K
Ken
Guest
"Claire Petersky" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Ken" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > And I am sure it's not from being too cold here in Florida. It seems
like
> > 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
> then
> > come back slightly. I have read that cycling gloves may help this
> condition.
> > Is it caused my a pinched nerve and or a pinched blood vessel cutting of
> the
> > 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.
> 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
> you're riding with your hands on the tops of your drop bars. It's
especially
> 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
> 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
> 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
> 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
>
>
news:[email protected]...
> "Ken" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > And I am sure it's not from being too cold here in Florida. It seems
like
> > 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
> then
> > come back slightly. I have read that cycling gloves may help this
> condition.
> > Is it caused my a pinched nerve and or a pinched blood vessel cutting of
> the
> > 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.
> 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
> you're riding with your hands on the tops of your drop bars. It's
especially
> 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
> 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
> 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
> 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
>
>
