Anyone suffered from neck issues and found relief? Just had MRI on my cervical spine that shows severe facet joint degeneration on several levels plus stenosis. Looking down the barrel of having to give up surfing at 55, and after 40 years surfing,due to pain. Really keen to hear about how others have managed this condition & (hopefully....) kept on surfing. Cheers.
Select to expand quoteDaveBasher said..
Anyone suffered from neck issues and found relief? Just had MRI on my cervical spine that shows severe facet joint degeneration on several levels plus stenosis. Looking down the barrel of having to give up surfing at 55, and after 40 years surfing,due to pain. Really keen to hear about how others have managed this condition & (hopefully....) kept on surfing. Cheers.
I'm 68 and have surfed since I was 12 so I've been around and surfed all kinds of craft. About 10 years ago my groin started aching so badly sitting on boards that I nearly gave it away.Common thing Ive heard.So I bought myself a standup paddle board and Ive had more fun on this than I've had in a long time. I had a huge wipeout on it 18 months ago which led to stroke followed by a heart attack and open heart surgery.
Despite all this I'm back on the board catching waves again.So DaveBasher the point of the story is "Whatever it takes to get a wave, Go for it." Hope this helps.
Surfers Neck. Reminds me of a guy I met who went to Hawaii for a holiday and decided to have a go at surfing. He was out in the water for a while looking over his shoulder for the next good wave to catch. Anyway he caught a wave into the beach, walked up the sand before collapsing and has never walked again. The story goes something like this:- The doctors said that when he was laying/sitting on the boat looking over his shoulder for the next wave, he advertently cut of the blood flow to part of his spinal cord resulting in permanent damage. The Hawaiian doctor said he was not the first person to have to happen to them.
Stick with kitesurfing
Hi Dave ,at 56 & 44 surfing years I have the same issues , reading your post sounded like you had read my MRI report also,not sure what we can do other than change to that "other" surf craft ? not to keen to do that yet as I'm still fit enough to enjoy short boarding,Codeine & Ibuprofen are my friends, also the 500 mg Aspro clear works pretty quickly but they are just pain management solutions.My Osteopath told me not to be surprised if I was walking down the street & suddenly found myself laying on the ground. He said not to let any non-professional move you.My biggest concern is if that happens out in the surf it could indirectly prove fatal....Constructive feedback would be well appreciated...
Select to expand quoteCrusoe said..
The doctors said that when he was laying/sitting on the boat looking over his shoulder for the next wave, he advertently cut of the blood flow to part of his spinal cord resulting in permanent damage.
Whaaat? Is this for real? That is incredibly unlucky. If that happened to me I would wear floaties and turn into a mad bodyboarder
Being only a couple of years below you I feel your pain. An MRI about 12 years ago disclosed six bulging discs in my neck and back, so management became crucial. Lately I've been cutting down on the days where the surf is crap but you figure you'll get wet anyway. Save yourself for the days when its on and rest up and recuperate on the, lets face it majority of days when the quality is only so so. Might prelong your surfing career; at least thats what I'm hoping for. Oh and lastly start doing yoga.
Hi Mr Basher,
The facet joints need regular controlled movement to maintain the synovial fluid, which is the lubricant in the joint space. An effective strategy is to swim freestyle in a pool, but use a front snorkel so that you don't irritate the joints, and keep your body alignment by using a pool buoy between your legs. there you go guys, plenty of smirk worthy puns in that, but the advice is physiologically correct, cost effective and will keep you surfing. Also, to reduce strain on your neck during your rehab, it is better to get a board that floats you higher so that you reduce the craning posture which will aggravate your symptoms...
Select to expand quoteJulianRoss said..
Hi Mr Basher,
The facet joints need regular controlled movement to maintain the synovial fluid, which is the lubricant in the joint space. An effective strategy is to swim freestyle in a pool, but use a front snorkel so that you don't irritate the joints, and keep your body alignment by using a pool buoy between your legs. there you go guys, plenty of smirk worthy puns in that, but the advice is physiologically correct, cost effective and will keep you surfing. Also, to reduce strain on your neck during your rehab, it is better to get a board that floats you higher so that you reduce the craning posture which will aggravate your symptoms...
Thanks Julian, had sort of come to the same conclusion re board that floats higher- have a 10'er that I'll have to start using more- awaiting a new 7'er though that I ordered late November.
Front snorkel???? Have to google that one!
Select to expand quotestuk said..
Being only a couple of years below you I feel your pain. An MRI about 12 years ago disclosed six bulging discs in my neck and back, so management became crucial. Lately I've been cutting down on the days where the surf is crap but you figure you'll get wet anyway. Save yourself for the days when its on and rest up and recuperate on the, lets face it majority of days when the quality is only so so. Might prelong your surfing career; at least thats what I'm hoping for. Oh and lastly start doing yoga.
Thanks stuk- good advice. Trouble is like most older surfers I'm still a frothing grom inside! Will look into yoga.
Select to expand quoterockmagnet said..DaveBasher said..
Anyone suffered from neck issues and found relief? Just had MRI on my cervical spine that shows severe facet joint degeneration on several levels plus stenosis. Looking down the barrel of having to give up surfing at 55, and after 40 years surfing,due to pain. Really keen to hear about how others have managed this condition & (hopefully....) kept on surfing. Cheers.
