Can draft cause stiff neck?

[Cees Klumper]

Maybe I am getting old (44), but in the past month I have gotten a pretty sore neck and I suspect it's from driving the car open, at highway speeds, without the benefit of a windscreen. Am I the only one or have others noticed sour neck muscles a day or two after driving open?

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[n/a]

Of course it's from driving the car in that cold climate.
The more you'll use the car the worse your neck will be.
There is only one solution: Send the car to me, (freight prepaid) and your problems are over
PS. You better act fast as this offer won't last forever  

[hauser]

Have you taken a look at the new SLK complete with neck warmers!  The seats have built-in ventilation so the pasengers can use this feature for colder and or extended driving with the top down.

Cees, perhaps one of the developers of the new SLK has had the same problem as you and came up with this solution.

1969 280sl 5 spd        1999 ML320          Gainesville,Fl.

[mdsalemi]

Cees,

I'm 48 and have no such issues related to my neck or the car, but EVERYTHING aches in the morning when I wake up.

Suggest two things:  First, try pulling up your headrest (if you don't have one, get them!!) so your head rests when you are driving.  They are NOT only to prevent whiplash else they'd be called whiplash preventers.  They are for RESTING your HEAD.  Far too often people leave them down and sit forward which is tiring.  Move your seat back a little more upright and raise the headrest.  If you have only a Eurospec car w/o headrests, well then I'm happy for our DOT regulations!!

Second, try visiting a chiropractor and licensed massage therapist--and NOT the kind in the red light district.  Either or both will aid you in your neck issues.  My sister is a therapist and works in a chiropractors office and sees this stuff daily.


Michael Salemi
1969 280SL
Signal Red w/Black Leather
Restored

[Benz Dr.]

Cold will make your neck and shoulders sore - no question about that. I rarely drive my car with the top down - too much sun, wind and elements will realy tire you out. Nothing hotter than an open car in slow traffic.

Daniel G Caron

[n/a]

Get a nice scarf or a coat with a high collar. Cold on your neck will give you aches as well as sore throat.

Shawn Rock
Philly, PA USA
1968 280 SL 4 speed

[Cees Klumper]

OK guys, I guess that pretty much settles that. Now onto finding a solution that looks 'cool' while keeping the larynx warm ...

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[hauser]

Old time leather aviators helmet, goggles and scarf   .  What do you think about that?

1969 280sl 5 spd        1999 ML320          Gainesville,Fl.

[TheEngineer]

What is this? Are you guys giving medical advice? Are you licensed to do that? Cees: Of course you are getting old! I'm 72 and still drive with the top down as much as weather permits. I'm wearing a cap with a visor, because it keeps the sun off my eyes. Now, my thumb hurts. Is that because I'm sucking on it too much?

1969 280SL,Signal Red, A/T, P/S, A/C, Both tops.    Ret. engr. 1967 230SL - Sold

[pierre]

like theengineer, I've been driving topdown all summer long, with a cap, and collar on high position: my 230 sl has no headrests.
I must admit, once I caught a cold and probably driving topdown was a possible cause.
Anyway, driving it that way is a real passion...
a passion, from a latin word "patior": I'm suffering!
The german word for passion is "Leidenschaft" > "leiden" means also suffer... Cees, in your mother tongue, it must be the same...So, boys, are we a kind of masochists?
...Still I'll wait for the end of the sunny days to put a top on the pagoda, hard or soft.
Buying a windshot could be a solution, but I 'd have to abandon my dear obsolete 3rd seat, mein Kindersitz, where I've been lately sitting , so high, straight in the wind all over me!

[gwuisman]

Cees,

People on a sailing boat at the rudder do suffer like you. At the moment you can buy in water sports shops (f.e. Kniest Marina Muiderzand) 'cool' flees collars which are especially designed to prevent stiff necks. I bought two (the passanger needs one too) of them and they work!

If it does not work in your case then you probably have a midlife neck hernia which especially occurs when driving open cars. Selling the car is the most effective and cheapest way to get rid of it.

Gerard Wuisman
1970 280sl

[Cees Klumper]

Gerard! You must be kidding, selling my Pagoda is a "measure of last resort".
Thanks for the information though. I hope you have tomorrow off, since it is well past midnight where you are ...

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[hauser]

Okay Cees, problem solved, move back to Florida!

1969 280sl 5 spd        1999 ML320          Gainesville,Fl.

[n/a]

Beware fraudulent posters!  Take two Hofbaus now  and in the morning committ your SL to the Plymouth Correctional Facility for proper remedial treatment.  The car will be returned when all annomalies, psychic disorders, and errant characteristics are purged.  PCF has found from much experience these disorders are difficult to expunge and may require long testing at the PCF.  Snell -snell

[TheEngineer]

Now this thing about happening in boats: I have been sailing a little boat now for decades. The only thing I notice which doesn't get stiff any more is ..... But that gets off the subject. But I do keep a soft leather jacket in my Pagoda. That's why I bought this car: It has a shelf behind the seats.

1969 280SL,Signal Red, A/T, P/S, A/C, Both tops.    Ret. engr. 1967 230SL - Sold

[bpossel]

Hi Cees,

I drive mostly with the top down.  I am in the mid 40's and do not have any problems.  Someone posted to straighten your seat and raise the headrest.  I would agree.  These seats seem to lean back somewhat and can cause an issue when you drive and compensate by leaning forward.

B.

quote:Originally posted by cees klumper

Maybe I am getting old (44), but in the past month I have gotten a pretty sore neck and I suspect it's from driving the car open, at highway speeds, without the benefit of a windscreen. Am I the only one or have others noticed sour neck muscles a day or two after driving open?

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

bpossel
Memphis, TN.
1971 280SL
1997 E320

[hands_aus]

Hey Cees,
The condition is know as a "WRY NECK".
It is very common in summer and change of seasons.
The perspiration evaporates very quickly and because the muscles of the neck cool down too quickly they go into spasm/cramp to try to recover the lost heat.
Know a good masseur?

Bob (Brisbane,Australia)
RHD,1967 early 250 SL, auto

[Klaus]

I just drove the new SLK in the rough northern German climate for a week, around Hamburg, and I must say that the airscarf is one of the best inventions for the gentleman SL driver (the average SL owner is much older than Cees!). Like the heated seats, the airscarf is operated by button and has three settings. It extends the open top season by months!

Klaus
1969 280 SL

[Cees Klumper]

The fog is clearing up: I have a tendency to have my seat back tilted backwards quite a bit. So I do lean forward and, no, I never use the headrest that is in my car.

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[Mike Hughes]

Quite apart from anything else, consider that your head is subject to some buffeting while driving with the hood and side windows down.  So your neck muscles are constantly and involuntarily correcting for this while you drive so your road vision does not suffer.  In addition your shoulders are simultaneously doing most of the minute steering corrections to compensate for irregularities in the road surface and road camber changes.  Of course all of this causes some suffering of a different sort later on...  but it was probably worth it!  :^)

- Mike Hughes  -ô¿ô-
  1966 230SL Auto P/S
  Havanna Brown (408)
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