Are there common cycling injuries?
"My right knee just started hurting about 4 days ago. I am having sharp pains on the lateral side of my knee. I had to bike the last couple days with just my left leg, which (wasn't a good thing)! Hopefully it will be better tomorrow!" David Shirley, taking a few days off in Portland, Oregon.
Asking the question implies the answer; of course cycling has its list of common injuries, which are amplified when a cyclist rides cross country over a period of several months-- which is the situation with David.
1. Head injuries
Head injuries are common among bicyclists who do not wear helmets, which comes as no surprise, considering it is not that difficult to hit a pothole …show more content…
The most common cause of knee and hip pain in cyclists is iliotibial of the leg from the hip to the knee. Pain is caused when the band becomes tight and rubs over Tight inflexible lower extremity muscles may worsen the condition. Pain may also be caused anatomy."
Dr. Asplund offers suggestions regarding how to adjust a bicycle to avoid these injuries- check them out if you are a biker!
However, Jim Bledsoe on Sports Injury Bulletin disagrees that this type of injury is the most common cycling injury location. He cites an article stating that 20% of all cycling injuries happen to the face. (Sports Causing Most Injuries in Hong Kong,” British Journal of Sports Medicine, Vol. 27(4), pp. 263-267, 1993.)
Sadly I have been unable to find this article for you. But I did find a fascinating study conducted at the University of Wales that describes cyclist facial injury frequency in an attempt to redesign helmets with aface bar. This study is called The circumstances and scope for prevention of maxillofacial injuries in cyclists.
Bledsoe, in that same Sports Injury Bulletin, describes a fascinating upper limb injury that occurs while cycling, called handlebar …show more content…
When ego gets in the way...
Iliac Artery Endofibrosis- a scientific explanation
One more cyclist injury-- though not common in non-elite cyclists-- is called Iliac Artery Endofibrosis. If you are at this point in your cycling, you probably are or should be in touch with a professional who keeps tabs of your health. From a lay point of view, I find it fascinating to even attempt to decipher this study. I mean, people actually understand this?
Mostly what I get from reading about this injury is that by overstressing your body, it is possible to create symptoms more common to elder patients than to young and vital cyclists; by getting a professional like the one in the video above to evaluate your cycling position you may avoid compressing and kinking that causes this injury; and that the earlier this problem is detected the better.
I decided to copy it for you to peruse according to your knowledge base...
A very important study conducted by the European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery and cited in the article on Illiac Artery Endofibrosis found when clicking on the IAE in blue above