Wattsup

Mods, please relocate if this in the wrong forum....

Anyone get buzzy hands when cycling? I googled it, and it seems it's a common occurrence, but what I experienced today is hard for me to explain. Today I was indoors, on a spin bike. It was a short workout, HIIT, about 30 minutes including warm-up and warm-down.

When I was finished, I noticed that my fingertips on my left hand were tingly. Just the tips, and it was every finger, including my thumb. It went away in about a minute or two after I stopped teh workout. I've experienced something like this when cycling 2 hours on gravel, but I always chalked that up to the buzz from the gravel. There's no gravel in the bedroom. : )

On my google searches, I saw some causes, like carpal tunnel, or ulnar neuropathy, but from what I can see, these affect some of the fingers, not all of them. I had a tiny tingle in each fingertip. Any ideas? This is the first time I've had it on the indoor bike. I've had it many times on the two hour outdoor gravel rides.

veganbikes

Things could be poorly set up on your bike and you are not able to get blood to your finger tips. A lot of those spin bikes don't seem to be set up like a bike or super adjustable in any sense other than maybe notches on the "seat post"

fooferdoggie 

could be the start of tenditus. I can keep it from happening till I start wearing gloves then it comes back.

Branko D

Bad sign.

For me, sliding the saddle slightly backwards (and reviewing the height then) fixed it. I was a bit too forward which meant I wasn't quite balanced on the bike which was apparent if I took my hands off the bars. This put just a little bit extra pressure on my hand which would make my left hand pinky tingle during hard efforts.

JohnDThompson 

Do you wear gloves? What kind of handlebars (i.e. do they offer multiple hand positions)?

Wattsup

That's what I think it is.

The gloves cause the tendonitis?

Yes, I'm going to work on that.

Indoors I don't wear gloves, outdoors I don't unless it's cold. The spin bike's bars and my outdoor bike's bars (Moloko bar) do have a number of different position, but indoors I only use one position....like a straight bar, somewhat narrow grip, and the bar is flattened in the section that I grip. I just sat on the spin bike, and I do think it puts a lot of pressure on my palm. I will change position and try again. I did some googling to see what the arteries that supply the fingers look like, and the main feed to all fingers is from section in the palm of the hand, exactly where all the pressure is on the bar. I must be putting too much pressure on it. It's interesting that I have never felt it on the spin bike before, but it could be because I've gained weight recently and my core needs a little strengthening.

rsbob 

Sounds like either nerve or blood supply deficit due to compression. Put on your cycling gloves indoors and see if that makes a difference.

Free pseudoquqckery advice served daily.

Heck Yeah wear cycling eyewear on my stationary so my eyes don’t dry out in front of the fan.

unterhausen

Id doesn't take long at all to get numbness if you are compressing one of the nerves running to the hand. Move your seat back a little or get a longer stem.

Wildwood 

How tightly do you grip the handlebars?

Maybe almost not at all for indoor riding. There's no gravel in the bedroom - or potholes, turns or loose stuff, so relax the grip.

Pop N Wood

i get that from spinal stenosis of the vertebrae in my upper neck. Sometimes it is just finger tips, other times my whole hands tingle continuously for weeks/days

Take time to stretch and rotate your upper back. chiropractors are a godsend.

while scary it really isn't a big issue, I've lived with it for decades.

Have to take exception to the longer stem suggestion. For me the single biggest benefit has come from a more upright riding position. This not only takes pressure off the upper back but more importantly put your neck in a more natural alginment.

Guy don't want to hear this but a recumbent will almost certainly cure this problem for you.

fooferdoggie 

no it just seems to make it happen on the bike I guess because it changes the way I hold onto the bars.

Ed Wiser

Add thick bar tape on handlebars. I also bend my elbows to keep my upper body from pressing down to hard on my hands. Riding indoors you sit in one positron for way too long.
so constantly move hand positions during a ride. Many use rocker plates to give movement to their bike to relieve pain.

BobbyG

I suffered from a bulging disk in my neck ten years ago. The doctor tapped the side of my neck and it felt like he was tapping just above the crook in my arm. I would have liked to explore that sensation more but I was in agonizing pain, and the tapping just added to it. Then five years ago I began having a recuriung, but milder pain in almost that same area, but it turned out to be tennis elbow from laying in bed and holding my phone while resting my elbow on the bed next to me.
+1. I'll add that I have been using 1/2" foam pipe insulation (like thin pool noodles) on all my bikes since my mid 40s (about 15 years ago). It's not for nerve pain or tingling, but a crampiness that sets in. Changing hand positions helps. And since I changed my last straight bar bike to drops, like my other two, the cramps only occur on longer rides.

Wattsup

I will try that. Outdoors though, I do wear gloves, and I sometimes get the finger buzzing. I don't know that it's the same thing. I usually don't pay much attention to it outdoors, as I'm on lots of gravel. I always thought it was due to the constant buzzing of the gravel, but I also thought it strange that I still got it while wearing gloves.

Wattsup

And what are the symptoms?

Wattsup

Indoors, not hard at all. I just kind or rest them on a flat section of the bar. There does seem to be a lot of weight though on my hands.

Wattsup

I have only gotten the sensation while cycling though. One would think I'd get symptoms at other times as well, if it were due to stenosis. I'm going to change my grip on the indoor bar and see if that stops the tingling. I've only felt it once indoors.

Wattsup

Yeah, Indoors, I'll try wearing some thick gloves, add foam, and/or move my hands to a different position. Outdoors, my moloko bar already does have thick foam grips, but I still sometimes have buzzing, even when wearing thick gloves. It's a bigger buzz than what I experienced on the spin bike though. It was just the fingertips on the spin bike. I can't assume the symptoms, outdoors and indoors have the same causes.

Wattsup

How would that help? Wouldn't that put more weight on my hands?

10 Wheels

Try some Vitamin B-12

Ed Wiser

I sit up some times and ride with my hands down to my sides for 10 minutes. I have a Kicker bike and it I am riding a coarse or workout that is not using the up/down tilt. I will tilt the bike up all the way to relieve pressure on my back and arms.

Wildwood 

Core strength, to support upper body without hands touching bars. Especially on hard efforts.
The hands & wrists only function is to guide/turn/brake the bike from multiple hand positions, not support your upper body.

Wattsup

I get more than the RDA in a multi I take every day.

Wattsup

i do that when riding outdoors sometimes. I call it my "prairie dog" position. I can't seem to do it very well indoors. I think i need an adjustment to my saddle.

Yes, I've noticed lately when riding outdoors, my arms sometimes get tired after and hour or so. That's something new. I've gained some weight, and I also haven't done anything but bike. I think when I bike, the rest of the body just wastes away! I'll start doing some work with my Power Blocks again.

Ironfish653

It depends on where you are putting the weight on your hands. Roughly, the nerve bundles and blood vessels that cause the 'tinglies' run through the 'heel' of your hand, where your thumb 'crease' meets the palm. Pressure on them will make your fingers go numb pretty quickly. Moving the bar forward (and possibly down) moves your grip to the 'ball' under the knuckles, and relieves the pressure on that ulnar canal.

Everyone's physiology is different, so what works for one, may not work for others.

In my case, going to a lower, wider cockpit with a 24* flared 'gravel' bar fixed that issue for me. Yeah, there's definitely more weight on my hands, but it's where it is that makes the difference.