Pain in the Neck...

[Mo]

Shawn and Russ mentioned tell tales in a previous thread and there's something to be said for having tell tales on the stays and not looking to the mast head all the time for wind direction. Racing is different, of course, but for general sailing tell tales on the stays are just fine.

I've been sailing since 1999...my lowest mileage year was 780 nm (my fist year with a boat) and the highest was 2235 nm if memory serves me....generally hang in the 17-1800 nautical miles yearly. That's allot of looking up! The first number of years I never had neck pain...could sail days on end and nothing hurt. Past few years though the neck pain set in and it likely is Degenerative Disk Disease...I know this and how to treat it so why bother getting the tests only to be told what I've told others for years.

Degenerative Disk Disease sounds like something pretty serious. Well, it's painfull and a nuisance. It's just a medical term created to denote the obvious ...we are wearing out. It can happen in your 30's, 40's...whenever. It's generally caused by OVERUSE and CONSTANT movement of the spine...typically classed as lumbar DDD or Cervical DDD. It's not the end of the world, it's not as serious as the doc's all say and the term "suck it up princess" has come to my mind occasionally. It's actually normal wear and tear and there is a movement in the medical community to actually refrain from putting such a serious sounding name to the condition.

OK...that said. Here's what I've done the past couple of years and it helped me allot. I rarely have to take meds for it but if on a cruise you can keep some Ibuprofen, Naproxen, or Robax Platinum aboard. Robax Platinum has a muscle relaxant and Ibuprofen...works best for me. (These all are anti inflammatory so no active bleeding ulcers, or intestinal problems such as diverticulitis or crohns disease...talk to your Doc if you have other meds as well. At the end of the day a couple of those will calm it all down.

The best treatment I've found is refraining from looking to the top of the stick all of the time for wind direction and put your tell tales on the stays. The type of hat you wear also makes the biggest difference. I used to wear a Tilley Hat with the wide brim. I only wear it dockside in the sun or at anchor now...no more sailing with it on. Baseball cap...same thing, I don't sail with it unless I forgot the others. The brim is long and I have to extend my head all the way back to see up the stick even looking occasionally.

So I started wearing more shallow peak hats and the difference was night and day. I don't mean a little change, I mean there was no pain most of the time...the cracking and snapping has stopped. Two hats I like are the greek fishermans hat and my light colored (I call it a salt and pepper hat because that's what my grandfather called his...he was a rum runner (schooner) back in the 20's and old pics of him had him wear it) For bad weather I use my Sou'Wester and it too has a shallow brim forward so you can see upward without too much movement.

So, for you young guys, I wish someone had told me that when I started sailing. For us guys with a few more miles on us...hat change is the answer. The other day I put my hat and coat on and my wife says "you forgot your walker"...you know what I said

Pic attached of my two favs. Hope that helps a few of you guys out when you start getting up in age...it is what it is.

[sastanley]

Mo, When I was young and stupid, I enjoyed being on the boat, in the sun, for a tan with no shirt on. Since vitiligo became my sun enemy (the same skin problem Michael Jackson had) this big grey device was the best investment ever on my cruising boat.



And, no way to look up at the masthead fly unless I install a window, so I am saving my neck too...

I may take your advice and add some tell-tales on the shrouds...low enough I can see them from under the bimini...maybe right about at the height where that piling is!! My Dad always had tell tales on the backstay & main (cap) shrouds on the boat (in addition to the masthead fly)...maybe those old salts knew a little something (but I'll never admit it.)

I won't stop sailing & boating, but I am now forced to rub on sunblock every day on the boat, wear a big brimmed hat and I also usually wear SPF 50 clothing. At least the newer synthetic fabrics breath and it is not so oppressive wearing long sleeves in August as it used to be.

[lat 64]

The eagles tear up the windex's so I just tie strips of bread sack to the shrouds as high as I can reach. It works fine.

Also, observe the avatar photo of self. This is my recommendation for the ills of advancing decrepitude.

SPF 50 of course.

Russ

[Mo]

Mo, When I was young and stupid, I enjoyed being on the boat, in the sun, for a tan with no shirt on. Since vitiligo became my sun enemy (the same skin problem Michael Jackson had) this big grey device was the best investment ever on my cruising boat.



