[QUOTE=Bicyclette]what I'm experiencing is pain in the base of my thumb - from about the wrist joint to the first knuckle which seems to be made worse by wrapping my thumb around the bulk of the handlebar[QUOTE]

Bicyclette --

OOOH! Mine was a little different, but a similar thing had me talking with the guys at the bike shop a while back. It was just one hand for me, and the solution was kind of silly --

At the time, I was having lots of pain in the pinkie finger side of my hand, and it turned out, as I looked at things more carefully, that I was holding that hand funny, so that there wouldn't be any pressure there. DANG did my thumb hurt! Now, don't ask me how I fixed my poor pinkie area, but shifting "my weight" off that part of my hand made a big difference for my thumb.

easy core strength helpers -- a "dyna disk" that you can set on a regular office type chair makes you "wobbly" if you don't hold yourself upright, or lean hard on the chair back. It also feels good on a sore biker-butt! Sitting on an exercise ball instead of a chair has that same effect.

Karen in Boise