ngweimin

Anyone has this condition and recovered eventually? How long did it take? I have no numbness or pain but I have loss strength in my hand especially pinch strength and my pinky is slight clawed. The doc has put me on anti-inflammatory medication and Vitamin B for 2 weeks. Afterwhich if the condition does not improve surgery might have to be considered?

jjmolyet

Patience, it will get better, it happened to me after long rides. I bought Body Geometry gloves from Specialized - www.specialized.com - these gloves are amazing. Don't go buy a pair of gel filled gloves, look for the Specialized gloves. Keep your grip loose and drop your seat slightly to add weight to your rear and take off your hands. I bought some Syntace aerobars to give myself an additional riding position. Keep changing between the hoods and the drops. My problem does not exist anymore but I did spend last summer with a numb index finger on my left hand. It got better, surgery seems extreme but your Doctor may know better than I. If he suggests surgery, I would get an opinion from a surgeon with experience with sports related injuries.

ngweimin

I've stopped riding for 2 weeks now and the problem is still there. It has not got worse but it isn't getting any better. I was already experiencing numbness in my 4th and 5th fingers after rides but it went away after a couple of hours and I dismissed it as a temporary problem. To my dismay, the numbness was replaced by the loss of strength and that's when I knew things might have got worse without me knowing it. My sports orthopeadic surgeon isn't keen on surgery as well but we'll have to wait and see. The scary thing is that if any permanent damage is done.

qroo

I agree 100% with jjmolyet. I had the same problem and it took several weeks (if I remember, it was probably about 4-5 weeks) for it to come back. Get your bike professionally fitted, buy the gloves, and change your hand position early and often. The aero bars are also a good idea. I have Syntace aero bars as well and they are awesome.

Q

berny

GET FITTED, GET FITTED, GET FITTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's much cheaper than surgery.

ngweimin

It's a bit too late to get fitted for now anyway. I can't get on a bike till the symtoms resolve, if they resolve in time.

berny

Mate, while you're convalescing, read the article at; https://camwest.pps.com.au/news/bicycle_fit.html

Blackberry

When you're ready to get back on the bike, consider these tips from Hughes Sports Medicine. I did this and switched out from flat bars to those with multiple hand positions, and I got better.

"Adjust the bike so you SIT IN A MORE UPRIGHT POSITION [RAISE YOUR STEM], taking the weight and pressure off your hands and wrists. Take a rest during long rides and change your hand position on the handlebars often. Shift your weight from the center of your palms to the outside edge of your palms as often as possible. Wear padded gloves and add handlebar padding to your bike to help protect your hands from injury. The padding absorbs the shocks and jolts from the road, limiting the stress transmitted to your hands. Your hands will also be able to handle the stress from the roads much better if you complete a short session of hand and wrist stretches before hitting the road.

Most often, overuse injuries experienced by cyclists stem from a lack of specific preparation. With the proper training and equipment, you can minimize the risk of these hand injuries."

David C. Rehak, MD
Columbus, Georgia

ngweimin

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm just worried that it's not going to go away and surgery might be the only alternative. It sux having to look at my Soloist with Ultregra 10 and Ksyrium SLs just sitting there by herself.

Flaneur

Sadly, you have plenty of time to contemplate your riding position and style. Forget screwing with your seat height, unless you have been overextending your knees and/or rocking your hips. This is about body weight distribution. Consider a higher and/or shorter stem, different bars, maybe a shorter top tubed frame. Say goodbye to the favourite hand position, that you might have adopted for mile after mile. Say hello to the best quality gloves and perhaps fatter bar wrap.

Look at other riders' positioning- not just modern road racers but randonneurs, ultra- marathon guys and other experienced saddle slaves. Be prepared to compromise your aesthetic tastes for practical reasons.

Are you in and out of the saddle and is it comfortable? Do you like to push a big gear or spin a smaller one? Do you ride alone or in groups? Are you a competitor? Strenuous riding affects your body differently.

Sorry if these points seem obvious to you, I'm just trying to trigger some lateral analysis. Maybe a friend or knowledgeable outside voice might be of assistance?

