Hand problems

[Ninabike]

I had the exact same problem with my right hand, i.e. couldn't turn a key;
couldn't turn a doornknob, couldn't lift a coffe cup; couldn't do anything which caused my fingers to have to push downward - the same mechanism as when we shift gears. It turned out it wasn't related to riding, but was due to the fact that I had tinys fractures across the knuckles of my first and middle fingers. I didn't even know I had them, but I had "jammed" my hand in an auto accident. Six weeks later I had my hand x-rayed. Could you have injured your hand and not realized it? My hand healed up fine and there was nothing they could really do about it.

[BikerJeanne]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I will try the gel padding...thanks Audio-A. It is funny since I don't have any problems at all with my left hand. I really don't think I am leaning on my bars too hard but I could be. I will read the links for that other post...thanks Denise. Nina- it is really interesting because what you are describing is exactly what I am feeling. It cannot think of any injury I have had. I guess about 9 years ago I got hit with a baseball in a bating cage which made me fracture a bone in my thumb, lost my thumb nail...maybe that never healed properly. I thought it was from riding but maybe it might be related to that. If that is the case, I am not sure what they could do now. I will try the gel padding and see what happens before I hit the hand doctor!!! Thanks.

[Lynne]

I had the same problem, but with my left hand. (maybe it has to do w/whichever hand is dominant?) If you see my post, you can see it got pretty serious. Every time I rode, it got back to the same level. I ended up forced to take a number of days off in a row (unrelated reasons) and my hand finally began to improve. I did also buy new gel gloves, move around as often as possible from the top to the hoods to the drop. I've had a little loss of hand strength since then, but nothing that's incapacitating (sp?). I'll probably switch over to gel tape as well. Hope this helps?

[BikerJeanne]

I actually do have the 2.5mm phat bar gel tape from Specialized and I am going to switch it out for the 4.5mm on Saturday. We might play around with the handlebar rotation too to see if that helps. I try to do only one change at a time so I know what works. I will post again if I make any progress.

[SadieKate]

Bikerjeane, several thoughts come to mind.

If your core muscles (abs and back are strong so you are not leaning on your hands), think about where the pressure is coming from. It may be no where near the palm of your hands.

A year ago I took a fall from my mtn bike. It has taken a yr to heal because I damaged the tendons. Any irritation causes a little swelling in my wrist which then pinches nerves cause numbness and lack of strength in my hand. The dr told me it could take a long, long time to heal but absolutely to not ride through the pain. Braking in the drops was horrendously painful but riding on the hoods was fine. I really paid attention my position and speed so I could compensate.

Changing the fit and postion from the norm: Are there any positions which don't cause the problem? Anything which cocked my wrist caused problems and since I ride road and mtn including bar ends on the latter, I had lots of positions and adjustments to test. You don't say whether this is a road bike or mtn bike. Which is it and have you really had an expert look at your position including wrist and hand positions. I get a lot of wrist pain from the common 3-5 degree bend flat bars stocked on mtnbikes and now use a 9 degree bar. Unfortunately, fixes like 9 degree bars takes an very experienced fitter or someone with a lot of bike knowledge who will think spatially and beyond the normal stuff on the LBS shelf. Ulnar Compression Syndrome will also cause the symptoms you're having. I ride with relaxed and slightly bent elbows, but I can't maintain the sharp elbow bend postion that many road racers use because I'll get symptoms much like you describe. I also like to have my road brake hoods tilted inward slightly for my hand and wrist comfort. The LBS will build the bike with these aimed straight forward unless told otherwise. On all my bikes, I'll close my eyes and kind of rotate brake levers, bars, etc. until my body says it's happy. I don't want my eyes to tell my body "this is where the component is supposed to go."

All this comes from 20 years of building up and riding tons of mtn and road bikes and being a position princess (ask my wrench boy hubby).

The gloves themselves: I have found that I get a lot of numbness from the particular gloves I wear. On the road, I hate PI GelLites because the pads cause a ridge in just the wrong spot on the pad of my thumb. My old PI White lines are much more comfortable and I'm trying some new Assos which don't have separation of the padding but a nice smooth palm. Only one short ride, but they did feel good.

Lastly get medical help and do not push through this pain. Inflammation that causes loss of strength is nothing to fool around with. Nerves are involved and unless you can determine exactly what is causing such a severe problem, you need to seek the help of a medical pro. Nerves do not rehab well. The cause of the symptoms can be nowhere near your hands.

[BikerJeanne]

Thanks SadieKatie. I have a road bike...just got it a month ago so I am new to all of this so my husband is trying to help much like yours. He has been riding much longer than me. My bike is a Specialized Dolce Elite (women's bike). http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=11502 I am going to take a look at everything more closely tonight after getting such great replies from everyone here. My bike came with the Specialized phat gel tape that is 2.5mm. I am thinking about switching that out for the 4.5mm this weekend. I am really going to focus on my wrist position on the bars and hoods to see what angles are going on there and see if I can make some angle corrections. Since I am new at riding (putting in nearly 100 miles a week though training for a TNT 100 mile ride in October) I am not comfortable down on the bottom of my bars which may have a lot to do with it. I have a tendancy to really hit the brakes hard coming down hills and I am doing it from the top. After reading, my symptoms sound much more like a carpal tunnel thingy more than UCS. I think I am going to try a different pair of gloves too. Mine have pads in key areas instead of being more uniform and that could be doing it too.

[Honeywell23]

Good thing you asked this question! I have been feeling numbness in my right hand and was like what is going on? Now I know it's normal and I can do something to stop it so I can have a comfy ride.