"Claire Petersky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:"Ken" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...Quoted message said:And I am sure it's not from being too cold here in Florida. It seems
like
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:after riding for about 30 minutes I start to get a bit of numbness in my
finger, but if I switch hand position it will go away for a while, and
thenQuoted message said:come back slightly. I have read that cycling gloves may help this
condition.Quoted message said:Is it caused my a pinched nerve and or a pinched blood vessel cutting of
theQuoted message said:flow of blood to my fingers?
Is it just your pinkie, ring and maybe middle fingers? If so, it could be
ulnar nerve neuropathy, popularly called "handlebar palsy". I started to
have problems with this two years ago when training for a double century.
Yes you are right there, the numbness does seem to be worse in those
fingers, and I tend to notice more when I ride my mtb vs when I ride my road
bike and change hand positions often, mtb has only one position for hands.
Quoted message said:After talking to my doctor, and reading about it (put ulnar nerve or
handlebar palsy in a search engine) and working to counteract it, here's
what I recommend:o Make sure you have your wrists positioned properly: you always want your
wrists straight and your elbows bent. (When I did water aerobics we called
this "Barbie arms" after the 11.5 inch fashion doll -- you want to have a
loose feeling in your arms, not a stiff one.) Especially check yourself
when
Quoted message said:you're riding with your hands on the tops of your drop bars. It's
especially
Quoted message said:important to have this sort of loose feeling in your arms when riding over
bumps -- I know this from riding on the road and going over potholes.o Make sure your bike fits well. Typical fit problems that can lead you to
lean on your hands with the wrists bent include: pointing the nose of
your
Quoted message said:saddle down too much, having the seat too high, or having too long of a
stem.o Make sure you have lots of gel in your gloves. Every time I've used a
bad
Quoted message said:set of gloves for a while the numbness returns.
o Change your hand position frequently. Aerobars could help with this I
suppose, but just changing from being in the drops, tops, and hoods help.My doctor also recommended not riding for 6 weeks. I think I lasted two
days.See: http://www.cptips.com/handsyn.htm for a description
http://www.cultv.com/music/rssi.htm shows stretches to combat the problem
http://www.hughston.com/hha/a_15_3_2.htm shows how the problem develops
from
Quoted message said:improper hand positioning.
--
Warm Regards,Claire Petersky
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky