Can't use my right hand...

[runsingteach]

Hi Everyone,

I just rode my first metric century yesterday and had a lot of trouble with loss of feeling in my hands. I shook them out and the tingles went away, but I had trouble shifting (right hand) from about 30 miles on....(I have never rode more than 30 miles before yesterday)

24 hours later the tingles are gone, my left hand is fine but I have really challenged dexterity in my fingers. They cannot straighten out. My OT best friend says that it is probably a pinched nerve...Any stretching advice to get use of my hand back? I can't write or hold a fork! Help!

[KnottedYet]

Nope.

Just gotta let the damaged nerves and inflamed tissues heal. Takes some time. If you don't get everything back in a couple days, call your doc.

Then when you are healed up, it might be a good idea to have a good thorough 2 hr or so professional bike fit. Expect to pay $150-$200. It will be worth it.

[Wahine]

You definitely have a pinched nerve and while it's not an emergency you should get it checked out this week. As for stretching... won't help to stretch the arm. It's most likely that the pinch in in your lower neck area or if it was cold you could have "frozen" the nerve where it is close to the surface of the elbow. If the latter is the case... it's just a time thing. If it's the former, the most important thing for you right now is good sitting and standing posture. You need to lengthen that neck out and get your shoulder blades back. The best way to do this is to imagine that there is a helium baloon attached to the top of your head and that it's pulling you upward. It's also good to avoid sitting as much as possible because our posture tends to be significantly worse in the sitting position.

And make sure that you have a bike fit done.

Hope that helps.

[berkeley]

Well, first off... I would see a doctor or PT. If you have pinched a nerve, don't mess around with it.

I had a pinched nerve in my neck (I think at ~C5/C6?) and had almost exactly the same issues as you. Loss of feeling, loss of dexterity, pins and needles up and down the arm. It took me nearly a year before I was back to 100%, and even now there are things I know I can't/shouldn't do.

Things that helped: Making sure I wasn't straining my neck (looking up was a BIG thing - no more painting ceilings or installing overhead lights!), maintaining good posture, neck traction to relieve the pressure, working on core strength and massages to help relax my neck/shoulder muscles.

In the short term, you may find some relief with the ice/ibuprofen regime. It didn't help me, but might be worth a shot.

Good luck!

[alpinerabbit]

I had a similar problem, though not as pronounced (it went away after a couple hours) from pressure on the hands because my bike was too large. I could imagine you just have it worse - Especially if you are riding for 30+ miles with tingling hands.

Raising the handlebars with a higher angle stem helped.

Whenever I see anyone shaking their hands I feel so sorry for them.

[littlegrasshopp]

+1 on stretching your neck and shoulders. also +1 on getting it checked out if it doesn't improve quickly. hand issues can start anywhere from the spine to the actual location of the pain. Usually it's closer to the spine. Stretch anything that feels better by doing so - but proceed SLOWLY and GENTLY. They body, especially when under stress will protect (tighten) an injured, stressed area if you try to stretch to quickly or forcefully.

I hope it's already feeling better!! Ice is your friend.

[Running Mommy]

My guess is the Ulnar nerve. I pinched both of mine at IMAZ in 06. It was horrid. I had claw's for almost two months, tho it did eventually get better.
Ironically I had scheduled my yearly "womanly" doctors appt for the week after Ironman, so my doc checked me out then. Said there wasn't anything I could do. She also warned me to change my riding style/position.
I'm very careful now.