Numb/tingly hands while cycling

My hands are starting to bother me -- I never had much problem before. I have gloves and might or might not wear them. Never seemed to affect me much one way or the other.

Same bike, same routes, same distances as usual. My bike is a Trek fx series, so I lean forward a little, but not as much as on a road bike.

I have been lax about upper body and core exercise lately. Is it reasonable to suppose that I'm weaker and therefore leaning harder on my hands without realizing it? Anything else I should consider?

it can be that you are letting too much weight go onto your hands because you aren't using your core. I also have certain gloves which will leave me with numbness after certain ride lengths. I am slowly weeding out those and replacing them with ones with the right padding. It also depends on the style of the glove, and how the size of that particular brand sits on your hand.

Theoretically you should have enough core strength ( and balance and courage enough) to momentarily take your hands off of the bar while in the riding position and peddaling. So far I can do one and a half hands (one completely off and one ust light fingertips) for a quick count of three.

Recently my trainer has been having all of my free wieght and body weight exercises on a bosu ball, while blindfolded. Great for the balance!

Experiment with some other styles of gloves if you are sure on your seat and posture. Extra core work can't hurt either. ;)

Are you feeling a lot of road buzz? Some people can develop Raynaud's due to vibration and/or pressure, rather than just being too cold. Not sure from your description if that could be what you're experiencing or not.

New watch? Could be pressing on your wrist the wrong way. Also tight cuffed clothing or doing up your gloves too tight can also be a cause.

Brake pads? Thought the shop misadjusted my brakes for my small hands, brakes were so hard to use. My hands were killing me to the point I thought I was getting arthritis in my left hand. Turned out it was my brake pads, long story which I won't go into here, but after new pads were installed and brakes adjusted no more problems.

Unfortunately, I know ALL too well of this issue. Read my thread below titled "Doctor recommendation". I am in the same boat as you, only I do ride a road bike (in my 4th year of serious cycling). I've tried practically every glove on the market...from heavily padded, to lightly padded, to no padding. None of them make a bit of difference for me. My hands still go numb and tingly within the first 30 minutes of a ride, and stay that way for the entire duration of the ride. I've had 4 professional bike fittings, one being the renowned "Retul" fit. I currently ride a custom fitted Ti bike, in which my fitting took nearly 3 hours and included video taping of my riding position, and many adjustments done by the fitter (thought to be the BEST fitter in the Chicagoland area). I am still in agony on every ride. ):

I wish I had some advice for you, but in my case...I'm at the point where I am ready to seek medical advice from a doctor. I'm beginning to think that I may have a compressed/pinched nerve somewhere along the nerve pathway into my hands.

Good luck and I hope you find some relief for your hand issue soon!

Linda

Which part of the hand is it? Can you describe the trouble a little more? Is it painful, numb, tingling, blisters, etc.

Do you wear rings while riding? If I wear my wedding band on rides >15 miles I start having tingling and weakness on the outside of that hand. Taking off the ring fixes everything. I also have trouble with gloves that have too much padding. When I have more padding, I put more weight on my hands and eventually my hands will go numb and I start having other posture-related aches and pains. With less or no padding, I'm more conscious of how my weight is distributed and maintain better posture on the bike. I also vote for trying different gloves and paying attention to using your core muscles to hold yourself up.