Arms

[85psi]

I have noticed that by the end of rides my arms are weary and achy. I realise I have been ignoring this for a long time. The next day my arms felt better. Well two weeks ago I went on a ride and this time my right arm has not recovered. A week after the ride I have decided to stop riding for now even just to the local shop to give the arm time to heal. I described the pain to my GP and she put me in touch with a physio who phoned me and is going to send me some excercises and recommends paracetamol and Volterol Gel.

Well the reason for coming on this forus is that I am very interested to hear from others of you who have had arm pain specifically... it's not my wrist but upper arm. The physio was wondering if I have something called rotator cuff injury. Anyway I am interested to know from others who have had arm pain and made any change to their bicycle or changed their bicycle. I won't rush into doing anything. At the moment I will just wait for it to heal and do research and some walking! Alison

[foxyrider]

Tired arms are common particularly if you are doing a lot of climbing, the roads are poorly surfaced, its a long days ride, you are humping luggage about. Yep, i've had days where i could barely hold the bars by the end of the ride. Sometimes these aches can persist for a couple of days or in extremis result in some form of tendonitis.

The upper arm takes quite a bashing when riding so its no surprise that it can sometimes rebel and demand extra recovery time. I'm currently recovering from a seperated shoulder, holding the bars all day is a challenge and not being able to 'pull' on the bars means climbing is quite 'interesting'.

The ride at the root of your problem, was there anything special about it? long, hilly, badly surfaced? Did you twist the arm oddly getting on/off or even take a tumble? From my experience and talking to people with Rotator cuff injury, whilst cycling may agravate things, its usual one particular lifting/twisting movement that causes the injury. One of my friends, a Podiatrist, managed an RCI through repeatedly pulling her case out of the car boot in a less than ideal way.

I'm sure a bank of real experts will be along shortly.

[cyclop]

I have noticed that by the end of rides my arms are weary and achy. I realise I have been ignoring this for a long time. The next day my arms felt better. Well two weeks ago I went on a ride and this time my right arm has not recovered. A week after the ride I have decided to stop riding for now even just to the local shop to give the arm time to heal. I described the pain to my GP and she put me in touch with a physio who phoned me and is going to send me some excercises and recommends paracetamol and Volterol Gel.

Well the reason for coming on this forus is that I am very interested to hear from others of you who have had arm pain specifically... it's not my wrist but upper arm. The physio was wondering if I have something called rotator cuff injury. Anyway I am interested to know from others who have had arm pain and made any change to their bicycle or changed their bicycle. I won't rush into doing anything. At the moment I will just wait for it to heal and do research and some walking! Alison

I broke the heads of both radii in a climbing accident over 40yrs ago,leaving both arms permanently bent.On taking up cycling,I was getting bad pains,mainly in the triceps .I actually devised a very weird gizmo to support my upper body but,eventually,the triceps strenghened and I was happy on all day rides.Well,we,ve come full circle,and rides over 5hrs are now uncomfortable on the upper arms.I manage the problem by taking breaks,favouring the stronger arm,knowing my limitations.I,m guessing specific exercises to strengthen triceps is a first option to try.

[Audax67]

Keep at it is the only remedy I know. Maybe shorten your rides for a while to let your arms build up.

Before lockdown I had no problems on 150k rides, but the peelers here in Alsace wouldn't let us cycle for exercise once lockdown began. Riding on the turbo for an hour does nothing for the muscles that keep the head up when you're on the brake shells or down on the bends, so mine wasted a bit, and now, even after five months back on the road, a long ride has me popping paracetamol for the pain.

[531colin]

I have noticed that by the end of rides my arms are weary and achy. I realise I have been ignoring this for a long time. The next day my arms felt better. Well two weeks ago I went on a ride and this time my right arm has not recovered. A week after the ride I have decided to stop riding for now even just to the local shop to give the arm time to heal. I described the pain to my GP and she put me in touch with a physio who phoned me and is going to send me some excercises and recommends paracetamol and Volterol Gel.

Well the reason for coming on this forus is that I am very interested to hear from others of you who have had arm pain specifically... it's not my wrist but upper arm. The physio was wondering if I have something called rotator cuff injury. Anyway I am interested to know from others who have had arm pain and made any change to their bicycle or changed their bicycle. I won't rush into doing anything. At the moment I will just wait for it to heal and do research and some walking! Alison

What sort of bike is it?
Are you propping up the weight of your torso on your arms? (as somebody already said, you will feel this in the triceps muscle)
If your bike is set up properly you should be able to maintain your position without supporting your torso on your arms
Balanced position by 531colin, on Flickr

[mumbojumbo]

More people now ride with stiffer,steeper forks which absorb less vibrations.
1.use steel,raked forks
2.use a bigger tyre on front wheel
3.wear padded gloves
4.wrap foam rond bars
5.use a shorter,but higher stem as arms can absorb more movement in comfort.
6.stop more often
7.cut down on chopping wod,arm wrestling and strangling hens for the table.

[TrevA]

I have something very similar. I have limited mobility in my left shoulder and I get a referred pain in my upper arm because of this. I think it may be due to compression of the nerves in the shoulder joint. I’ve not been able to see a doctor about it as it only came on severely at the start of lockdown. I did mention the limited mobility to my doctor last year and he said it was wear and tear in the rotator cuff, so imagine it’s just getting worse. I’ve been taking ibuprofen for a couple of months, which seems to have helped.

[ChrisP100]

I commute Monday to Friday and my triceps, chest and forearms get quite tiered towards the end of the week. I used to get a bit of pain in my shoulders and wrists until I sorted out my handlebars position. Getting the correct reach, drop and rotation of your bars right will certainly help.

You might find this useful https://blog.bikefit.com/adjusting-hand-position-in-bike-fitting/

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Rotor Cuff?
Well I thought I had that well I didn't, but I think the doctor and the physio thought I had that?
Turned out to be shingles but I only had it in one arm.
without a physical examination I think it's going to be hard to determine what the problem is.
I'd be inclined to think it's nerves, in the neck which is affecting the shoulders and arms?
I'm not sure you said your age but the other thing it could be of course if you've only just had it recently is a problem with your spine, facet impingement?
like I said I think physical examination would be necessary.
To be honest my arms normally hurt first but this all stops pretty quickly and never goes into the next day, I never noticed the legs as they don't normally hurt at all until relatively recently, Well the last two years anyway.
I admit I didn't read all of 531 Colin post, I think he was talking along those sort of lines.
Anything that last for two weeks needs a trip to the doctor.