Maybe a neck brace?

Big Bird
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Big Bird
Edited Date/Time 8/17/2014 11:01pm
I've never been very excited about having to wear the extra gear, around my neck of all places, and always balked at the price that the companies charge for your safety. (The high prices are probably due insurance costs in our modern "Sue 'em first and sort the rest out later." world.) But I personally have now suffered an injury that MIGHT have been prevented by one. Being so tall, I grew up fast and not always so straight up and so I have pretty bad scoliosis in my neck. I was having a hard time with it and figured a good downhill ride would loosen me up and help it out. Then on the third or so run, we were "Just riding along." the flat fire road to the top of the trail when I caught my heel on my swing arm and found myself flying over the bars onto my head, shoulder and knee. I brushed it off and kept riding, but a few days later my left arm started to hurt and not work very well. I've been to the chiropractor and he's helped a lot getting rid of the pain, but I haven't yet gotten the strength back to allow me to ride. Assuming that I do in the future, I'm thinking a bit harder about buying a brace. Now I just need to find the cash.
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HuckSauce
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HuckSauce 5/2/2014 7:09pm
5/2/2014 7:09pm
Get well soon.
Octane_
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Octane_ 5/3/2014 3:58am
5/3/2014 3:58am
Hope you recover soon man Smile
Big Bird
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Big Bird 5/5/2014 10:53pm
5/5/2014 10:53pm
Thanks for the kind words Hucktane, but we all know the risks and I wasn't so much looking for a pity party. I was mostly trying to restart conversation on the topic of neck braces. I've always been a bit of a skeptic thinking how is a piece of metal and carbon gonna keep me from braking my neck, and how likely is it that I'll even ever need it? But in this case it wasn't a case of a broken anything. Just a stupid JRA crash that didn't break anything but is still keeping me from riding for the time being.
bturman
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bturman 5/8/2014 6:42pm
5/8/2014 6:42pm
It's always the JRA crashes that seem to get us... Heal up Big B!

Did the doc say that compressing/hyperextending your neck might have caused the arm pain?
Big Bird
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Big Bird 5/8/2014 7:02pm
5/8/2014 7:02pm
Yea. At this point the Doctor is a chiropractor. He asked for my symptoms and said I'd told him the problem. He described me as half way to surgery. The pain is now gone, but the strength is still not back. I'm also into archery and in the past was able to draw sixty pounds no problem. Currently I can't draw my thirty pound limbs. I could probably ride flat trails, but the downhill is where I live.

The real point of my post was that everyone talks about how a brace will keep you from BREAKING your neck, but how far can they go toward saying (With the lawyers looking over their backs.) that one will help prevent such a pinched nerve? Granted that I was already halfway pinched on the shuttle up.
Big Bird
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Big Bird 5/18/2014 7:51pm
5/18/2014 7:51pm
Baby steps but there's slight improvement. I was able to draw and shoot my thirty pound limbs at the Freedom 40 archery range and, excited by that ability, did a cruising run down each of the mini downhills. It's strange how shoulder strength affects riding. Sharp bottom turns were no problem because I was in the backseat with most of my weight on my feet. But longer sweeping turns where you need to stay more balanced were hard. So was landing off even the smallest lip.

I had an idea while riding though. Why does the neck brace need to be a separate piece of equipment from your helmet? As I was typing that I realized that It helps keep the weight off the head, but with advances in materials technology, perhaps one day they'll just be one piece.

I'm leaning towards an Alpine Stars. Maybe I'll actually look in the products section before SSpomer shames me with a hey dummy it's right here green link.
Big Bird
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Big Bird 5/22/2014 6:27pm
5/22/2014 6:27pm
Well, the shoulder is improving slowly as per the above post. But I was back to work installing some window panes in a boat house I'm building for a local doctor and my lower back went out. So it looks like a week in bed for me. At least I was able to get back on the bike if only just briefly. Over the past decade I've probably averaged one month out of each year nursing my back in bed, but it's been more than a year this time since this has happened. Couldn't last for ever.

I'll probably go with the Bionic due to the lower price. And yes I had already looked.
Big Bird
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Big Bird 6/25/2014 6:08pm
6/25/2014 6:08pm Edited Date/Time 6/25/2014 6:14pm
Again, not looking for a pity party, (Check out "Puddles Pity Party" on YouTube. Pretty fun/funny.) but things have been getting worse. I was improving, but then more fingers started getting numb and then more and more the rest of the left side of my body, including dissociation, meaning it doesn't always do what I want it to. Just today I started two finger typing for the first time since high school. Anyway, I'm hoping to see a neurologist soon. I'm leaning toward an Atlas now. Take a hint from Cam McCall and others and wear your neck braces boys and girls. Doctors don't give discounts for JRA crashes.

http://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/Neck-Braces,94/Atlas/Crank,12159

D. Summertime 6/29/2014 6:31pm
6/29/2014 6:31pm
Im not gonna have a pity party but i hope that heals for you soon and that it doesnt get worse. I know how much it sucks to be injured and not be able to ride.

so. ive kindof been a little skeptical about those atlas braces. they just dont look like they provide as much support as a leatt. leatt has a bigger area that is around your neck and it seems like it offers alot more protection than an atlas.

I too am looking at a neck brace . I am sort of swaying towards the leatt dbx ride 4 brace. Its $300. the prices are really steep but id rather pay $300 on a neck brace than be killed or paralized or have to pay thousands on a medical bill for surgery. if you go to the leatt website and look at the braces there are videos about them and they seem pretty reliable.

I just dont want you to buy an atlas thinking it will be ok, then crashing and realizing in pain that you should have bought a leatt. then be paralized,

Cheers,

D
Big Bird
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Big Bird 6/30/2014 6:56am
6/30/2014 6:56am
I'm leaning towards the Atlas mostly because there are two supports in the back, on either side of the spine,as opposed to one down the middle like on the Leatt and A-Stars. But I will do some more research D. Thanks for the input.
Big Bird
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Big Bird 7/17/2014 11:11am
7/17/2014 11:11am Edited Date/Time 8/28/2014 5:53pm
Well shit. What a kick in the nuts. It turns out that the crash wash't the cause. After MRIs and MRAs, the neurologist says I either had a small stroke or I've got MS. Spinal Tap soon to really find out. I do still plan on wearing a neck brace if I ever get back to really riding a bike though… …Spinal Taps suck. So yeah, I've got MS. Fuck.

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