numbness in my left fingers

denlaw

as my post says , after 3/4 miles my fingers start going numb , i'm doing about 10/12 miles a night after work , any suggestions would be thanked with a pint left in the post office ....thanks .

seamus

Do you have drop bars or flat bars?

Are you wearing gloves?

DirkVoodoo

It could be lots of things, but the first thing to do is to go to your doctor.

After that, look at your position on the bike. Are you placing too much weight on your hands? Do you have a photo of you riding the bike (profile)?

If you don't already, wear a pair of gel padded gloves. Maybe consider a second layer of bar tape.

Surveyor11

Straight handle bars (hybrid / MTB) or road bike? Can sometimes be caused by nerves in the hand and wrist being pinched or stressed. Check the position you're riding in. Would have it checked by a physio - suffered from 'handlebar palsy' myself (another type of carpal tunnel) and a special set of grips for the MTB sorted this out. Am now concious of riding with myhands in the neutral position on the road bike (keeping the wrists straight - like holding a tennis racket) and no longer suffer from it. Discussed it here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=63987411

HivemindXX

I used to get numbness on longer cycles and buying padded gloves helps. It's also important to adjust your hand position or take your hands off the bars and flex the fingers every once in a while.

Ergon is a company that makes grips for straight bar bikes and they have an animation on their site showing how poor wrist angle can hurt you. They also indicate how their grips will help with this but take that with a pinch of salt, I use their grips and they are good but I still wear the padded gloves for long cycles.

http://www.ergon-bike.com/us/en/ergonomics

denlaw

dropped handle bars and i've just bought a pair of gloves , when i take my hand away the numbness goes , not in any pain after which is a good thing i think , i bought my bike second hand off adverts and i've been threatening to go and get myself fitted properly ..thank for all your advice ..:)

Beasty

Feel free to discuss hand positions on the bike and impact on teh fingers etc., but please do not try and diagnose any medical problems, or the thread will have to be closed (I've already had to delete one post)

Thanks

Beasty

Khannie

I used to have similar. Was from putting too much pressure on the nerve. Try altering your hand position slightly. Properly fitting gloves may also help.

smacl

In addition to what's already been said, given it's a commute, wider tires might also help, as they take up more of the small shocks transmitted up to your hands travelling on a poor surface. Standing up slightly in the saddle can also help when you're travelling over particularly crap bits; saves ass numbness and back pain as well. If you are using straight bars, maybe add some bar ends to give you a choice of hand positions, I use these a fair bit on long spins.

Ryath

Another tip I say is to try and keep your arms relaxed and not holding on to the bars in a death grip. Used to get a bit numbness at start of year after an hour or two. Haven't changed anything but now have no bother at all put it down to being more relaxed on the bike and I probably change hand positions more often. Over eight and a half hours on the bike on Saturday and not even a twinge.

Kaisr Sose

I am just wondering why it's always the left hand that people say goes numb? Is it that the right hand is busier - switching gears etc or is it more linked to circulation / anatomy ?

seamus

What I actually tend to do over very rough patches is let go of the bars completely. OK, not completely, but just open your hands so the bars can move freely inside them, but ready to grab on again if you need to take control.

Probably not advised, but it works for me.

I am just wondering why it's always the left hand that people say goes numb? Is it that the right hand is busier - switching gears etc or is it more linked to circulation / anatomy ?

I'm not sure if people always say it's the left hand, but for righties, your right arm in general will be busier - changing gears, scratching your face, wiping your nose, taking a drink, messing with your computer. As we ride on the left side of the road, you will also take your right hand off the bar more often when turning around to look behind you or indicating to move out around an obstacle.

I always find my left arm much stiffer on a long ride than my right. Maybe a southpaw could educate us. Maybe they don't get stiff on either side.

Signal_ rabbit

Kaisr Sose wrote: »

I am just wondering why it's always the left hand that people say goes numb? Is it that the right hand is busier - switching gears etc or is it more linked to circulation / anatomy ?

This is generally the side that people wear their watch/HRM on. When the wrist is bent as in when cycling the watch strap restricts blood flow to the digits and causes numbness this side. But don't take my word for it, try removing said watch and see for yourself.

Beasty

Signal_ rabbit wrote: »

This is generally the side that people wear their watch/HRM on. When the wrist is bent as in when cycling the watch strap restricts blood flow to the digits and causes numbness this side. But don't take my word for it, try removing said watch and see for yourself.

I wear my watch on my right wrist, and my left hand sometimes goes numb when riding a track bike (ie no gear changes/braking etc with either hand!). Tends to be OK on the road bike though ....

I actually put it down to adopting a tighter grip with my left hand on the track (despite being right-handed) - maybe something to do with always turning left?

smacl

Kaisr Sose wrote: »

I am just wondering why it's always the left hand that people say goes numb? Is it that the right hand is busier - switching gears etc or is it more linked to circulation / anatomy ?

This is no more than a guess, but I would have thought you experience more numbness on your weaker side because you are supporting yourself more on your skeletal structure on that side than your muscles, which means bumps get transmitted on rather than absorbed. If your muscles are tired, you tend to lock your joints more as an aid to support, which leads to a more rigid body, which is less capable of absorbing shock. The OP also says its happening after a days work which contributes to tiredness. Pure speculation, but hey it is the interweb after all.

MLC61

I suffered from something similar and followed earlier advice on this forum of ensuring that my elbows were bent as I cycled. This ensured that my grip was not too strong and also that I wasn't supporting all my weight on my arms which I believe I had done in the past.

I made a conscious effort of bending my elbows in an exagerrated way until I became used to it.

Worked for me.