Nerve Damage? ... help

Caroline_ie

Hi Guys ...

Have you ever heard of nerve damaged due to cycling?
My 'saddle area' has been feeling numb for the past few days. The area where I sit, that touhes the saddle feels contantly asleep( keep in mind I am a girl ). Today I have started feeling numb on down my leg and my wrist too. I googled it and found that:

Even favourite sports can cause pressure on nerves. The numbness you feel may be neuropathy (injured nerve) You need a break from cycling to see if this will relieve the numbness. If it is from the cycling and you continue to abuse the sensory nerve, you run the risk of permanent damage. Permanent numb butt.

I am really worried and extremely ***ed off ...:(

What do you guys think ...

omri

Sounds scary but on the other hand you might be able to go for 500 km and simply feel nothing

Caroline_ie

Yes, I feel nothing on the saddle, but also Off the Saddle ... otherwise not feeling anything wouln't seem so bad....

omri

I wonder if that's saddle positioning problem or maybe it's shape ? Did you try other saddles ?

seamus

Yep, damage to the Sciatic Nerve in long-distance cyclists is quite well documented, and if let unchecked can lead to acute sciatica.

I'd recommend having a chat to physio or a sports doctor. Something as simple as adjusting your ride position, changing your saddle and doing a few small stretches before riding can make all the difference.

Ghost Rider

I know you don't want to hear this but I would get it checked out with a physio and, in the meantime, lay off the cycling.

Earlier this year I was left with a bit of nerve damage in my leg after a fall. I was given some very gentle exercises to do and it healed after a couple of weeks.

Caroline_ie wrote: »

Yes, I feel nothing on the saddle, but also Off the Saddle ... otherwise not feeling anything wouln't seem so bad....

unionman

seamus wrote: »

Yep, damage to the Sciatic Nerve in long-distance cyclists is quite well documented, and if let unchecked can lead to acute sciatica.

I'd recommend having a chat to physio or a sports doctor. Something as simple as adjusting your ride position, changing your saddle and doing a few small stretches before riding can make all the difference.

+1.
Talk to a doc and rest a few days. You did two long sessions last weekend, rest and recover!! But seek medical attention if it goes on any longer, only a qualified practitioner can give you the peace of mind you need right now.

Caroline_ie

Ghost Rider wrote: »

I know you don't want to hear this but I would get it checked out with a physio and, in the meantime, lay off the cycling.
quote]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo !!!!

doozerie

Nerve damage is certainly plausible, although I would imagine it is rare. However, the fact that this has persisted for several days suggests that you should seek medical advice - take your pick of GP, physiotherapist, osteopath, etc. (personally, I would go to an osteopath).

Also, consider changing your saddle. There are a good range of specific saddles for women these days - the centre portion is usually removed from them. Terrys is one well-known make with a good reputation, but several of the bigger brands now produce womens saddles too. Check places like www.bikeradar.com for reviews.

Caroline_ie

I think me and Ruby ( that's my bike ) are going to go see Paul Tansey ...

c0rk3r

+1

On going to see a doctor / physio. Try not to use google as a medical tool. Some information may not be accurate or have any relevance to whatever you've got and you'll only worry yourself. You've done a colossal amount of cycling recently so maybe you just need some time off but again let the doctor / physio decide.

Caroline_ie

c0rk3r wrote: »

+1

On going to see a doctor / physio. Try not to use google as a medical tool. Some information may not be accurate or have any relevance to whatever you've got and you'll only worry yourself. You've done a colossal amount of cycling recently so maybe you just need some time off but again let the doctor / physio decide.

Thanks for the tips all -

I am going to 'drive' up to Paul Tansey's tomorrow with the bike. Got an appointment and skip the race tonight ... I hope I am ok for Saturday...:o

el tel

I'm not medically trained but I can take a look if you wish...:)

Caroline_ie

el tel wrote: »

I'm not medically trained but I can take a look if you wish...:)

:eek: pervert ... lol

LDB

I'm sure everything will be grand but best to check it out.
shame you have to miss the race tonight.

Caroline_ie

LDB wrote: »

I'm sure everything will be grand but best to check it out.
shame you have to miss the race tonight.

