Riding Bicycle Causes Back Pain

Riding a bicycle can be fun and excellent exercise, but also the cause of serious injury and chronic back pain. If you bicycle for fun, to commute to and from work or as a form of exercise, chances are you will experience back pain in one form or another from this unnatural activity. Your back pain from bike riding will most likely be caused by overuse of certain lower muscles and upper back pain from leaning on the handle bars.

If you enjoy riding a bicycle and are experiencing, as most do, lower and upper back pain, it would be a good idea have a chiropractic examination.

Starting a program of chiropractic care can relieve the pain from bicycling and the Chiropractor in Arlington Tx at Brewer Chiropractic can recommend the proper fitting of your bicycle and a schedule of exercise to help you to cycle pain-free in the future and continue to enjoy the healthy activity of bicycling. The three most important adjustable and customized parts of a bicycle are the seat, the handlebars, and the middle bar.

Most bicycle seats look like they could have been designed as a torture device rather than by someone with an adult’s ergonomic comfort and long-term spinal health in mind. You will only use your bicycle as much as it is a comfortable, pleasant experience and if you are a novice cyclist, you should get a seat that is as wide as possible. Don’t be afraid to change your seat until you find the most comfortable one for you. A wider seat will spread your weight more evenly over your entire buttocks and not concentrate your weight torturously in the center. When adjusting the height of your seat, it should be approximately “hip height” . When the pedal is down, the ball of your foot should just touch the pedal.

In order to be more aerodynamic, a cyclist’s handlebars curve downward like a ram’s horn in order to lessen wind resistance to the cyclist’s body. The handlebars on an expensive racing bike can cause you to severely bend over and put your lower spine in a dangerous position. Normal safe handlebars will feel like you’re are sitting with your arms comfortably in front and above your thighs with elbows slightly bent.

For some reason, men’s bicycles have a cross bar that extends from the handlebars to the seat and women’s bike’s don’t. An ergonomic exercise bicycle will have a hybrid middle bar, one that slopes gradually downward to allow a rider to stop and stay on the bike without crushing one’s genitals.

If you enjoy bicycling and are experiencing lower or upper back pain, call Brewer Chiropractic and come in for a free consultation. There’s a good chance that a weekly chiropractic adjustment might help to relieve, lessen or eliminate your bicycling-related back pain.