Numb Left Foot

[Peter Main]

Hi Folks,

My left foot goes numb after about 1 hours moderate road cycling. This has
been happening to me on and off for about the last 10 years. If I stop for a
few minutes and wave the foot aabout the nimbness goes away. Having searched
the internet I reckon I have METATARSALGIA ie a pinching of the nerves just
behind the toes. The are lots of insole products out there (some very
expensive) and they are alleged to relieve this condition but can anyone
recommend anything specific to cycling. I have gone through all the other
options such as shoes, socks, pedals, cleats, saddle height etc.

By the way many thanks to all those who reply to my queries, I really
apprecaite it. Whatever the problem there is someone out there with a
solution. Cheers.

Peter Main
Cairngorm CC

 

[elyob]

"Peter Main" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi Folks,
>
> My left foot goes numb after about 1 hours moderate road cycling. This
> has been happening to me on and off for about the last 10 years. If I stop
> for a few minutes and wave the foot aabout the nimbness goes away. Having
> searched the internet I reckon I have METATARSALGIA ie a pinching of the
> nerves just behind the toes. The are lots of insole products out there
> (some very expensive) and they are alleged to relieve this condition but
> can anyone recommend anything specific to cycling. I have gone through all
> the other options such as shoes, socks, pedals, cleats, saddle height etc.
>

Ahem, internet diagnosis .. are you sure it's not "HEADACHE"?

Anyway, insoles ... I bought some of these for my rollerblading .. okay I
didn't get much done, but they are very good insoles ... albeit expensive
....

http://www.yoursole.com/

 

[Chris]

Peter Main wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
> My left foot goes numb after about 1 hours moderate road cycling. This has
> been happening to me on and off for about the last 10 years. If I stop for a
> few minutes and wave the foot aabout the nimbness goes away. Having searched
> the internet I reckon I have METATARSALGIA ie a pinching of the nerves just
> behind the toes. The are lots of insole products out there (some very
> expensive) and they are alleged to relieve this condition but can anyone
> recommend anything specific to cycling. I have gone through all the other
> options such as shoes, socks, pedals, cleats, saddle height etc.
>
> By the way many thanks to all those who reply to my queries, I really
> apprecaite it. Whatever the problem there is someone out there with a
> solution. Cheers.
>
> Peter Main
> Cairngorm CC
>
>

I start to get numbness in my toes after about 50km on my Trek 1000.
Like you say, getting off the bike and "fiddling" gets rid of it for a
while at least.

Interestingly, it would happen much quicker when riding my Dawes Sonoran
- I'd start to get numb toes after 30k or so. Then I noticed a large
(60mm) difference in relative position between Saddle and BB when
compared to my Trek 1000. So I moved the saddle forward on the Dawes to
match that of the Trek, then went out for a 50km ride on the Dawes. Lo
and behold, only very slight numbness, and that only in the last few km.

Perhaps you could try fiddling with your position on the bike to see if
it improves the situation.
Also, don't have your shoes too tight. SPDs helped me too - when
numbness starts, I can quite often reverse it completely by pulling up
against the SPDs for a few strokes, and as my toes come away from the
sole, given them a good wriggle.

HTH

Chris

 

[Brian G]

Chris wrote:
> Peter Main wrote:
>
>> Hi Folks,
>>
>> My left foot goes numb after about 1 hours moderate road cycling.
>>


> Also, don't have your shoes too tight. SPDs helped me too - when
> numbness starts, I can quite often reverse it completely by pulling up
> against the SPDs for a few strokes, and as my toes come away from the
> sole, given them a good wriggle.

I'd confirm the tight shoes bit - replacing my cycling shoes with a
larger size - almost stupidly large - cleared away my numbness immediately.

--
Brian G