martopoulos

Hi. I tend to get a sore neck after track days and hard canyon driving. Specifically, the back of my neck. I think it's from hard braking. I'm not particularly aware of my head flinging forward much, but I guess it does if it's sore. Would a HANS device largely eliminate this soreness or is it only for preventing serious injury in an accident?

My driving style is definitely not extreme. G meter on my 718 Cayman only shows 1.37 lateral G and 1.06 braking.

winders

The HANS device does not provide any neck support in normal track driving situations.

Neck soreness from such light G-forces is not normal. I would consult with a medical professional to determine what may be the cause and to determine what exercises you could do to eliminate or at least mitigate the issue.

martopoulos

That's unfortunate. I do have a long neck coupled with decades of bad, forward head posture in front of a computer, which likely weakened key neck muscles. It's worth including some neck exercises into my daily routine, for sure.

That said, I can't say I've been very deliberately bracing my neck against the seat during braking either, which I've heard some people do. Easier said than done. I was hoping a HANS would mean I don't need to brace my head at all, but maybe the tethers have too much slack to be used that way.

If anyone else has personal experiences with this sort of problem, I'd like to hear.

martopoulos

https://physiobrad.co.uk/2020/04/24/the-driver-neck/ is an interesting read and confirms what you said

winders

That's a great site....but I think you should get some professional evaluation before heading down an exercise path.

martopoulos

Yeah, looking into it, thanks

bccars

Thank you, great find !
I'll be looking at integrating some of these excercises into my fitness routine !

Robert Nixon

Maybe just a neck horse-collar like go-kart drivers use would help too.

NaroEscape

@martopoulos - As noted, a HANS does nothing for neck support - it keeps your neck from extending further than intended during a high G load impact, and should not ever be used unless you have full 5/6/7 point harnesses in the car. If you have only OEM seat belts, get a SImpson Hybrid, but that won't help your issue either...just keep you safer.
Its not uncommon for people that track only occasionally to experience neck pain, especially if they have a heavier helmet. 99%+ of your life your neck is asked to support the weight of your head, then you put a 5+ lb helmet on and ask it to support that too, under much higher G-loads than the rest of your daily life. This is why professionals do neck exercises regularly.
Couple suggestions:
- upgrade to a Carbon Fiber helmet - it DOES make a difference.
- do neck exercises
- consciously try to sit up very straight when daily driving, sitting, etc. and get your neck's muscle memory posture correct.

And yes...seek a professional and see if they have suggestions.

ApexPerformance

If you are not using a head & neck restraint, you may want to consider a helmet support similar to this:

OMP Helmet Support

When I attended HANS training a while ago, Bob Hubbard, one of the inventors of the device, said you could use a neck support with a HANS but really didn't recommend it as it would be cumbersome. Perhaps a combination of neck exercises and using a helmet support will help.

LZRD GRN

I am routinely running 1.5 and 1.7 G Lateral on my GT 4 (on GYSC3R's) with no neck issues, I do have a Simpson Hans device, it does not brace your neck in normal use...

A year ago I did strain my neck, and used a couple of youtube videos which were extremely helpful:

- "how to treat neck spasms in 1 minute by Dr Michael Rowe"

- Dr Rowe has a couple of others as well...

I have no affiliation with this guy, just did a search...

Have not had problems since...

YMMV.

Good Luck!

Kitc2246

I've had two neck operations. Recently purchased a Hybrid HANS. Very little if any neck pain from a DE weekend. The skid pad G load is another issue which is done without the additional weight of a helmet. Not a doctor, but from my own experience, if you are getting pain radiating from the neck, in your shoulders or arms then you might be pinching nerves. Worth a discussion with your doctor. As already mentioned sore neck muscles are normally from the Gs on your neck compounded by the helmet weight. Neck exercises should help. If it goes away after a couple of ibuprofen or naproxen and rest I would not worry. You just need more track time to "condition" your neck muscles.

MaxLTV

Don't assume it's a medical issue or even weak muscles. It could be from tensing. I used to get a sore neck after I first started driving a GT3 (street version, not a real race car), but it was not pushing that many Gs, and my neck was about as wide as my head from all the lifting. Turned out I was just tensing too much. Mind-body control exercises fixed it, and also lowered my pulse rate and improved my ability to maintain concentration for longer. I did not do any specific/branded technique - just generic stuff any athletic physiotherapist can explain.

But as others said, HANS does not help. Halo seat can help, but may be too much of a modification for a street car.

martopoulos

So, I did end up getting the Simpson Hybrid FHR (HANS) device and took it to a track this past Saturday. The G meter registered a braking force 20% higher than I ever have done before. The end result? Two days later, zero neck soreness. Should I also strengthen my neck? Absolutely, especially given I can't use it on public canyon roads. But having my forward head travel restricted to just 1 inch was game changing and effectively functioned as a support, even though that's not its intended purpose.

On the lateral side of things, my neck did tilt too far to the right in one hard corner and I briefly felt a sharp pain. It's tricky to adjust that-- too much tether restriction and suddenly I can't see my passenger-side mirror