And, no way to look up at the masthead fly unless I install a window, so I am saving my neck too...

I may take your advice and add some tell-tales on the shrouds...low enough I can see them from under the bimini...maybe right about at the height where that piling is!! My Dad always had tell tales on the backstay & main (cap) shrouds on the boat (in addition to the masthead fly)...maybe those old salts knew a little something (but I'll never admit it.)

I won't stop sailing & boating, but I am now forced to rub on sunblock every day on the boat, wear a big brimmed hat and I also usually wear SPF 50 clothing. At least the newer synthetic fabrics breath and it is not so oppressive wearing long sleeves in August as it used to be.

Shawn, the bimini is nice...have thought of it but didn't want to go through the expense and then not like it. The boom is pretty low on my boat so I figured if I go there I'd make a major change and raise the boom, new main to fit, dodger higher..all in one shot. It's a 5K proposition easy!!

Did make a sunshade from sunbrella last year for when at anchor or on the dock. It works really good and allows a marginal amount of freedom going forward as well. It's only practical when the boat is at anchor though.

This past summer I did the hat change and that made the difference. Prior to that I took ibuprofen regularly... (|We military medics used to call Ibuprofen "airborne smarties")

My shroud tell tales are generally about 8 feet off the deck...that's as high as I can reach. I have tell tales on all sails as well. As we know the wind at the top of the stick can be a little different than lower down on the boat in light air. To be honest, when racing in light air my eyes would be at the top of the stick to notice every change, thus reacting immediately to what I saw. Won allot of races like that...a little lift here and there that would go unnoticed by a competitor until I crossed up wind and they drop back every time they miss a lift. Found tell tales on the shrouds less "telling" in light air. As the wind increases both positions work fine. You guys get more light air than I so I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

Pic of the boat with sunshade on...down the shore one weekend last summer. It's no good to try and sail with though. I have to release the main halyard and attach to webbing in center of sunbrella to "tent" it; main sheet released and boom moved to toe-rail. Light line secured the forward corners and bungies on the stern corners allow some flexability.

[Mo]

Eagles and the like.

The eagles tear up the windex's so I just tie strips of bread sack to the shrouds as high as I can reach. It works fine.

Also, observe the avatar photo of self. This is my recommendation for the ills of advancing decrepitude.

SPF 50 of course.

Russ

We get osprey here. One hangs out on my friend Mike's mast. Mike hasn't used the boat much past few years so the Osprey has his old "dependable" spot. Problem with that is Mike gets a broken windex every year.

We see eagles more and more around here as well but they are not to the point where they are hanging around yacht clubs. Have one secluded overnight spot down the shore where a bald eagle was flying around this past summer...first time I'd see it. We have "Radar", my son Aaron's service dog and Radar is a 90 lb golden retriever. I would think that one of those "purse dogs" could disappear off the deck of the boat it the opportunity arose.

One guy used to stick a plastic owl on the post near his boat and it didn't even get crapped on by seagulls.

[thatch]

"The Hat Trick"

Mo, Thank's for sharing your creative ways of dealing with your neck issues. Combine 70 years of "active living", add a couple of moderate "whiplash" incidents, and my neck is in "Ibuprophen" territory quite often. I'll be adding the lower telltales to my shrouds and a short brimmed hat to my wardrobe.
Tom

[sastanley]

Ibuprofen = "sailing berries"

Mo, nice set up. I still have a 3-pole awning which uses the main halyard and goes all the way between the backstay and shrouds. You still have to crawl around the bimini & the awning works better for long periods at anchor/in port. But, like you, can't sail with the awning.

As you can see, my boom crowds the bimini a bit. I actually bought that bimini on the Internet from a pontoon boat joint. They sell it in 6" increments, so I bought it a little tall, and cut the frame down as far as I could and still stand under it. I may still raise the boom, just a few inches, to decrease the encroachment, but the boom is on a track on the mast, and I'd have to move the track up too...that means yanking 15 stainless screws out of aluminum (probably corroded) and re-tapping a few holes farther up. The boom just clears the bimini when it is up, so moving the boom is a low return/high complexity project. Getting my stbd bulkhead completed and the mast re-tuned by spring (currently holding up the rig with genoa halyard) is the current task & slightly higher on the priority list.

