avalve

Went on a 50 mile ride through some hills and crazy wind on Saturday. With about 20 miles left, I realized that I couldn't switch chain rings with my left hand. Thought it was my front deraileur. I had to ride the last 20 miles in my granny gears because I couldn't switch back over. Now I realize it was my hand with the issue, not the bike. It has been 3 days and I still cannot move any of my left hand fingers laterally. I can make a fist, but thats about it. In fact, I am typing with one hand.

I know why I have the problem, but now I need some assistance and direction on how to get my hand back. I have been training for the BP MS 150 which is now only about 5 weeks away. Obviously, right now I can't ride, but I still want to see if I might be able to get better before the event. Is there anything I can do to quicken my recovery. Once my hand is recovered, I am going to get fitted properly for my bike and change handlebar height, gloves, tape, etc. But what can I do right now.....

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Danielle

Raise your bars.

DScott

I'd be a little more concerned about permanent nerve damage than any ride. Nerves don't like being compressed. It makes them cranky, sometimes forever.

Have you seen a doctor qualified to diagnose and treat nerve injuries?

sojourn

Try lowering your saddle as an alternative as well. Most riders have their saddles too high and put too much weight on the hands. The hand issues start showing up during long rides (I went through the same thing myself).
Be sure to move your hands around from "tops" to "hoods" to "drops" in 10 minute intervals and be aware of your wrists staying straight.
Tilt your hands back and forth to stretch your wrists on and off the bike when you can.
This works for me, hope it helps you!
Good luck-

DrPete 

See a doctor. Don't mess around with this. Regular old nerve compression from bad position on the bike should not cause motor deficits.

It actually doesn't sound cycling-related to me, so for the love of God don't write it off. It might be something as simple as your position on the bike but if you're having motor deficits that's the real deal and needs to be looked at ASAP, preferrably by a neurologist or some other non-primary-care type.

tomatl411

I had some nerve damage after the STP one day two years ago (10.5 hours--I spent much of my time in the drops). I had weakness and tingling for 2-3 weeks afterward--I couldn't button my pants with my left hand. It did get better with time. With the Ulnar nerve its the ringfinger, the pinky and thumb that can be affected (I think)--your situation sounds much more severe than mine was--I'd take a trip to the doctor if I were you. You do know what the doctor will tell you--stay off the bike.

I invested in better gloves with actual padding in the palm and went to carbon (gasp)handlebars with the hope that there might be some vibration damping after that, but that is all window dressing--change your position to keep pressure off the nerve and avoid the drops for awhile. Clip-ons to give you another position to rest in and avoid pressure on the palm, but not sustainable for 150 miles.

I dunno you are in a tough spot 150 miles is going to really give you problems with the ulnar problems you are having so close in to the event...good luck.

ericm979

... is go to the doctor.


Once your hand is better, then look at fit. The suggestion to lower your saddle is a bad idea unless you'd like to have knee problems in addition to your hand problem.

I would look at making sure your saddle is back far enough. If it is too far forward, then you put more weight on your hands. Some people move their saddle forwards to make the reach to the bars less, but that's the wrong way to do it. It shortens the reach but it puts more weight on your hands. Set the saddle position first, then adjust the bars to suit.

My hand problems have mostly caused by gloves. If the padding gets too compressed my hands start hurting. I am also sensitive to the shape of the pads... most of the new style with separated pads don't work for me, I need some padding in the middle.

I have also had hand problems caused by stiff brakes on long twisty descents. The fix there was to take off the weight weenie brakes and go back good old Dura Ace. If your brakes have a lot of friction or stiff springs and your hand hurt when braking that might be the cause of your problem as well.

genie

1 - See neurologist

2 - Heal

3 - Get fitted by an expert

I damaged mine after a challenging ride, and went through countless tests to determine the severity of the injury. At one point my fingers begun to claw, with an area of numbness over the little, ring, and middle finger, not a good thing. During treatment, I was told that if the nerve was going to heal and regenerate, it would do so at the rate of 1 mm a day. Fortunately, after two months, I was good as new.

MrCrassic 

Often times, people develop this short problem due to not changing positions often enough on the bike. Keeping the same hand position over a long period of time can damage end nerves, which ultimately leads to this. This is not a significant problem, unless it has happened before. Considering that you're posting about it, I wouldn't think it's the latter.

Use those fingers as little as possible. The less you use them, the more chances your nerves have to repair themselves. Recovering from that can take quite a while, so be patient. (I pinched a nerve on my left pinky finger during a 150 mile ride, and it took close to six months for it to fully heal. I could use it properly about three months in, but it would still feel weird.)

