Google them). Turmeric and anti-inflammatory pills.

Anyway, it sounds like you already have an inflammation. And, believe me you don’t want it getting worse. I had to stop surfing for a couple of months because of the neck pain. To say nothing about epidural injections. No fun at all.

Check your wet suit sizing. Too short from neck to crotch might have it pulling down above your shoulder blades.

OlegLupusov wrote:
Anyway, it sounds like you already have an inflammation.

Yes, I've been self medicating. I feel a little bit better after not surfing since Saturday. Now I'm a little more confident it is from paddling/popups.

waikikikichan wrote:Check your wet suit sizing. Too short from neck to crotch might have it pulling down above your shoulder blades.

I have a hard time with choosing the right wetsuit. I'm kinda in between S and M. My shoulders/chest are too big for S and body is too long. Therefore my wetsuit don't last more than a year. It is definitely pulling my shoulder down.

If I go for M, I'm way too skinny and so the whole thing is too baggy. MS size wetsuit are rare as I buy only last season wetsuit.

BaNZ , having been a Chiropractor a Australian certified in practice for over thirty years to support my surfing habit there are some important things to consider.

1 Your reason about long drive and bad bed could be one thing, there could other reasons.
See a good sports medicine doctor or chiropractor! Especially if you can find one who surfs!

2. Start at the very beginning in a yoga or better still a Pilates class, invest in looking after your surfing life style, take example from Gerry Lopez or older still John Peck.

3 See if you can avoid anti inflammatories as they can lead to side issues, pain is nature’s way to tell you to check out why you have it.

Pm me for further advice! Cheers Jaffa

Jaffa, why pm? I think many people would be interested:)
I am! My Chiro surfs and adjusts me weekly. However, I would consider some options to avoid these adjustments if you know any efficient preventive measures.
I have enough hardware all over my body:)

Problem with my health insurance is that it doesn't cover chiropractor. I'll have to find something else like sports medicine.

I've never been to one but I suspect chiropractor will be insanely expensive if it's not covered by insurance.

Never covered by the insurance unless they call it physical therapy:))
It’s not that expensive if you buy a set of sessions. You may end up paying 50 per session or so. It’s LA in California. Where do you reside?

BaNZ wrote:Problem with my health insurance is that it doesn't cover chiropractor. I'll have to find something else like sports medicine.

I've never been to one but I suspect chiropractor will be insanely expensive if it's not covered by insurance.

Don‘t know how insurance works in the States,in Australia a good amount of yourfee is covered by federal government medicare, sorry Merican health system is so expensive.
Oleg PM just an option for BaNZ but yeah I have often discussed health ideas on the main forum though!

If naming it physical therapy gets the payment part done great!

Keep talking about it!

Oleg talk to your surfing chiro, he may have colleagues near BaNZ also ask what program he uses for his own fitness and about Pilates.
My surfing patients , the ones that did Pilates or yoga had a monthly session as opposed to weekly and had top up after some wipeouts.

Self exercising in specific surf exercises had better outcomes that just surfing is exercise enough!

I am not sure whether Banz is from California or even from LA.
I got spine dislocated (or misaligned) on a couple of occasions in nasty wipe outs. In the low back, though. Never in the cervical area. All started after a drunk friend (weighting more than 140 kg or 250 lb) jumped on me while splitting a fight. After that, my low back is more prong to misalignments.

As for my regular visits to Chiro, some cervical issues are to blame. The surfing is not the main but it definitely aggravated a pre-existing condition.

And, I would definitely warn against deep tissue massage of the neck without prior MRI. As a doctor explained to me, my back/neck muscles are tight to compensate cervical spine issues. And, deep tissue massage can (and, actually did once) release this tension and the cervical issue pops at all its mighty:)

All sudden on set of pain should be examined by a doctor.

If it is returning pain in neck an back that seem to return in different places TMS may be at play.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tension ... ack%20pain.

I've had some neck issues from surfing too. It could definitely be related to the repetitive motion and strain on your neck muscles while paddling and looking around in the water. Seeing a doctor is a good call, and maybe try some neck stretches to alleviate the pain in the meantime.

I've had neck pain, too, but not from surfing. It was because I sat in the wrong position at my computer for too long. It was a constant, annoying pain that got worse the more I sat. What helped me a lot was trying out some traditional Chinese medicine stuff, like acupuncture and acupressure.