P4D 

I know there are a bunch of glove threads, but my search didn't turn up anything really specific to what I was looking at. I'm experiencing some cyclist palsy, and just on one hand. It started after I washed my gloves (cold water, hand wash) but also after I increased my mileage a good bit. I am going to work on hand position and have my bike fit rechecked, but I know part of the problem is the gel padding on my left glove has pushed into the canal where the nerve runs. So, I'm looking for some glove ideas, and thinking about going without padding. Anyone have any recommendations?

*nice typo on the heading - can someone fix for me?

ill.clyde

1. Don't expect a glove alone to solve the problem.

2. I use a combination of Pearl Izumi gloves with gel pads and Specialized Bar Phat handlebar wrap (has gel pads that go under the wrapping. It's helped me a little. So has the following

3. Focus on planting your a$$ on the seat more, forcing your sit bones to carry more of your weight than your arms/hands. Core exercises, as well as a concerted effort at using the core muscles to hold yourself up will help too.

Lastly ... change hand positions a lot ...

Nightshade

Good and accurate advice that's right on the money!

The main thing is GET YOUR WEIGHT ON YOUR SIT BONES AND OFF YOUR HANDS/ARMS!

jimnolimit

you might have to make some adjustments to your bike to correct the way you sit on it so there's less pressur eon your hands (like raising the handle bars a bit, moving your seat forward, etc).


i ride with "firm grip" gloves i got from home depot ($10), but like i'll.clyde said, don't expect that to solve your problem:

chefisaac

your wrist positions could be off a little too. A friend tweaked the hoods and it has helped me a lot

MileHighMark

Concentrate on sitting "in" the saddle as opposed to just "on" the saddle. You want your weight supported by your sit bones, not by your hands/arms/shoulders. This may require moving your saddle back, tilting up the nose slightly, or fitting a shorter/taller stem.

P4D 

Thanks for the tips, I'm aware of positioning that will help. It's a recent occurrence that is partially position and a small bit glove related. While I do change my posture and grip, I'm hoping to find some gloves that others have tried to help keep pressure off the canal the ulnar nerve runs through.

jr59

I use airius gloves, with NO padding.
I also use leather bar wrap with no padding.

Over the years I have found that any extra padding does not help after 15 or so miles.
To me it only makes the problem worse!

Rolling your hips forward, helps remove the pressure from you hands. P.S. it's going to feel like you are smashing your junk.
Also changing hand positions a lot helps. As does not gripping the bar so tightly. In other words, learn to relax your hands, wrists, arms, and shoulders.

Cychologist

The advice above is good. And for some good gloves, I use Louis Garneau Rex Gel Gloves and wash them regularly. Just make sure the velcor hooks are closed so they don't get caught on the other clothes.

Nightshade

Not gonna happen with gloves alone, mate. Not gonna happen.......

You must move more of your weight off your hands/wrist/arms to take any pinching pressure off the ulnar nerve canal in your hands/wrist. Unfortunatly that means a more upright riding posture for 99.9% of riders.

Adjust your seat, your bars to get you more upright. Failing to get pressure off the ulnar nerve can, and will, cause permanent damage to the nerve.

https://www.hughston.com/hha/a_15_3_2.htm

https://highperformancesports.blogspo...-palsy-or.html

https://www.elitesportstherapy.com/Cyclists--Palsy

P4D 

I *really* understand fit, position and grip will be instrumental to correct the issue. I also know I didn't prefervriding gloveless, which did help because the Casteli gel gloves I have are pushing over into the canal making it worse. I appreciate the wealth if advice, and the few glove suggestion which I am going to try *in addition* to checking fit, adjusting posture and moving hands around.

Paul01

https://shop.spencocycling.com/p-40-spenco-classic.aspx

MileHighMark

The Pearl Izumi Select gloves are inexpensive, and have a "channel" like the one you're looking for.

etofhb

I use Giro Monaco. I suffered with a case of urnal nerve irritation so bad I couldn't move my pinky finger for a week. I'm curious as to what type of bike you are riding. Is it a MTB, Hybrid or Road bike? With a road bike you have more hand positions. I was riding a hybrid at the time and switching to Carbon Fiber bars (Cheap one) seem to help along with gloves with the channel for the nerve. Also bar ends give you more options to move your hands around.