I'm 68 and have surfed since I was 12 so I've been around and surfed all kinds of craft. About 10 years ago my groin started aching so badly sitting on boards that I nearly gave it away.Common thing Ive heard.So I bought myself a standup paddle board and Ive had more fun on this than I've had in a long time. I had a huge wipeout on it 18 months ago which led to stroke followed by a heart attack and open heart surgery.
Despite all this I'm back on the board catching waves again.So DaveBasher the point of the story is "Whatever it takes to get a wave, Go for it." Hope this helps.
Thanks rock magnet - maybe time to move to the dark side..... Like most surfers I groan when a sup comes near me, but as a result of your post have done some research on surf sups- gotta say the Deep minion board's got me fairly fired up!!
Cheers DaveB ... don't bite off more than you can chew! Maybe start on a bigger board and catch heaps of waves.It's not as easy as it looks , Enjoy 
Select to expand quotedrewpweiner said..Crusoe said..
The doctors said that when he was laying/sitting on the boat looking over his shoulder for the next wave, he advertently cut of the blood flow to part of his spinal cord resulting in permanent damage.
Whaaat? Is this for real? That is incredibly unlucky. If that happened to me I would wear floaties and turn into a mad bodyboarder
Sorry to say but it is for real.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfer's_myelopathy
Select to expand quoteDaveBasher said..
Anyone suffered from neck issues and found relief? Just had MRI on my cervical spine that shows severe facet joint degeneration on several levels plus stenosis. Looking down the barrel of having to give up surfing at 55, and after 40 years surfing,due to pain. Really keen to hear about how others have managed this condition & (hopefully....) kept on surfing. Cheers.
At 66 I have, or had the same problem, surfer's shoulders also, surfing since I was 12, but I found the perfect solution, and now I don't suffer either problem anymore. The solution, like rockmagnet, stand up paddle surfing, it keeps us older fu(ks out there surfing.
No more neck issues, no more shoulder issues, prone paddling becomes very hard on the body when you get older, and the best way to avoid it, is to quit doing it, but that doesn't mean quitting surfing.
Old SUPers rule!
Select to expand quoteMastbender said..DaveBasher said..
Anyone suffered from neck issues and found relief? Just had MRI on my cervical spine that shows severe facet joint degeneration on several levels plus stenosis. Looking down the barrel of having to give up surfing at 55, and after 40 years surfing,due to pain. Really keen to hear about how others have managed this condition & (hopefully....) kept on surfing. Cheers.
At 66 I have, or had the same problem, surfer's shoulders also, surfing since I was 12, but I found the perfect solution, and now I don't suffer either problem anymore. The solution, like rockmagnet, stand up paddle surfing, it keeps us older fu(ks out there surfing.
No more neck issues, no more shoulder issues, prone paddling becomes very hard on the body when you get older, and the best way to avoid it, is to quit doing it, but that doesn't mean quitting surfing.
Old SUPers rule!
Funny though, when people go from surfing to SUP they forget the surfing rules, is that an age thing as well?!? 
Select to expand quoteDARTH said..Mastbender said..DaveBasher said..
Anyone suffered from neck issues and found relief? Just had MRI on my cervical spine that shows severe facet joint degeneration on several levels plus stenosis. Looking down the barrel of having to give up surfing at 55, and after 40 years surfing,due to pain. Really keen to hear about how others have managed this condition & (hopefully....) kept on surfing. Cheers.
At 66 I have, or had the same problem, surfer's shoulders also, surfing since I was 12, but I found the perfect solution, and now I don't suffer either problem anymore. The solution, like rockmagnet, stand up paddle surfing, it keeps us older fu(ks out there surfing.
No more neck issues, no more shoulder issues, prone paddling becomes very hard on the body when you get older, and the best way to avoid it, is to quit doing it, but that doesn't mean quitting surfing.
Old SUPers rule!
Funny though, when people go from surfing to SUP they forget the surfing rules, is that an age thing as well?!?
Darth,
It's funny how you put us all in one basket. I'm one of those people and I would say I and the guys I sup with are very aware of the rules and consider other surfers . You will always get the ahole who does not care and that goes for all manner of boards short, long or sup.It may be the people who you are referring to have never surfed before and I'll agree those guys are a problem.They'll learn the hard way but please don't look at what one person is doing and tar all of us with the same brush.
And as for the age thing, Im the same person I was when I was young, just older, not senile ,not stupid, just older.
Select to expand quoteJulianRoss said..
Hi Mr Basher,
The facet joints need regular controlled movement to maintain the synovial fluid, which is the lubricant in the joint space. An effective strategy is to swim freestyle in a pool, but use a front snorkel so that you don't irritate the joints, and keep your body alignment by using a pool buoy between your legs. there you go guys, plenty of smirk worthy puns in that, but the advice is physiologically correct, cost effective and will keep you surfing. Also, to reduce strain on your neck during your rehab, it is better to get a board that floats you higher so that you reduce the craning posture which will aggravate your symptoms...
Got a lower back facet drama, certainly find constant movement helps
, rest makes it worse
focus on surrounding muscle groups helps( core)
high strength cod liver tabs , raw tumeric , no booze??
And an anti inflammatory diet helps, I was freeked out by my MRI , doc said stop kiting, physio said keep at it,
do what you feel is right and good for the sole
18 months of ABC with chiro has taken the edge off back problems for me.
its not a total fix but definite a long way better than prior to starting the treatment.