If you feel any other discomforts on your bike, primarily in the abdominal, lower back, pelvic or knee regions, get your bike fitted by a bike shop employee.

A neurologist will probably tell you the same thing and leave you out some money.

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cyccommute 

As others have said, go see a doctor. Don't expect much outside of the 'stop doing that' realm of advice, however.

I'm not a doctor but I've experienced this plenty. You have what's commonly referred to as cyclist's palsy. It's caused by compression of the ulnar and/or medial nerve in the hand. It's brought about by rough roads, poorly padded handle bars, keeping your hands in one place for long periods and/or worn out gloves. Although 30 miles is a bit on the low side of mileage to cause this, it's possible. I find that it's worse with mountain bikes than with road bikes because mountain bikes have less padding in the grips than most road bike and fewer hand positions.

You should probably put some extra padding under the bar tape...and use a good thick tape on top of that. Most people like gel padding that goes under the tape. I've tried it and never found it to be that useful. I prefer a foam padding like Aztec Vibewrap. It's thicker than most gels and, for me, cushions better. Just wrap your bars in electrical tape first, 'cause the stuff doesn't come off of the metal

The good news is that this will probably go away. It just may take some time. After multiweek tours, I've had the tingly numb feeling last for up to 6 weeks. (On my tour in 2005, however, I never experienced a single day of palsy...and that was my first use of the Vibe Wrap)

DScott

Just so we know what you're talking about:





I do think it's ironic that you sustained nerve damage in preparation for a charity ride to support research and treatment for people with MS, a debilitating condition that causes, of all things, nerve damage.

Vireo

In 2007, I did Furnace Creek 508 fixed gear (508 miles 35,000 feet of climbing non stop race). I had the same issues some of the riders have mentioned here. I was on the bike for 45 hours. I have a great bike fit but it was just too many hours. The rules also do not allow aero bars in the fixed gear division. The numbness in my left hand (I'm right handed so all my eating, drinking and fussing with gear is done with my right) stayed with me for at least 3 months.

Another BF member has mentioned aero bars in a previous post. In addition to the fine recommendations listed already you may consider aero bars as an alternate hand position. All the usual disclaimers about riding with aero bars in groups apply. You may also consider double wrap of bar tape. If you really like your bar. I have an old Deda bar on my Bianchi. It is so narrow (26.0 clamp) everywhere that I just double wrap it to simulate my other bars. I have a huge disdain for wearing gloves and I just don't wear them.

avalve

Thanks for all of the help and advice. Ironically, my father is a nuerosurgeon who was able to come and examine me the other day. He gave me the old "let it heal" advice and suggests that I get an electrical test of some sort done on my nerves. He doesn't seem too concerned about long term damage. It has now been about 5 days since I got off of the bike and it has maybe improved 5%. I still have a significant loss of sensation and mobility with the fingers. I am a musician, so the best way for me to gauge progress is trying to finger chords on the guitar. No luck!

How difficult would it be to change to reverse the shifters for deraileurs? Shifting the front deraileur takes more strength than the rear. I really want to see if I can make the MS-150 in mid-April as the first time I trained for it 5 years ago, I had to cancel due to heart surgery. I just recently got back on the bike 8 months ago.

I am cancelling my training ride this weekend, but will go to my local bike shop to get a true fitting as well as retaping the bars with the gel stuff ya'll suggest, buying new gloves, saddle and possibly aero bars.

Thanks again.

cyccommute 

I suppose you could swap the shifters but the levers would stick out a funny angle. Not sure it's be comfortable. And the cables would go out from the handlebars, not inward. They'd catch on all kinds of stuff.

You might want to check your cables because I don't find an appreciable difference between front and rear shifting force. You might have a gummed up cable if you are having to work the lever for the front harder.

not2blu

You've gotten a lot of medical advice so you don't need my $0.02 on that.
But if you want to retain your form and have a gym membership I'd go there.
Get on an elliptical machine and run at least 3 miles on it every other day. You can do this with minimal use of the hands. You can even ride a stationary bike with no hands or, better yet, hop on a spin bike and ride that alternating no hands with resting on your forearms (TT position) as long as you stay off the nerve. In essence you want to do two things. 1) elevate and maintain cardio function (elliptical machine) and 2) keep the riding muscles active (stationary and spin bikes).

Good luck and I hope your hand recovers quickly!

DannoXYZ 

If you are sure it's the ulnar nerve, then I'd suggest looking at the elbow area for problems. The majority of ulnar nerve problems originate at the elbow. If it's from the wrist, weight and positioning, it'd be more likely the median nerve.