If you have a road bike and you don't ride in the drops a lot CF won't help as much. If you ride with your hands on the top bar your hands are so close to the stem and the CF doesn't have a chance to flex thus reducing vibration. When I ride my bike I spend a lot of time with the web of my thumb and fore finger on the back of the Shifter/Brake lever, I have two bikes one with alloy and the other CF K-Wing compact flat tops and I can't tell the difference other than I love the Aero-Ergo flattop. I don't tend to grip as tight with those.

Oh! What everyone else said about weight distribution, Ditto.

Good Luck

P4D 

I did a 25 mile ride today, and it became quickly apparent what issue #1 is with regard to this problem. One of the "natural" hand positions I have been employing is to set my palms onto the bars nearer the stem, rotate my wrists outward towards the hoods and rest my fingertips on the hoods/levers. That causes me to put whatever pressure I have on my hands straight into the canal with the ulnar nerve...DUH! I have no idea how I came to use the position, but its out now and I noticed a difference over 25 miles this am. One of the results of this position is that the gloves I have on (Casteli gel) get the padding pushed into the canal because of how I was positioning my hands. I did have to rotate the gloves over to keep the padding in line with my hand, and will replace the gloves. I spent a lot more of my attention focusing on "sitting" as opposed to leaning, and with the fit adjustments I made had a nice ride. I changed hand positions a lot, and can tell my hands did much better today. I also rode the hoods more, which was easier when I was "sitting" and not leaning.

Thanks for all the tips! If I could find a hand protection that would reduce the pressure on the palm while the nerve sheath heals, that would be ideal. I am confident with some attention and hand-retraining, I can prevent this from reoccurring.

ill.clyde

Glad to hear it ... funny how we can do something like that and it just gets so ingrained and when we realize it we're like, DUH! LOL

I find it particularly common when it comes to hand positions ... I get locked into a zone and sometimes forget to switch.

not sure on the healing issue ... it takes awhile, but if you're like me, you'll want to keep riding ...

if you don't know how, now would be a great time to learn to ride no handed.

P4D 

I was practicing no handed, but my balance isn't great I guess. Need more core strength I think. I do lot of one handed and fingertips, because doing that forces me to "sit" on the bike. I'm riding a century in two weekends, so time off the bike isn't going to happen. I just have to be really attentive to hand position, and realize that no matter what I do riding is going to inflame it a bit.

Nightshade

If you hand start to go numb or get to hurting.....STOP RIDING!! Get off your bike to flex your hands/arms to get the blood flow going again....NOW!

Then when you get back home go to a doctor ASAP to see just how bad your nerve damage is. With your doctors advice go from there on what to do about riding safely.

We here at BF all want to see you on a bike having a ball riding. We don't want you to show us how to he man yourself into nerve damage. OK?

Tip: I have some nerve damage from using air impact wrenches where I retired from. I find that I have to sit bolt upright with just the slightest pressure on my hands with high rise handle bars to avoid the mind numbing pain from the damaged nerves!

P4D 

Well, there will be some pressure on the surround parts of my hands, so its inevitable that there will be some inflammation around the already inflamed area...but I can keep it to a minimum like I did this morning by paying attention to my hands and positions.

Nightshade

Scheduled a doctors visit to get help with your nerve problem yet**********

RichardGlover

Don't move your seat forward to solve a hand issue. The seat position should be based on your hip's relationship to the pedals, because seat position is all that can change that. Instead, if you need to shorten your reach to the bars, adjust the stem length, bar height, or something of that nature.


Was chatting with somebody who had similar nerve issues. He used to ride with his hands at the outer corners of the flats - behind the hoods. It was comfortable to rest the nerve canal on the bar there... but of course was a bad long-term thing to do. Like saddles, be cautious of too much padding in your gloves - the padding may be what ends up pressing into your nerves. I prefer leather or fake leather gloves with minimal padding and no gel. If I want extra padding, I do it on my bars by double wrapping them. Absorbs much of the road vibration without pushing fabric into the non-meaty part of my hands.

P4D 

Yes, Nightsahde, I did. Thanks for your concern, I'll let you know the result.

Nightshade

"We here at BF all want to see you on a bike having a ball riding."

P4D 

fotoflojoe

I got a pair of these too - I also cut off the finger tips.
Can't say that I'm really satisfied with this solution; the gloves seem to be too "baggy".
Also, the particular ones I bought were heavily padded, From what I've been reading, that may be contributing to the numbness factor for me.