ARGGHH!!!! Don't rub it in!!!! I will see if they let me Marshall tonight anway, so you will see me there ... without the bike ... Maybe I'll bring my camera

LDB

cool, will see you there anyway so. feel free to give me a push as I go past!

arybvtcw0eolkf

What race?.

blorg

Good luck with tonight's race, hope you get some points for turning up to marshall!

Caroline_ie

LDB wrote: »

cool, will see you there anyway so. feel free to give me a push as I go past!

You don't need a push, you're fast enough, I am sure you can get placed this time around ( I will sabbotage the scratch group's bikes before they go to make it even easyer for you )

Caroline_ie

blorg wrote: »

Good luck with tonight's race, hope you get some points for turning up to marshall!

yes I should

Caroline_ie

Mairt wrote: »

What race?.

Boot Inn league - Women's league at the Airport.

LDB

Caroline_ie wrote: »

You don't need a push, you're fast enough, I am sure you can get placed this time around ( I will sabbotage the scratch group's bikes before they go to make it even easyer for you )

Yeah give em all a puncture!!! (although of course I don't condone sabotage!)

Hungrycol

Sticks in the spokes works best I find :mad:

LDB

Sticks in the spokes works best I find

been on the receiving end of that have you? nasty

blorg

Actually had that happen to me a few years back, wooden stake of some sort dropped off a construction truck, bounced into my front wheel, sending me straight over the handlebars Superman-style

LDB

blorg wrote: »

Actually had that happen to me a few years back, wooden stake of some sort dropped off a construction truck, bounced into my front wheel, sending me straight over the handlebars Superman-style

are you a bit unlucky there blorg?!

just realised I've taken caroline's thread a tad off topic ... oops!

Chips Lovell

blorg wrote: »

Actually had that happen to me a few years back, wooden stake of some sort dropped off a construction truck, bounced into my front wheel, sending me straight over the handlebars Superman-style

Just how many accidents have you had?

blorg

el tonto wrote: »

Just how many accidents have you had?

Too many to list. In fairness I have been cycling for around 15 years, it's not like these all happened last week

Caroline_ie

We want to see the scars ...

TinyExplosions

Caroline_ie wrote: »

We want to see the scars ...

No we don't!

ilovelamp2000

doozerie wrote: »

Nerve damage is certainly plausible, although I would imagine it is rare. However, the fact that this has persisted for several days suggests that you should seek medical advice - take your pick of GP, physiotherapist, osteopath, etc. (personally, I would go to an osteopath).

+1 on the Osteopath.

They have a slightly different approach to physios, which has helped me become pain free from a long term back problem.

Fion_McCool

Rosco1982 wrote: »

doozerie wrote: »

Nerve damage is certainly plausible, although I would imagine it is rare. However, the fact that this has persisted for several days suggests that you should seek medical advice - take your pick of GP, physiotherapist, osteopath, etc. (personally, I would go to an osteopath).

+1 on the Osteopath.

They have a slightly different approach to physios, which has helped me become pain free from a long term back problem.

Go to an osteopath if you enjoy expensive illogical quackery.

But if you do, keep him/her well away from your neck. Manipulation of the neck is associated with a very small risk of tearing the vertebral artery in the back of the neck leading to stroke or death.

ilovelamp2000

I've been to every type of practitioner known to man, I know what works for me.

Physios are too constrained in their approach. My pelvis was out of place for the best part of 8 months and the exercises and treatments that physios were recommending didn't help a jot. Three sessions with a very good osteopath sorted it all out.

niceonetom

Rosco1982 wrote: »

I've been to every type of practitioner known to man, I know what works for me.

i know a girl who says the same thing about 'crystal healing'... sorts her aura right out.

personally, i swear by snake oil.

ilovelamp2000

I think it's a bit of stretch to compare crystal healing to osteopathy.

I don't understand your and Fionn's resistance to effective techniques ?

niceonetom

Rosco1982 wrote: »

I think it's a bit of stretch to compare crystal healing to osteopathy.

i'm not. i'm just unimpressed by 'works for me' talk. anecdotal and all that. medical science ftw. but let's not derail this thread ay?

and in caroline's position i'd be looking for someone with knowledge of cycling-specific injuries so Paul Tansey would deffo be one port of call.

blorg

niceonetom wrote: »

and in caroline's position i'd be looking for someone with knowledge of cycling-specific injuries so Paul Tansey would deffo be one port of call.

This is the thing, whatever your views on chiropractors Paul Tansey would certainly know cycling injuries.

zzzzzzzz

Where's Paul Tansey based and do you have a number for him?

Caroline_ie

aidan.offbeat wrote: »

Where's Paul Tansey based and do you have a number for him?

He is in Dundrum 298-6246 above Joe Daly's.

zzzzzzzz

Deadly - thanks Caroline

doozerie

blorg wrote: »

This is the thing, whatever your views on chiropractors Paul Tansey would certainly know cycling injuries.

In case people are confusing osteopaths and chiropractors, they are not the same.

The reference to osteopathy as "expensive illogical quackery" doesn't even merit a response. Anyone interested in either type of treatment should read up on it and make an informed decision as to whether it is appropriate for them. In the specific case of osteopathy in Ireland you can find further info here: www.osteopathy.ie

Personally, having tried both chiropractic and osteopathy, my choice for some time (several years now) has always been osteopathy.

Redjeep!

Getting back on track.

Any developments Caroline ?

I've been getting a similar numbness in my right hand after a longer ride and it's sometimes been taking a few days to clear up. I think it's because I tend to grip too tightly with my righthand. I'm really concentrating on a lighter grip and it seems to be fixing it.

Not sure if this will help you, but one other thing happened that maybe of interest. I had my bike set up correctly last weekend (after having done over 1000km on it this summer). My first ride afterwards I felt some numbness 'down there', so guess the saddle is going back to where it was a week ago. My point is that it had only been raised less than an inch, so it may be something fairly simple like that.

I hope your concerns clear up. There was a similar (but male) issue posted a few days ago.

BTW on the oesteopath vs chiropractor debate, I have great faith in my local chiropractor after I slipped a disc a year ago, but don't know if this would be their area of expertise (trying carefully to avoid sounding smutty !).

Caroline_ie

Redjeep! wrote: »

Getting back on track.

Any developments Caroline ?

quote]


Hi,

Nothing serious I am just unbalanced and that is my new excuse for all the things that I don't want to do. My body applies too much pressure to my right side, my hips are not straight. The 260km sat + sun spin was a bit much and it caused to 'crush' my nerves on the right side, leading to all my right side feeling numb. Everything is related ( neck, arm, hip, leg and ankle ) to the unbalance. It's very common. It can and will be corrected and I did worry too much yet again ,,, the story of my life.

Fion_McCool

doozerie wrote: »

In case people are confusing osteopaths and chiropractors, they are not the same.

The reference to osteopathy as "expensive illogical quackery" doesn't even merit a response. Anyone interested in either type of treatment should read up on it and make an informed decision as to whether it is appropriate for them. In the specific case of osteopathy in Ireland you can find further info here: www.osteopathy.ie

Personally, having tried both chiropractic and osteopathy, my choice for some time (several years now) has always been osteopathy.

Mmmmm.... are you connected with this quackery ?

There is NO, zero, nada, statutory regulation of osteopaths in Ireland, which means that ANYONE can call themselves an osteopath, put up a plate and start a practice. There is also very little scientific evidence that it actually works.

Why anyone would subject themselves to a practitioner of a loopy belief system, who's founder Andrew Taylor Still said he could "shake a child and stop scarlet fever, croup, diphtheria, and cure whooping cough in three days by a wring of its neck", is beyond me !

http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2008/03/age-of-quackery.html

But it's a free country.....

doozerie

Fion_McCool wrote: »

Mmmmm.... are you connected with this quackery ?

There is NO, zero, nada, statutory regulation of osteopaths in Ireland, which means that ANYONE can call themselves an osteopath, put up a plate and start a practice. There is also very little scientific evidence that it actually works.