Rest up, ride your MTB later, spend a few dollars, test and report back..........

berny

Probably the most misunderstood measurement on a bicycle which has a profound effect on comfort is the distance from the centre of the seat to the centre of the bottom bracket in a line drawn parallel to the wheel axles or in other terms, parallel to the ground. The most common mistake most new riders make is to move the seat forward to relieve pressure from the hands and arms when in reality the reverse is true. The reason is that the further one sits behind the BB the more the person's weight is taken on the legs which is really what you want when you consider weight on the pedals transfers into HP and speed.
An excerpt from the article at the website address I posted above;

Seat position fore and aft:

This is a most crucial adjustment for comfort and performance. With your pedals in the horizontal, 3 & 9 o'clock positions a vertical line from the front of your forward knee should intersect the instep of your forward foot. This vertical line from your knee will be behind your pedal spindle and possibly behind your pedal as well. The actual amount varies considerably between individuals and requires considerable trial and adjustment to find the right position.

Myth 2: Front of knee above the pedal spindle. Challenged

Unfortunately most modern bicycles have very limited adjustments in this area and are made worse by steep seat tube angles of 74 and 75 degrees (to fit bicycles into smaller boxes to reduce transport costs). The ideal seat tube angle to fit most people is about 71 degrees. The movement rearward of the seat is about 1cm per degree for a small size frame and more for large sizes. This means that modern bicycle seats are at least 4cm too far forward for most people to achieve a comfortable seat position. Unfortunately seat tube angles are rather difficult and expensive to adjust on existing frames. The answer is a frame, custom built to fit your needs.

This seat position is also important to locate your centre of mass between the seat and the bottom bracket. By doing this, a large amount of weight is transferred from your hands and onto your pedals so that your hands, shoulders, and neck can relax and you get more power to the pedals. This also allows you to reach comfortably much further forward because it much reduces the weight that your hands, arms, and shoulders need to support.

The article is in agreement with bicycle fit theory developed by Australia's Steve Hogg who has fitted some of our most talented cyclists.

Rowan

Berny's on the right track, if you are bothered to read. Fitting of bike is not a once-off thing, either. It can take a while to get millimetre-by-millimetre adjustments just right for ultimate comfort.

I've had the problems you've got, and plenty of others. I am a long-distance rider as Flaneur suggested -- 60, 1000 and 1200 rides in short time. We are most sensitive to these sorts of problems because of bike fit issues.

Fact is... well, we don't have many facts from you to deal with. We don't know how old you are. We don't know how experienced you are at cycling. We don't know several of your key body measurements. We don't know you bike size. We don't know the style of riding you want to pursue. We don't know the distances you want to ride. We don't know the intensity of riding you want to pursue.

Yet you want advice on a serious problem that in a workplace has resulted in law suits.

What I am getting at is... there are some issues you need to deal with that might solve your ulna nerve issues. But we don't have the basic things to provide a prognosis.

And for what it's worth... you may have a bike that is entirely unsuited to you in its current form. It just may be solvable... and then it might not.

And further, there are plenty of fit sites on the web, but I have found only practical fitting is works.

berny

This is not necessarily correct. Although most 'Brands' build their bikes with 74deg+ ST angles, there are frames out there which have 73deg and less (Orbea is one), you just need to shop around.
A set back seat post is nother option, and these are quite readily available.

ronan

If you have lost strength in both little finger and pincher grip with index finger, your problem might not just involve the ulnar nerve. The distribution of symptoms you describe suggests both ulnar and median nerve (runs through the carpal tunnel at the middle of the wrist joint). Peripheral nerves regenerate on average about 1 mm/day - without over use. Figuring about 1 cm per week you are looking at about 10-12 wks before the symptoms completely settle. Sorry.

Ronan

ngweimin

You're right. I've gone for a nerve conduction study and the results showed mild carpal tunnel syndrome and ulnar nerve compression on my left hand. My symtoms are in line with Guyon's Canal Syndrome which usually presents with no pain but weakness in the hand.

Rowan

Just one other consideration... pressure on hands can also be caused by lack of core strength in the stomach and back muscles. Do you work out to strengthen them?

ngweimin

I'm sure my nerve compression was brought about by me screwing around with my bike fit. I shifted my saddle too far forward and began to get used to resting the bottom side of my palms on the bars when on the hoods.

Rowan

Ahhh... sounds like you are on the right track to fixing the problem. Yes, move that seat back. People poo-poo KOPS, but it has some merit in at least identifying a way-out-of-line saddle position (and too small a frame).

CAAD5AL

Did you have any kind of other injury, like from lifting something? I had a similar problem once from lifting my recycling over my porch of all things - nothing really hurt at the time, but then my ring and pinkie fingers went numb. I believe that was the medial nerve. At any rate, it finally resolved after weeks or even months, with the aid of an Rx antiinflamatory drug.

