carpal tunnel and cycling

[adictpunkgrl]

First off I'm very new to cycling and and very glad to have found this forum. I'm hoping that some of you out there with years of experience can help answer some of my questions.

I have had the symptoms of carpal tunnel for the last 2-3 years (not diagnosed because of lack of insurance and $$) but still a problem. In my recent bicycle adventures I have noticed a lot of numbness and pain in my wrists which starts about 30 minutes into a ride and get worse progressively (numbness reaches elbows) until I stop and break for a while. Does anyone know how I could take some of the tension off of my arms/wrists/hands while cycling? I don't want this to interfere with my bicycle fun! Thanks!

April

[MightyMitre]

Hi adictpunkgrl and welcome.

I also have some carpal trouble in my left wrist - caused spending a summer in a chicken packing factory when I was a student. (Don't ask!! )

Untill recently I could only do road riding as the hand position on mtb put too much pressure on my wrist. When I'm on the road I try and move my hand position around as much as possible. Sometimes in the drops, on the hoods, sitting almost upright.

The balance of weight on a road bike should be about 60 - 40, with 40 % on your hands, so if you're just starting out you might want to look at how you spread your weight.

Top tip though has to be to keep you hands, arms, shoulders as relaxed as you can. Wiggle your fingers from time to time and shrug your shoulders.

Hope this is helpful.

[Surlygirl]

I also have carpal tunnel syndrome. I put specialized phat bar pads and tape on my handlebars. The gel absorbs the shock and gives some cushion. I use specialized body glove gloves. Try these on to make sure the pad sits on your palms correctly. I also have drop bars and added an extra set of brake levers to the top of the bars so I can change hand positions. I also wear a brace at night and this has helped a lot. I got mine at the drugstore. It just holds your hand and wrist straight at night so your hands don't go numb. At some point I will have to have the surgery since they say prolonging the procedure only makes the nerve damage worse. Hope this helps.

[SnowMouse]

Originally posted by Surlygirl
I also have carpal tunnel syndrome. I put specialized phat bar pads and tape on my handlebars. The gel absorbs the shock and gives some cushion. I use specialized body glove gloves. Try these on to make sure the pad sits on your palms correctly. I also have drop bars and added an extra set of brake levers to the top of the bars so I can change hand positions. I also wear a brace at night and this has helped a lot. I got mine at the drugstore. It just holds your hand and wrist straight at night so your hands don't go numb. At some point I will have to have the surgery since they say prolonging the procedure only makes the nerve damage worse. Hope this helps.

I will second the above. I get mild symptoms of this, and I use both specialized grips and gloves and find they work well. I also use bar ends on my mtbike so as to vary my grip continuosly.

[VickiK]

What a frighthening topic--because I am facing this issue too. My CP seems to be due to both wrist abuse (bad positioning plus too much computer work & mousing) and neck vertebrae issues. It really was manageable until October, when a serious rear-end collision just aggravated the h. out of my neck and led into constant wrist tingling. I have been getting therapy since Oct., and just got an MRI yesterday. I really want to avoid surgery.

My phys. therapist says that I need to be careful in my head/neck position when I'm riding. So...
- I am working on my posture w/ wt. training and trying to always correct it
- Wrist strengthening with squeezey toys and such
- A new bike to give me more options in sitting posture and hand positions than my current one. I'm not using my CP to justify this purchase, but it does factor into my decision-making!

Notes from my bike-related lurking:
Shifting more weight to your powerhouse, glutes, legs will take the stress off your arms. Raise the seat to be more level with the handlebars. Different handlebars (straight mtb bars don't give you many options). I heard that extra cushion-y padding might mask a problem while seeming to alleviate it.

[Dogmama]

Ditto with carpal tunnel problems. Make sure your wrist is as straight as possible. Bending it will pinch those little nerves.

[MightyMitre]

I found having thick bar tape and thick gel gloves didn't really help. I've just got normal bar tape thickness and the Specialised body geometry women's gel gloves, with the pad on the ulna (sp) nerve are good - padded where you need it but the rest of the glove isn't too thick.

[aka_kim]

When I started riding about 10 years ago I had terrible wrist pain, even though my overall wrist problems were not that bad. Now, it's the reverse, I wear a wrist brace at work and often at night, but for the most part have few problems while riding. Thankfully, I'd hate to give up riding.

