Cycling

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  • Bicycling is one of the best ways to exercise, enjoy the outdoors, participate in recreation, or to get around town.
  • Participation in bicycling continues to grow each year.
    • This increase has led to an increase in both acute/traumatic and overuse injuries.
    • The most common overuse injuries involve the knees, neck, and back.
    • The most common cause of these injuries are bike fit and improper training
    • Important bike fit parameters include frame size, top tube length, seat height, saddle position, handlebar position, and crank-arm length.
    • It is recommended to have your bike fitted by a local bike shop or experienced rider.
  • Overuse Injuries
    • Knee
      • Anterior – Patellofemoral syndrome, patellar tendinopathy, quadriceps tendinopathy
        • Common causes include training errors, high gearing, hill riding, seat too low or too far forward, crank arm too long
      • Medial – Medial patellofemoral complex irritation, bursitis (pes anserine)
        • Common causes include training errors, cleats with toes pointing out, feet to far apart
      • Lateral – Iliotibial band (ITB) syndrome
        • Common causes include poor cleat placement, seat height/location problems
      • Posterior – Hamstring tendinopathy
        • Overtraining, improper seat and or cleat positioning
    • Neck
      • Trigger points in neck muscles
        • Common causes include repeated hyperextension of neck while riding, sadle and handlebar positioning
    • Back
      • Low back pain may be secondary to fatigue from prolonged positioning on the bike as well as degenerative disease in older riders
    • Other body parts that may suffer overuse injuries include the hands (neuropathy, carpal tunnel, tendon issues in the wrist), the foot and ankle (numbness/tingling, toe pain), the hips (bursitis, tendinopathy), and perineum (saddle sores, tinea cruris, ischial tuberosity pain, pudendal neuropathy)
  • Traumatic Injuries
    • Arms
      • Falls can result in wrist/hand fractures, elbow injuries, shoulder separations, clavicle fractures
    • Head
      • Most bicycle related deaths are the result of head injuries
        • Helmets eliminate the severity of head injuries by 85-90%
    • Skin
      • Abrasions and puncture wounds