Rowan

Knee Over Pedal Spindle. There's been recent discussion of it elsewhere. A search will find various discussions on it. Basically, the ideal position is to have the front of the knee vertically over the pedal spindle when the crank is in the forward horizontal position (9 or 3 o'clock). Slightly forward is suited to riders who spin; slighly back is suited for power strokes.

LordOpie

can you ride hands free? If so, then at least you can still enjoy a nice day.

ngweimin

I never had any other hand injuries. The one thing I noticed about nerve compression injuries is that it happens pretty slowly over time and culminates into something pretty serious. By the time the alarm bells go off, some extent of damage has been done. I used to get some numbness in my hands when riding but it always went away an hour after the ride. Little did I know that was the precursor to my current condition. So if any of you guys out there are feeling numb in the hands, time of get off the bike and take a hard look at the setup. Don't wait till you've lost strength in the hands before doing something about it.

Rowan

I had long-term problems with my left hand, some of it to do with a shoulder injury from falling off a bike. When I started regular long-distance riding, I had to do something about it, bike fit-wise.

It took quite a while to dial in everything. But it was great when I could go riding 1200km at a time, and not pull up with numbness and weakness in my left arm and hand. I can't even tell you when I noticed that -- except maybe it was Paris-Brest-Paris in late 2003.

It took more than two years (edit: original said months) for the damage to repair. I sometimes can feel a recurrence, especially when I am riding a bike that is not quite fitted as well as my randon/touring/commute bike. Invariably, these have flat bars.

FWIW, I have found that slightly thicker bars, but wearing *unpadded* gloves have been a good solution. I believe that in some cases, additional padding actually can worsen the condition because it can increase the area of compression around the nerve. This is what I have found when wearing padded gloves with the thicker handlebars.

ngweimin, I would suggest your problem does not have single cause. Yes, definitely start with putting your seat back to its original position, or even further. Check your stem length -- you may need a slightly longer one (an easy way to check this is to put an elbow on the nose of your seat, stretch your forearm out horizontally, and check the distance the handlebar is away from your outstretched fingers; you should be able to fit two fingers from the other hand sideways between the bar and the tips of the original fingers).

Do you have flatbars -- these are notorious for these sorts of hand problems. If you do, do you have bar ends. If not, fit them to provide at least two new hand positions.

If you have drop bars, do you spend all your time on the hoods, leaning on the heel of your palm? Are you bars as wide as your shoulders? Can you spend more time on the drops?

How much pressure do you run in your front tyre. Maybe dropping the pressure 5 to 10 psi (provided it is still within the recommended range on the tyre wall) will reduce the transmission of road shock to the handlebars (I am avoiding suggesting suspension, because I don't believe in it, or at least at the low quality level offered on many bikes).

Work on your core strength as well -- it is quite important.

One final piece of advice is to stretch your hand backwards to help relieve the muscle compression through the heel and wrist. You can do this while riding. Turn your hand upside down, place the tips of the fingers under the handlebar (or dinner table or desk or against a wall) and press the palm firmly towards the bar (table, desk, wall) to stretch the hand and wrist. Hold for about five seconds. Repeat several times. It worked wonders for my hand and is one of the reasons, I believe, I am reasonably in the clear with this issue.

Like so many things with bike problems, it is a process of elimination. Definitely start with the seat. But don't go doing everything suggested all at once.

Good luck with your recovery. With a little bit of care and adjustment, your problems should clear up.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. The advice (stretching in particular) has worked well for me, but you should seek some advice from a physical therapist if you have doubts either about efficacy or technique.

CAAD5AL

I should clarify my post a bit - the injury I had that affected my hand was actually to my shoulder, (actually, almost under my shoulder blade of all places) not directly in my hand. Sounds like you've been injury free over all, but if you can recall a shoulder or upper back strain, it could be related?

incipit

My Coworker had occasional numbness (few times a week) of half his hand, after a year or so of going to specialists opted for Surgury on his elbow where the compression was being done... Now his ring finger & Pinky are pretty much Useless with a clawed pinky but not only that the muscle that pulls the thumb to the index finger (meaty area between the thumb and index finger when looking at the top of the hand) has withered away to nothing leaving a cold deformed looking hand with drastically diminished usefullness.

The point of this story... SURGERY IS AN ABSOLUTE LAST RESORT!!!

Exhaust all other options first including acupuncture!!!