Sore thumb joints - anyone else?

Peewiglet said:

I've noticed that both of my thumb joints are really quite sore. I'm
hoping that it's been caused by all the cycling I've been doing lately
i.e. wrapping my thumbs round the underneath of the handlebars, rather
than some sort of arthritis. Has anyone else experienced this?

Don't wrap your thumbs underneath the bars. Rest them on the top. It
makes a more relaxed position anyway and your fingers will be strong
enough to cope with emergencies.
All the best
Dan Gregory

Peewiglet said:

I've noticed that both of my thumb joints are really quite sore. I'm
hoping that it's been caused by all the cycling I've been doing lately
i.e. wrapping my thumbs round the underneath of the handlebars, rather
than some sort of arthritis. Has anyone else experienced this?

Mitts do that to me, which is why I don't wear them.

in message <[email hidden]>, Peewiglet

(') said:

I've noticed that both of my thumb joints are really quite sore. I'm
hoping that it's been caused by all the cycling I've been doing lately
i.e. wrapping my thumbs round the underneath of the handlebars, rather
than some sort of arthritis. Has anyone else experienced this?

Are your hands too small for your brake levers? Brake levers are usually
adjustable for reach, but continually stretching for them can cause this
sort of problem. Adjust them (or get your LBS to adjust them) to give
you more comfortable reach.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; "If I were a Microsoft Public Relations person, I would probably
;; be sobbing on a desk right now" -- Rob Miller, editor, /.

Peewiglet said:

I've noticed that both of my thumb joints are really quite sore. I'm
hoping that it's been caused by all the cycling I've been doing lately
i.e. wrapping my thumbs round the underneath of the handlebars, rather
than some sort of arthritis. Has anyone else experienced this?

Try not wrapping your thumb round the bar but rest you palms on top of
the bars with your thumbs pointing down. There's no need to grip the
bars even off-road and the bike handles better if you don't.

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 20:06:55 +0100, Peewiglet <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I've noticed that both of my thumb joints are really quite sore. I'm
hoping that it's been caused by all the cycling I've been doing lately
i.e. wrapping my thumbs round the underneath of the handlebars, rather
than some sort of arthritis. Has anyone else experienced this?

Best wishes,

Cycling-related Sore thumb joints have been a constant feature of my
life for about 2 weeks, since I did battle with a pair of Conti sport
contacts and a pair of Mavic 519's. My God, what a fight!

Not playing too much playstation ;-)

"Peewiglet" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've noticed that both of my thumb joints are really quite sore. I'm
hoping that it's been caused by all the cycling I've been doing lately
i.e. wrapping my thumbs round the underneath of the handlebars, rather
than some sort of arthritis. Has anyone else experienced this?

Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

Peewiglet said:

I've noticed that both of my thumb joints are really quite sore.
I'm hoping that it's been caused by all the cycling I've been
doing lately i.e. wrapping my thumbs round the underneath of the
handlebars, rather than some sort of arthritis. Has anyone else
experienced this?

Take a long critical look at your grip on the bars. Which part of your
thumb is making contact? It should be the fleshy part immediately below
the joint. If you put the tip of the forefinger of your other hand on
this part, then bend your thumb, the top joint should come down to
touch your forefinger and be in line with it. If the pressure is coming
on the side of your thumb then you are stressing the joint in a way it
was not designed for, and setting yourself up for chronic problems.

Another test is to hold your thumb in the other hand and push hard
against the point that makes contact with the bars. You should be able
to resist the push comfortably. If it feels as though you are doing
ju-jitsu on yourself then you are gripping the bars badly. If this is
the case you may need to look at the position of the bars, or even the
type of bars you are using, to enable you to get a more ergonomic grip.
You could also try gripping the bars more loosely, or even gripping
them just with the fingers and resting your thumbs on top except when
on the bumpiest terrain.

--
Dave...

Many thanks to all who replied for the advice on this. I'm trying to
remember to keep my thumbs resting on the handlebars at the moment, to
see whether that makes a difference.

Thanks again.

Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

Simon Brooke said:

Are your hands too small for your brake levers? Brake levers are usually
adjustable for reach, but continually stretching for them can cause this
sort of problem. Adjust them (or get your LBS to adjust them) to give
you more comfortable reach.

I'll look into that - thanks.

Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

Bob Smith said:

Not playing too much playstation ;-)

I wish! :-) Sadly, video games are largely a thing of the past here.
Hmmm... maybe I'll dig out Ecco the Dolphin! :-)

Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

On 13 Jul 2005 02:42:28 -0700, "dkahn400" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Take a long critical look at your grip on the bars. Which part of your
thumb is making contact? It should be the fleshy part immediately below
the joint. If you put the tip of the forefinger of your other hand on
this part, then bend your thumb, the top joint should come down to
touch your forefinger and be in line with it. If the pressure is coming
on the side of your thumb then you are stressing the joint in a way it
was not designed for, and setting yourself up for chronic problems.

Another test is to hold your thumb in the other hand and push hard
against the point that makes contact with the bars. You should be able
to resist the push comfortably. If it feels as though you are doing
ju-jitsu on yourself then you are gripping the bars badly. If this is
the case you may need to look at the position of the bars, or even the
type of bars you are using, to enable you to get a more ergonomic grip.
You could also try gripping the bars more loosely, or even gripping
them just with the fingers and resting your thumbs on top except when
on the bumpiest terrain.

Many thanks for this - I'll take a proper look when I'm back on the
bike tomorrow.

Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk