Driving headaches

Gormley85

Anyone else get headaches, neck and shoulder tightness/pains if they are on a long drive? Ive been experimenting with the chair and steering wheel putting them higher/lower and in closer/out further and nothing seems to work.

Supergurrier

Sounds like either seating position or you need to de stress abit when driving.

This is coming from a professional driver.

How are you holding wheel ? 10 and 2 ?

Because on long drives this will cause discomfort.

Atlantic Dawn

I'd recommend buying a big barge, automatic, big leather comfy seats with hundreds of adjustments possible. The motor tax fee will be cheaper than the visits to the physio.

Damien360

I changed my driving position to be a bit closer. Sit with a nearly vertical seat. My arms have a slight bend when gripping the top of the steering wheel. When I bury the clutch, I am not stretching my leg too much. I travel a lot and since I changed to that setup, I no longer get the shoulder and neck pains even after a 3 hour drive. Also, if your seat allows your knees to be a bit higher than your ass, then that helps greatly also.

Thoie

Gormley85 wrote: »

Anyone else get headaches, neck and shoulder tightness/pains if they are on a long drive? Ive been experimenting with the chair and steering wheel putting them higher/lower and in closer/out further and nothing seems to work.

That all sounds exactly like tension - are you clinging on to the steering wheel for dear life and find yourself leaning forward a little? It's hard to know what to recommend - if you weren't driving, I'd suggest asking your GP for a valium, but not a good idea in this instance

Have you had your eyes tested recently? An easy solution would be if you need glasses for driving - an amount of peering could lead to that kind of tension and glasses would sort it out quickly.

If it's not your eyesight, and you just tense while driving, I'm not sure what the answer is. "Learn to relax", obviously, but we don't want you so relaxed you're falling asleep at the wheel.

CiniO

Supergurrier wrote: »

How are you holding wheel ? 10 and 2 ?

Because on long drives this will cause discomfort.

What steering wheel holding position won't cause discomfort?

CiniO

OSI wrote: »

Personally, I find steering with my knees help destress the shoulders and arms.

I nearly always hold steering wheel at 9 and 3 position, and it doesn't cause any pains for me.
At least not within few hours driving...

That caught my attention.

Damien360 wrote: »

I changed my driving position to be a bit closer. Sit with a nearly vertical seat. My arms have a slight bend when gripping the top of the steering wheel. When I bury the clutch, I am not stretching my leg too much. I travel a lot and since I changed to that setup, I no longer get the shoulder and neck pains even after a 3 hour drive. Also, if your seat allows your knees to be a bit higher than your ass, then that helps greatly also.

3 hours drive is not really long.

Last time I got shoulder and back pains was after 15 hours drive (with two 15 minutes stops)... Then 2 hours sleep on a ferry got me fresh to drive for another 6 hours, and another 4 hours sleep on yet another ferry good again to drive another 3 hours.
But in general such long distance driving would cause pains on me. Normal 8h driving per day wouldn't.

porsche boy

You want a driving position where there is minimal strain in your arms and shoulders. Try resting your elbow on the door to cause less strain.
Another point is your eyes. I don't wear glasses but I have a pair of polarised sun glasses I wear most of the time when driving as I have sensitive eyes. They eliminate glare from the sun and really help as I don't have to squint.

Noccy_Mondy

I do get pain in the small of my back if driving for long periods, say 3/4 hours. I seem to have an awful curvy spine, because the lumbar support just can't go far enough to give me full support. Don't be in the car for that long too often, so it's not too bad.

Dord

porsche boy wrote: »

You want a driving position where there is minimal strain in your arms and shoulders. Try resting your elbow on the door to cause less strain.
Another point is your eyes. I don't wear glasses but I have a pair of polarised sun glasses I wear most of the time when driving as I have sensitive eyes. They eliminate glare from the sun and really help as I don't have to squint.

I got a pair of polarising sunglasses last year. I find them a big help.

keithclancy

Some cars just have sh*t seats ... all the VAG cars I've had a problem with.

Volvo's for some reason I don't have a problem.

biko

You may want to get eyes checked just to rule out eye strain.
If you try driving holding the wheel with your palm upwards* (hold at bottom of wheel) this will relax your shoulders.

*when safe to do so, blah blah

Jesus.

keithclancy wrote: »

Some cars just have sh*t seats ... all the VAG cars I've had a problem with. Volvo's for some reason I don't have a problem.

Its all very personal to each individual. My back does be in bits after driving a car with soft (French) or bucket type (VAG) seats. The harder and more upright the seat the better for me.

On the other hand, lots of people would find soft seats very comfy and hard seats not.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Tropheus

Based on experience, I would say the seat/seating position is the culprit. What type of car?

Chris_Heilong

When I drove a Civic I would get lower back pain, I got one of those net back supports and found it went away, my current car has good seats so no need for the back support.

Supergurrier

Supergurrier wrote: »

This is coming from a professional driver.

Sounds impressive.
What accreditation do you have out of interest?

keithclancy

Augeo wrote: »

Sounds impressive.
What accreditation do you have out of interest?

He drives for a living

Gormley85

Supergurrier wrote: »

Sounds like either seating position or you need to de stress abit when driving.

This is coming from a professional driver.

How are you holding wheel ? 10 and 2 ?

Because on long drives this will cause discomfort.

I would usually drive with 10 and 2 but after reading your reply I spent the past few days with the right hand on 12 and left on the arm rest and its definitely helping- but still not perfect.

Any other ideas?

keithclancy

keithclancy wrote: »

Some cars just have sh*t seats ... all the VAG cars I've had a problem with.

Volvo's for some reason I don't have a problem.

I think it depends on the person. I've had a Passat and long drives were OK. Was doing Limerick to Dublin twice a week for six months in it. Bit stiff afterwards but not as bad as the crippling corolla I had. Jesus that was an awful place to be if you were going any further than 50 miles. I have an s60 now and its grand on long trips too but would still have a bit of a stiff back afterwards. I just have a bad back to be honest. Nothing will beat the time I drove a celica from Limerick to Southampton when I was working there. Had to phone in sick to work the following day because of the pain.