Pain in hand

Mrs_Ragbrutty

Hi. can't find a better place for this. If there is one, let me know.

I cycle 30 miles a day to and from work. Sometimes it's 60. Have done the high milage a bit too often of late.

I have a pain in my right hand that causes my fingers to go numb or tingle. It's where I rest my palm on the bars of my bike under my little finger. It hurts at no other time except when I'm cycling. It hasn't eased off with a few days rest. It starts at around the 6 mile mark and carries on until the 10 mile mark. It can get so painful that I think that I'm going to have to stop riding. Nothing allieviates it.

Any idea of causes; cures; moderation to clothing; riding style what have you? TY

JonS123

Do you wear gloves while cycling?

tardington

Also, what sort of handlebars do you have? I was on an mtb for a while after a good while on road bars and I got aches and pains after a while (upwards of 5-ish miles)

If you're on flats, do you have bar-ends to have a second hand position? I found that helped a lot.

Mrs_Ragbrutty

Yes I wear gloves.
I ride a road bike with drop bars.

cyberknight

I still get this as well

have you tried the larger padded grips ? i want some but im still skint :?

And do you run your tyres at a high psi? i find if i run closer to the max psi i get more road buzz

read some where that seat position can also affect you and saddle height, if you have to much pressure on your hands it can aggravate the condition

spursn17

I've had my road bike (Boardman Team Carbon) 2 weeks and I've been getting this in my left hand, it lasts for ages and is pretty painful. I have never had this with my MTB.

I've been wondering if I can flip my stem up the other way (I reckon it would raise the bars by about 2cm's). It has 'Ritchey' written on it upside down as well as the right way up so presumably it's designed for this?

amnezia

Carbon fork, decent tyres and wheels will reduce the vibration significantly. A good pair of gloves will help as well and is probably the cheapest place to start.

Biscuiteer

Yes you can flip your stem (without increasing your FCN, I believe), just make doubly sure everything's reassembled properly afterwards!

spursn17

amnezia wrote:

Carbon fork, decent tyres and wheels will reduce the vibration significantly. A good pair of gloves will help as well and is probably the cheapest place to start.

Cheapest!!!! I paid £25 today for a pair of Endura mitts that had hardly any effect whatsoever. Got the forks, and the wheels are ok-ish.

prawny

spursn17 wrote:

I've had my road bike (Boardman Team Carbon) 2 weeks and I've been getting this in my left hand, it lasts for ages and is pretty painful. I have never had this with my MTB.

I've been wondering if I can flip my stem up the other way (I reckon it would raise the bars by about 2cm's). It has 'Ritchey' written on it upside down as well as the right way up so presumably it's designed for this?

I've flipped the stem on my Boarman, I tried to flip it back but it gave my back a load of grief. I think all the bikes have the same geometry so it's probably worth a go.

R_T_A

I used to get something similar when I started commuting - it sounds like the Ulnar nerve being trapped.

Have a read of the below link, and see if any of the exercises suggested improve it:

http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/cycling-injuries.html

I put bar-ends on my flat bar to change hand positions, and got a powerball for wrist strengthening* http://www.powerballs.com/

* That's what I told the wife - it's a toy that has benefits

tjwood

Seems to crop up a fair bit - I have/had a very similar problem, albeit on an MTB. http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12633489

The suggestion I got was that it was mainly to do with how you position your wrists. I was inadvertently bending my wrists back and hence stretching my ulnar nerve. Don't know much about how you grip road bike bars but maybe try thinking about the position of your wrists relative to your forearms.