Why anyone would subject themselves to a practitioner of a loopy belief system, who's founder Andrew Taylor Still said he could "shake a child and stop scarlet fever, croup, diphtheria, and cure whooping cough in three days by a wring of its neck", is beyond me !

http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2008/03/age-of-quackery.html

But it's a free country.....

Am I connected with osteopathy? No, just a happy user of the services of osteopaths. What are you connected with, seeing as how hidden agendas seem to be the way your thinking leans?

As regards statutory regulation in Ireland, the www.osteopathy.ie website is quite clear on this, as per the following quote:

Since its inception, the Association has lobbied hard to establish State Registration of Osteopaths - along the lines of the U.K. model. (Osteopaths Bill 1993)

At present, state registration in Ireland remains a distant prospect, however - at the last annual general meeting of the association, the members voted by a huge majority, that membership of the IOA should be contingent upon an individual achieving and retaining registration with the UK registering body - the General Osteopathic Council. Effectively, this acts as a further guarantee that IOA members are practicing to the highest standards of safe and competent clinical practice - as required for state registration in the UK.

...and from the www.osteopathy.org.uk website:

The General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) is one of 13 organisations in the UK known as health and social care regulators. Each organisation oversees the health and social care professions by regulating individual professionals.

The regulators are set up to protect the public so that whenever you see a health or social care professional, you can be sure they meet the required standards.

They even helpfully present a list of the regulated professions so that you can choose to label those as quackery too - you might want to reconsider future visits to your dentist, for example.

Yup, it is a free country, and people are free to make as informed, or uninformed, a decision as they like. Personally, I prefer informed decisions and the links above might be of use to those of a similar mindset.

unionman

Caroline_ie wrote: »

Redjeep! wrote: »

Getting back on track.

Any developments Caroline ?

quote]


Hi,

Nothing serious I am just unbalanced and that is my new excuse for all the things that I don't want to do. My body applies too much pressure to my right side, my hips are not straight. The 260km sat + sun spin was a bit much and it caused to 'crush' my nerves on the right side, leading to all my right side feeling numb. Everything is related ( neck, arm, hip, leg and ankle ) to the unbalance. It's very common. It can and will be corrected and I did worry too much yet again ,,, the story of my life.

Doesn't sound too bad. A load off your mind I'd say? Hey, maybe you should start riding fixed gear? The "Zen thing" could help you achieve the necessary balance...

...*runs away*:o

Caroline_ie

unionman wrote: »

Caroline_ie wrote: »

Hey, maybe you should start riding fixed gear? The "Zen thing" could help you achieve the necessary balance...

...*runs away*:o

I am scared of fixies ...

Fion_McCool

doozerie wrote: »

They even helpfully present a list of the regulated professions so that you can choose to label those as quackery too - you might want to reconsider future visits to your dentist, for example.

Is that so ?

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1985/en/act/pub/0009/index.html

:rolleyes:

copacetic

doozerie wrote: »

They even helpfully present a list of the regulated professions so that you can choose to label those as quackery too - you might want to reconsider future visits to your dentist, for example.

Yup, it is a free country, and people are free to make as informed, or uninformed, a decision as they like. Personally, I prefer informed decisions and the links above might be of use to those of a similar mindset.

Can't believe you are actually equating osteopaths and dentists. You have got to be kidding. You seem to be even admitting with your posts that there is no regulation at all in Ireland?

It's not a 'profession' in the normal sense of the word either.

doozerie

copacetic wrote:

Can't believe you are actually equating osteopaths and dentists. You have got to be kidding. You seem to be even admitting with your posts that there is no regulation at all in Ireland?

It's not a 'profession' in the normal sense of the word either.

Where did I equate osteopaths and dentists? I pointed out that the UK regulatory body that regulates osteopathy is one of a group that also regulate dentists (and doctors, pharmacists, etc., in fact). For a person to dismiss the regulatory body of one suggests a sceptical view of the others too.

As regards regulation of osteopaths in Ireland, this is discussed on the website of the Irish Osteopathic Association as per my post above. I am making no claims on their behalf, they are well capable of speaking for themselves and do so on their site.

I don't know what your definition of "profession" is, but as one example the regulatory bodies in the UK use the word in reference to osteopathy so maybe you should enlighten them.