Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Numb hands and pins and needles.

  • 28-10-2013 10:33am
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 3


    Hi all,

    I am fairly new to cycling but have managed to cycle some reasonable distances (50/60km), at the start suffered from a sore backside but wearing two pairs of shorts has sorted this.
    What seems to be holding me back now is after around 20 miles or so my hands start to go numb and suffer from pins and needles, this happens with or without gloves.
    Do I need to change my riding position ? any advice would be appreciated.

    Thanks


Comments

  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,773 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    Are you using drop handlebars? Vary your position on the bars - ride on the drops, hoods and simply with your hands wrapped around the top of the bars to give some variation.

    I suffer this particularly in my right hand riding the track, probably when my grip is quite tight. I try taking my hand off and shaking it just to loosen it up a bit which also helps


  • Registered Users Posts: 3 Supachip


    Hi Beasty,

    Yes they are dropped handlebars and I have tried all the things you suggested, obviously i get some relief when i shake my hands out and get the blood back into them but five minutes later the pins and needles/numbness is back.
    I'm wondering am I putting too much weight on my arms, but to put less weight on my arms would mean riding in a more upright position.


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 20,650 Mod ✭✭✭✭Brian?


    I'd get a bike fit done.

    they/them/theirs


    And so on, and so on …. - Slavoj Žižek




  • Registered Users Posts: 872 ✭✭✭mamax


    Have you ever had any back or neck injury ?
    If yes then you might need to be careful as it could be a disc/nerve problem but as said get fitted for your bike would be the first thing to do and take it from there.


  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,773 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    mamax wrote: »
    Have you ever had any back or neck injury ?
    If yes then you might need to be careful as it could be a disc/nerve problem but as said get fitted for your bike would be the first thing to do and take it from there.
    Before anyone tries to diagnose any medical condition, please note that seeking or providing any medical advice is not permitted on Boards

    OP, if it persists I would suggest getting yourself checked out at your doctors.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 514 ✭✭✭jinkypolly


    Sounds like you need a proper bike fit. I suffered from something similar until I realised that my saddle position was too far back and thus my hands were bearing too much weight. I sorted it by bringing my saddle forward and working on strengthening my core through specific excercises.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,347 ✭✭✭No Pants


    Are you using actual cycling gloves, ones that come with padding?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,889 ✭✭✭feck sake lads


    is your saddle to far back also make sur its level.
    no harm putting a good quality gel bartape on even double it up.
    be sure your elbows are slightly bent and your nor leaning to far over handlebars.

    other than that i havent a clue :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 3 Supachip


    Thanks to everyone, I think I'll get a bike fit done and hopefully that will help,
    thanks again for all your advice.


  • Registered Users Posts: 82 ✭✭New2bike


    Supachip wrote: »
    Thanks to everyone, I think I'll get a bike fit done and hopefully that will help,
    thanks again for all your advice.

    Hi Supachip I have the exact same problem fairly new to the sport myself but manged the 80k ride with Nicholas Roche in Cork last week after about 50k I could hardly feel my hands anymore but just ploughed on as there were no stops in that particular ride

    I do put this down to a bulging disc in my neck a result of years of playing rugby but I have seen on here a few times about getting a proper bike fit would be well worth the mula best of luck with it!!


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 24,937 ✭✭✭✭Wishbone Ash


    Supachip wrote: »
    my hands start to go numb and suffer from pins and needles,
    Supachip wrote: »
    when i shake my hands out and get the blood back
    Without wishing to appear give medical advice, it more than likely caused by a trapped nerve rather than blood flow.


  • Registered Users Posts: 364 ✭✭Konkers


    Not mentioned by anyone so I'll say it. Make sure that your gloves are not too tight or small. Your hands will swell (like your feet) after a few Km's, this can cause the nerves between the bones in your hands to become pinched, numbness will set it and then pain.

    Or as Beasty said above gripping the bars to tightly could do the same thing.


  • Registered Users Posts: 24,937 ✭✭✭✭Wishbone Ash


    Konkers wrote: »
    Make sure that your gloves are not too tight or small. Your hands will swell (like your feet) after a few Km's, this can cause the nerves between the bones in your hands to become pinched, numbness will set it and then pain

    Happens without gloves.
    Supachip wrote: »
    this happens with or without gloves


  • Registered Users Posts: 872 ✭✭✭mamax


    Without wishing to appear give medical advice, it more than likely caused by a trapped nerve rather than blood flow.

