While driving..

[quad79]

..Do you experience pain?
My driving arm/shoulder has searing pain,while my throttle arm just burns.
I also fall over a little w/ a tightened chest strap on.
Is this just a quad thing?
Does it get better?

[mimin]

hmm, sometimes when doing a sharp turn i also fall over a little, it's quite scary, i try to do it veeeery slow. how long are you driving in one sitting until you get the pain?

[vickylynn]

yes i thought it was just me my right arm and shoulder will get to hurting so bad i want to cry

and i used to be a tough old broad lol this has humbled me

[quad79]

hmm, sometimes when doing a sharp turn i also fall over a little, it's quite scary, i try to do it veeeery slow. how long are you driving in one sitting until you get the pain?


Mimi, the pain is almost instant and like Vicky Lynn, some days I wanna cry while driving!I've been driving for 4 months or so and it still feels like hell.

[mimin]

is ur driving shoulder pain muscular? using an electronic steering wheel would reduce the amount of force needed to steer

[quad79]

Yeah, I've thought about those zero effort steering wheels.

More money..........

[Eileen]

I have the slightly falling over thing too, and always tighten my chest belt about as tight as it can get because the whole concept scares me. And yes, my arms hurt while driving too. I no longer do long trips unless someone else is willing to drive.

[Scorpion]

Maybe it's the position of your arms using the hand controls? If your tri-pin spinner knob is too high on the steering wheel, this could easily cause shoulder pain in that arm as well as pain in your neck and other shoulder as you're compensating to balance using those other muscles. My tri-pin knob is mounted at around 4-5 o'clock on the wheel, and this is much much more comfortable than when I did my training and the knob was mounted at 2 o'clock. You might try to see if you can have your hand controls and or seating position adjusted so it's as comfortable as possible. I usually lean on the door a little (padded) and that takes a lot of strain off. This also gives me a little leverage when braking or holding the break at a stoplight, so I need to use a lot less strength/force. On long trips, I go back and forth between leaning and not leaning, as I need. Also, whenever I can at a stoplight, I'll put my van in park and shake out my arms, stretch my neck and do a pressure relief if necessary. Staying in one position for too long, even if comfortable at first, will eventually cause muscles to stiffen up and get sore.

[quad79]

Thanks Scorpion.
My tri-pin is located @ 6 o' clock and that seems to be the best spot? My arms are short and that doesn't help as I'm sitting as close to the steering wheel as possible.I also stop every now and then to reposition/release.
Who knows, I just started recently, so maybe I'll recheck for any tweeks I can do.

Just another ? for you quads-how do you handle drive thrus, any tips?

Sorry, I'm an endless pit of questions now. Thanks for the replies!

[Eileen]

I put a ten dollar bill in a leather change purse and hand them the whole purse, asking them to take the right amount and put the change back into it. I haven't been ripped off yet, but even if I was it would only be the change from a ten.

[quad79]

Good idea Eileen. Thanks!