The Specialized BG gloves are great. And wearing wrist braces at night can actually alleviate pain the rest of the day -- I do when my wrist (the right one) is really bad. I don't have problems on my road bike, because of both my handlebar position -- it's just below seat height -- and the number of hand positions available. I've got bar ends on my mountain bike, which help, but avoiding wrist pain on the mtn bike has been difficult. Carpal tunnel exercises help too -- I got my list from an ergonomics group at work, but I think web sites publish this kind of stuff too.

Hope you find something that helps. You shouldn't have to give up riding.

[adictpunkgrl]

Wow thank you everyone for your advice. I will try some of this stuff and see how it works out. I think I'm going to buy drop bars, new brake levers and shifters on my next pay check. My bike as it is now has totally straight across bars which doesn't give me much of an option for changing hand/arm/wrist positions while riding.

Now that I mention getting new bars and all that does anyone know anything about shimano 600 vintage levers and shifters from like the 70's? I'm looking to buy some sweet old vintage componants but haven't found any reviews on if they are good. they place I found them they are new old stock, so they haven't been used before. They sure are pretty fancy, but pretty fancy doesn't mean they work well. thanks again everyone!

[MM_QFC!]

I'll echo the ditto to the excellent advice that others have already posted. In addition, drop bars give you lots of options for hand/arm positioning so, if you can get in the habit of changing positions fairly often, that might help also. Elbows shouldn't be locked, keep them a bit relaxed and don't use your arms/hands to lean heavily onto your bars, as arms aren't supposed to be the weight-bearing limbs in cycling; they're more for balance and to easily absorb road vibrations (again, only if they're not rigid and locked, with you leaning your full upper body weight into them). On long rides, I find it helpful to not only change hand position, but to shake them a bit too (just have to be careful to not wave and shake if riders are behind you and think that you're flagging a road hazard to them). That loosens them up and I open/close, make fists, etc. as I'm reaching for snacks or water bottle, etc. Lots of stretches that you can do while riding, that'll help in between rest stops...hang in there!
Mary

[MomOnBike]

Finally something I have some experience in!

I'm dependent on my hands for my living/avocation. My home business involves typing for hours, I secretary (well, NOW it's a verb) on weekends at a rehab. hospital, and I am a fair-to-middlin' violist and string bass player. If my hands tingle or hurt, I want it fixed yesterday. I can't afford to take chances. Did I mention bad wrist conformation and arthritis?

OK, with that background in mind: Walter (the Raleigh) was making my hands hurt. Thick foam padding helped. As did the cushiest gloves I could find. With gloves, try to find some that have a "valley" in the middle of the hand, to keep pressure away from that nerve there.

I did much messing with bars, up, down, forward, backward, all but upside down and backwards. What I have yet to do is go get a real, professional fit. Probably a mistake, but my messing didn't seem to help.

I talked to the Physical Therapy people at work. OK, try to keep everything relaxed from the jaw to the fingertips. Check. Stretches. Check. Change positions often. Check.

Still much tingling after only 10 miles.

Went whimpering back to PT (working in a rehab hospital has its bennies). Someone suggested that I might try a recumbent. I resisted. Mightily. I love Walter. I'm poor.

Resistance finally broke, and I tried one. No hand problems. None. No butt problems, either. Bought William, a long wheel base recumbent.

So, for me, at least, a 'bent is the only way I can put in the miles I want to.

If nothing works with an upright, at least take a 'bent around a parking lot. Some of them are good for mild mountain-type biking, even. (Not my thing, but I've been told) I know I have much fun on the bike paths and streets here in town. My minimum ride is tripled. I've started to plan long rides. And my hands don't hurt. At all.

Good luck with your problems, and keep us informed. I'm always interested in this. Good luck.

[DirtDiva]

I don't have anything new to add to the topic, but I feel compelled to chime in with a bit of praise for decent gloves. I can only go about 20 minutes gloveless before I get a numb pain (which sounds like a total contradiction, but that's the best way I can think of to describe it) from my ring and pinky fingers to my elbows. Not even a tingle when I wear 'em - best however many dollars they were I've spent on bike stuff.

[sarahfixit]

I have had carpal tunnel symptoms ever since about 16 yrs old(21 now). All I can figure is I was a machette using landscaper, as well as a mtb racer since 12.
Lever position as well as reach is paramount, as is seat position. Too far back causes loading of the wrists, and tilting it forward will too(oh well).
As mentioned before, move the hands a lot. Barends rock! I am so sore without them unless im racing. In which case most pain is forgotten anyhow, lol.

The irony is my 22yr old sis is just now getting it and she is the comp user/lit major. Go fig that one....