blueduckxx

[I broke my right hand in 2009 fyi] recently I've been putting a LOT more miles in on the bike and have noticed that same right wrist goes numb while biking, I assume from the pressure.

any way to alleviate this pain, or anyone else experience this? Thanks.

RoyIII

try tipping the nose of your saddle up a little

jon c. 

Since this is in the road forum, I assume you're already using drop bars. I had terrible problems with that on straight bars, but the ability to move my hands around on drop bars substantially quelled the issue. Try moving your hands around more.

And while it's no panacea, I have found taking B-6 supplements improves circulation to the hands and helps reduce numbness.

merlinextraligh

Start out by making sure your position on the bike is good. If you haven't had a professional fitting, its worth it.

Assuming that you don't have fit issues, you can deal with or prevent numbness by 1)changing your hand positions frequently, 2) not having a death grip on the bars, 3) avoid cocking your wrist, which traps the nerve (in other words, keep your forearm and the back of your palm in one continuous plane rather than your palm angled back toward your arm), 4) ride one handed or no handed for short breaks, 5) hold your hand up and shake it lightly.

iamtim

^^^ this.

Also, when I started riding I was having similar issues. I worked on my core a bit and improved my strength there so that all my weight wasn't on my hands.

Yo Spiff

How do you normally grip the bars? I find little problem when I am fully grasping the hoods for extended periods, but when I place my hands just at the back of the hoods/slightly on the bars, I tend to have a bit of numbness after a time. That position allows my wrist to not stay straight and so I try to avoid that position for long periods.

ddimick

I had a similar issue and resolved it by rotating my bars up a degree or two to get my wrist angle a bit better while on the hoods.

HokuLoa

Couple short articles on numb hand causes/prevention for cyclists (2nd has a good graphic):

https://highperformancesports.blogspo...-palsy-or.html

https://www.hughston.com/hha/a_15_3_2.htm

IANative

tagged for reading tonight

merlinextraligh

One position that takes the pressure off the nerve is to ride on the hoods, wrist straight out, and the hood between your index and middle finger. or middle and ring. Takes a bit getting used to because the pressure between your fingers isn't very comfortable, but on a long ride, it's one more option for a few minutes that completely removes nerve compression of both the ulnar and median nerve.

Its the split finger fast ball position.

Another thing to look at in the drops, is how the drop portion of the bars is oriented particularly for ergo style bars. They should be rotated so that your wrist is straight out and not cocked when you're in the drops. Many people, trying to get their hoods higher to deal with more drop than is comfortable for them, rotate the bars up too far, leading to a cocking of the wrist in the drops.

dimachka

Gloves. Specialized makes a nice pair with padding at the bottom middle of the palm where a lot of this numbness comes from.

merlinextraligh

Gloves are likely to help with numbness from the median nurve. But thick padded gloves aren't going to help numbness from the ulnar nerve, and may actually make it worse if they make you cock your wrist more.

The pics in hokuluo's second link show how wrist angle is the problem in ulnar nerve numbness.

blueduckxx

yeah, I think my gloves are too tight so I tried without today and was better. Also moved my hands around a lot as well and of course helped...DEFINITELY need to work on my core so I'm not leaning so much on my wrists.
thanks everyone!!
& yes I've been fitted.

Ghost Ryder

When I get numb from the death grip,I like to grab the hoods, & rest my forearms on my bars when I'm feeling tired/numb for a few minutes.
Shaking them out helps too, @ stop lights I'll shake them out, & lock my hands together with my fingers locked in between each other, & rotate my wrists in a circular motion, or back/forth, & side to side. (If you're into MMA/UFC/Pride think Wanderlei Silva's pre fight warm up.)

blueduckxx

oh I will definitely try that.
been doing the side to side motion at stop lights as well.