[JOHN COOKSON]

Mo
Have you ever tried a whiplash collar to calm the neck pain down? Especially at night while you are trying to sleep. Might work so you can lay off some of the advil.

TRUE GRIT

[Mo]

Hi John,
The collar is probably on the lower list of things to do for DDD. Immobilization generally is not the answer...using it more cautiously often is the answer. There are cases where people need a spinal fusion done but that is after all else fails and nerve pain has become a factor.

Myself, I don't have pain like I did summer of 2012. I wore a baseball hat and Tilley Hat in years previous to 2013. Since I've changed hats the difference is phenomenal. Now, the question is why did I change hats. In 2012 my neck was bothering me so much that I'd lift my hat back with one hand, and look up with my eyes, to see the masthead. Then once in a storm I had the Sou'Wester on and it didn't bother my neck to glance up...light bulb comes on and I clue in that I need a shorter peak on the headgear.

This past summer, 2013, I rarely have to take anything for the neck. The hat change made 90% improvement. When things don't hurt you don't notice them...I didn't think much of it until I wore the Tilley for a day last year on a blistering hot summer afternoon. That evening, during dinner etc, my neck was just plain sore...nothing spectular, just sore and kinking /clicking once in a while...that was the end of the Tilley while under sail.

This is just something to try if you get a sore neck from sailing...the hat was the big changer for me. I like my hats light in color as well. With the Greek Fishermans hat I find it's just plain hot except when offshore in July ...then the heat is appreciated.

[Mo]

Mo, Thank's for sharing your creative ways of dealing with your neck issues. Combine 70 years of "active living", add a couple of moderate "whiplash" incidents, and my neck is in "Ibuprophen" territory quite often. I'll be adding the lower telltales to my shrouds and a short brimmed hat to my wardrobe.
Tom

Was an easy fix for me Tom. It's only the last few years that my body started to revolt against my lifestyle. 52 and thinking I'm still 20...and the body says "now sonny boy, yer not 20 anymore so you better start acting like it"!!

[Bingy]

Racing

One nice thing about racing alot you really begin to watch sail tell tales .
Over the years and most of it racing ,sun screen,sun glasses and no hat has been the normal.
Now if this cold air goes away,ice melts (currently 2 feet) and boat gets launched I'll be able to do it again.
Looks like a late launch arround here but of course predictions for higher water levels is a good thing.
Great Lakes are mostly frozen over this week.

[romantic comedy]

I was disabled by lower back DDD. Had a fusion, but still had the same pain.

[Mo]

I was disabled by lower back DDD. Had a fusion, but still had the same pain.

Not uncommon RC...have seen lots of those as well. Saw lots, some were good for a while then progressively got worse; some were no better off following the fusion or discectomy...it's a hard slug when nerve pain is associated with it. I rarely get LBP but it only takes a wrong move and it can be a lifestyle changer.

When, I said in an earlier post that if felt like saying "suck it up princess" I wasn't referring to persons afflicted such as yourself. I was referring to people that come into the office and because some doctor told them they have DDD they carried on as if they were give 6 months. I would have liked to grab a couple of them by the ear and have them follow me in the ER after someone wrapped a car around a pole at 60 mph and say ... "now, lets put this in perspective".

[romantic comedy]

Mo, no offense. At this point, I wont take the narcotics anymore. I go by the "suck it up" theory, or go lay down. No much else left to try. I have been thru it all.

[Mo]

Thanks RC. It's a rare person that doesn't get some sort of back, shoulder, or neck pain as we age. Our pass-time is a very enjoyable one and I'd rather be doing it than sitting in a recliner and watching TV. Yes, I do believe we may put a bit of wear and tear on the body sailing. That said, we are not quite down hill skiers, snowboarders, hockey players and football players taking shock after shock. There are worse things we can be doing and there are worse afflictions.
On the right side of the blue