hands still numb

kenharris said:

Hello, I just completed a 460 mile ride over 4 days in Ohio and Kentucky. I finished Wednesday afternoon and had numbness in my hands (especially along the bottom of both hands and the pinkies). I was hoping it would of gone away by now but it only seems to improve slightly from day to day. Anybody have any words of advice or idea on how long this may take? I love to ride and have had the tingling and numbness before but it never seemed to last past the ride. Also, any remedies? Any help is appreciated.

What you're describing sounds like you've compressed your ulnar nerve - . This nerve supplies the muscles of the hand on the side of the little finger, as well as the little finger and half the ring finger. It's hard to know where the problem came from without knowing what position your arms and hands are in while riding. Is your elbow resting against a hard surface while you're riding? The most common point of injury for this nerve is at the elbow as this is where it's closest to the surface. If that's what's happening it should be relatively easy to fix. You'd just need to modify your position or gear so there is no pressure on your elbows (in particular the knobby bit you can feel on the outside of the elbow when you bend your arm up and touch your shoulder with your hand)

If not, it may be the position of your wrist, or irritation at the wrist. The nerve is fairly restricted in the amount of space it has when it reaches the wrist and can be compressed which would result in the same symptoms. THis could be from swelling from an injury or irritation, or from repetitive strain and stress over time.

Hope some of this is useful! Let me know how you go.

Jane :o

I got this once come to find out it was and is minor case of carpoltunnel. I get that numbing on every ride and it is plain annoying. I dont know if this is what u have but sounds like same symptoms i got.

kenharris said:

Hello, I just completed a 460 mile ride over 4 days in Ohio and Kentucky. I finished Wednesday afternoon and had numbness in my hands (especially along the bottom of both hands and the pinkies). I was hoping it would of gone away by now but it only seems to improve slightly from day to day. Anybody have any words of advice or idea on how long this may take? I love to ride and have had the tingling and numbness before but it never seemed to last past the ride. Also, any remedies? Any help is appreciated.

You should not be getting any hand numbness during or after you ride - it doesn't matter how stiff your ride or bumpy the road. If your bike is properly setup, you will have almost no weight on your hands when you ride (the force of you pedaling exactly counteracts your body's weight pushing down, therefore you pedaling keeps your body held up). The only exception to this rule is if you already have a wrist condition (i.e. carpal tunnel) which makes your wrists very sensitive.

Try this simple test: while pedaling along at a good pace (what I would call a "tempo pace" - essentially something you can keep up for an hour or so), see if you can lift your hands off the bars. You should be able to keep your upper body in the same position without too much effort. If you find your butt sliding forward on the seat, or that much effort is required to keep your shoulders from going down, your seat is too far forward (I know it's counter-intuitive, but the reason is that, if your seat is too far forward, every pedal stroke is pushing your body forward, i.e. requiring your hands to hold a lot of the weight of your body). If this is the case, AND/OR you find yourself having to constantly push your butt back on the seat, move the seat backwards. If this doesn't help or you have any other questions, let me know.

Thank you for the help. From what I am hearing it is about my position on the bike. I did not think I had a problem with my position but long hours in the saddle can multiply any problems I may have. I have to take a close look at my position. I really enjoyed the ride and am planning another longer ride next summer but I don't want to give up my roadbikes for recumbents just yet.

descends411 said:

You should not be getting any hand numbness during or after you ride - it doesn't matter how stiff your ride or bumpy the road. If your bike is properly setup, you will have almost no weight on your hands when you ride (the force of you pedaling exactly counteracts your body's weight pushing down, therefore you pedaling keeps your body held up). The only exception to this rule is if you already have a wrist condition (i.e. carpal tunnel) which makes your wrists very sensitive.

Try this simple test: while pedaling along at a good pace (what I would call a "tempo pace" - essentially something you can keep up for an hour or so), see if you can lift your hands off the bars. You should be able to keep your upper body in the same position without too much effort. If you find your butt sliding forward on the seat, or that much effort is required to keep your shoulders from going down, your seat is too far forward (I know it's counter-intuitive, but the reason is that, if your seat is too far forward, every pedal stroke is pushing your body forward, i.e. requiring your hands to hold a lot of the weight of your body). If this is the case, AND/OR you find yourself having to constantly push your butt back on the seat, move the seat backwards. If this doesn't help or you have any other questions, let me know.

descends411 said:

You should not be getting any hand numbness during or after you ride - it doesn't matter how stiff your ride or bumpy the road. If your bike is properly setup, you will have almost no weight on your hands when you ride (the force of you pedaling exactly counteracts your body's weight pushing down, therefore you pedaling keeps your body held up). The only exception to this rule is if you already have a wrist condition (i.e. carpal tunnel) which makes your wrists very sensitive.

Try this simple test: while pedaling along at a good pace (what I would call a "tempo pace" - essentially something you can keep up for an hour or so), see if you can lift your hands off the bars. You should be able to keep your upper body in the same position without too much effort. If you find your butt sliding forward on the seat, or that much effort is required to keep your shoulders from going down, your seat is too far forward (I know it's counter-intuitive, but the reason is that, if your seat is too far forward, every pedal stroke is pushing your body forward, i.e. requiring your hands to hold a lot of the weight of your body). If this is the case, AND/OR you find yourself having to constantly push your butt back on the seat, move the seat backwards. If this doesn't help or you have any other questions, let me know.

I was interested in your response to this thread. I recently retired, bought a new Cannondale road bike and am training for a Las Vegas Century next month. I ride about 140 per week. My problem....since buying my new bike, I have been playing with the set-up. When I put the seat in the recommended position of my knee relative to the pedal axel, I have that falling forward feeling. I do have a slightly longer thrunk relative to my height (6' 190). I have been experiencing numbness in the right thumb and a corresponding pain in the right shoulder blade area when the thumb and index finger go numb. If I lean way forward, grab the drops and bend my elbows quite a bit, the numbness subsides. I typically ride holding the tops unless it's real windy, since at age 57, my lower back thanks me!

Question is....is the knee position relative to the pedal more important for overall power effectiveness OR should I move the seat back to fix the weight balance problem....or is there a third choice?