SDB said:I have been diagnosed with carpel tunnel in my right hand. I have trouble
riding much more than 2 miles before my hand goes numb. I've tried wearing
a glove. The glove helps a little but it still hurts after a couple miles.
The discomfort takes all the fun out of riding plus the pain the day after
riding is pretty bad.
I've thought about getting aerobars so I could take some of the weight off
my hands. I've got a mountain bike though and the only bikes I've seen with
aerobars have drops. Are there aerobars for flat handle bars? Does anyone
have any other suggestions?
I've had carpal tunnel, albeit a fairly mild case, so while I'm not an
expert I do speak from experience. Each case is unique, but there are
two fairly common things that aggravate the problem: palm pressure and
pronation, or palms-down hand position. Sometimes pronation is the
bigger problem even when it seems otherwise.
Try this: Hold your hands in front of your belly button, forearms level
with the ground and palms down. Keeping your palms down, move your hands
out so they're in front of your shoulders. Pay close attention to your
forearms. You should be able to feel the tension building up. Now turn
your hands so the palms face toward each other. Feel the tension go
away? Even if you don't have tendinitis in your wrists -- a condition
which often accompanies and aggravates carpal tunnel syndrome -- all
that extra tension in the tendons which make up part of the carpal tunnel
doesn't help.
Now, on to practical advice: yes, aero bars are the first thing I'd try.
They'll give you a position where your hands are in a neutral position
with no weight on them, which is ideal. I'd be very surprised if they
didn't help. I'd reccomend bar ends as well. They're cheap, and they'll
give you a non-pronated position that gives you easier access to the
brake levers than from aero bars. If that setup doesn't work for you,
something like albatross handlebars might.
Switching to a bike with drop bars is an option, and ultimately what I
prefer, but you should try less drastic measures first. You're dealing
with what is hopefully a temporary problem, and a new bike that you buy
today might put you in a rather different position than you'll want
once you're recovered. Better to experiment with cheaper stuff until
you know what your long-term outlook is.