    As I mentioned in post #5
    A ruptured disk can lead to nerve damage which leads to those symptoms, so I'd advise seeking professional medical advise along with a bike fit.


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 20,650 Mod ✭✭✭✭Brian?


    mamax wrote: »
    As I mentioned in post #5
    A ruptured disk can lead to nerve damage which leads to those symptoms, so I'd advise seeking professional medical advise along with a bike fit.

    I used to get the same thing. A bike fit fixed it. Don't be worrying the OP just yet, it's much more likely to be the angle his wrists are at or his shoulder position.

    they/them/theirs


    And so on, and so on …. - Slavoj Žižek




  • Registered Users Posts: 322 ✭✭Rua_ri


    Brian? wrote: »
    I used to get the same thing. A bike fit fixed it. Don't be worrying the OP just yet, it's much more likely to be the angle his wrists are at or his shoulder position.

    I too had this issue , along with neck pain after a 100km or more cycle.
    Bike fit sorted me. Fitter changed my stem from 110mm to 100mm. Hard to imagine that 10mm was causing all my problems, but it was causing me to over stretch just enough to cause the pain. I have had no issues since the fit.
    Definitely recommend a bike fit.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,160 ✭✭✭JMcL


    +1 on the bike fit

    I used to suffer badly from this as I was putting too much weight on my hands. Changing saddle position and a shorter stem have made the pins and needles all go away. This was reinforced when I used my old knockabout bike to tow the kids around on holidays during the summer, and bang, pins and needles with numbness back


  • Registered Users Posts: 226 ✭✭The Big Lebowsky


    Supachip wrote: »
    Hi all,

    I am fairly new to cycling but have managed to cycle some reasonable distances (50/60km), at the start suffered from a sore backside but wearing two pairs of shorts has sorted this.
    What seems to be holding me back now is after around 20 miles or so my hands start to go numb and suffer from pins and needles, this happens with or without gloves.
    Do I need to change my riding position ? any advice would be appreciated.

    Thanks

    This is an easy one to fix....Most newbie cyclists make the classic mistake of sitting bolt upright on their bikes. This position places too much weight on the hands, and lets the muscles supporting the spine (erector spinae) off scott free.

    Now trust me on this...Get a longer handle bar stem. Make your erector spinae muscles do their fair share of work.. and unweight your poor hands..


  • Registered Users Posts: 322 ✭✭Rua_ri


    This is an easy one to fix....Most newbie cyclists make the classic mistake of sitting bolt upright on their bikes. This position places too much weight on the hands, and lets the muscles supporting the spine (erector spinae) off scott free.

    Now trust me on this...Get a longer handle bar stem. Make your erector spinae muscles do their fair share of work.. and unweight your poor hands..

    Wow.

    You are advising someone whose measurements you do not know to trust you and get a longer stem!
    You have also never seen the OP's position on a bike.

    I read an early post from you where you outlined that you have short legs and a long torso, so in your case a long stem worked for you. There is no evidence to suggest that it would work for the OP.
    IMHO the first port of call is a bike fit, where someone trained can see and make necessary adjustments, if any are needed.


  • Registered Users Posts: 358 ✭✭Rambling Man


    This is an easy one to fix....Most newbie cyclists make the classic mistake of sitting bolt upright on their bikes. This position places too much weight on the hands, and lets the muscles supporting the spine (erector spinae) off scott free.

    Now trust me on this...Get a longer handle bar stem. Make your erector spinae muscles do their fair share of work.. and unweight your poor hands..

    Following the logic.... don't sit "bolt upright" and you're fixed?


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 1,418 ✭✭✭NeedMoreGears


    In my case, my left hand tends to get pins and needles. I found out on last Sunday's Boards spin, that it gets much worse in both hands when I forget my padded gloves.

    Otherwise I change hand position every few minutes which helps a lot. I suspect I'm not sitting far back enough in the saddle, which is leaving too much weight on my hands ; although I can't explain why it's only the left hand that suffers.

    I'll be remembering my gloves in future!


Advertisement