TiHabanero

The hand guy wants to cut into me right away, of course, that is how he makes a living. My personal doc, whom I know quite well, says if the pain and weakness keep me from doing the things I enjoy, consider surgery as soon as I can.

I can still ride, but within 30 minutes of sitting on the rollers the pain becomes bothersome. Working on the car or bikes and dealing with stuck bolts is hard to do, and I can see those days coming to an end. As I have been an avid roadie since 1971, the mountain bike is going up for sale due to the problem. Bents are not a consideration at the moment. Anyone have experience in dealing with this? If so, what have you done to stay on the road? What say you?

BlazingPedals

I do, but my solution was a bent. Sorry.

Carbonfiberboy 

I had what might be called incipient CT: pain and weakness in my hands. I immediately started doing the exercises:
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Exercises
a few times per day.

The other thing I started doing is always sleeping with my hands pressed flat under my pillow. That was also a big help. It all went away and as long as I sleep that way doesn't seem to return. I seldom do the exercises anymore.

OldTryGuy

My general ortho sent me to a hand specialist, same he had his wife go to. I had CT pains and numbness for some time. Specialist sent me to neurologist for EMG. Results were operate now or things will worsen more and at that time things were BAD. Surgery was last July and the CT issue is better but because I had waited soo long, most likely my state of recovery will not improve.

BTW, my wrist also requires a fusion or total wrist replacement.

My advice......do it NOW!!!

bkaapcke

Pavement buzz drove my carpal tunnel problems over the edge. It got to the point that my hands were on fire after 15 minutes on a recumbent. The surgery gave instant relief, but the pavement buzz was still there. I changed to folding bead tires, run well under max pressure and the buzz went away. It's all good now. bk

delcrossv

Ditto.

TiHabanero

I am going to give this a try. I will do anything, other than riding a bent (lol), to avoid surgery.

msujmccorm

I had the surgery November 25th and all went well for me. I was riding short distances 10 days after surgery. I still get some soreness from scar tissue but Doc says that will diminish over time. Good Luck!

berner

I'm a big believer in exercise also. When my troublesome knee acts up I do exercises. When My neck gets stiff or sore from cycling, I exercise. When we consider that even a minimally stressful activity such as using as typing can cause nerve issues, it follows in my mind that exercise would help. I have some problem with hand numbness and have done some exercises for it but need to step that up.

BlazingPedals

Yes, OBVIOUSLY I struggled needlessly for a decade, trying to get some sort of comfort out of my upright bikes. All that time, all I needed was a few simple exercises! Doh!

Not.

avmech

Had both hands done at the same time back in 1992, I had it really bad. Have zero issues to this day. Would do it again, had a great doc, scars are tiny and barely visible too.

blacknbluebikes 

also, this thread has some very good information...
https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...umb-hands.html

79pmooney

I am quite sure I am prone to CT. I used to have trouble on keyboards until I made a rest for my wrists years ago that included behind the mouse pad and dropped the keyboard down to almost waist lever as I sit. I have felt it on the bike as well. But if I am diligent about changing hand positions and don't spend much time with my weight on the center back of my palm it isn't usually a problem.

My keyboard rest is just a slightly rounded 1 x 1 (actual dimensions) screwed to the keyboard shelf in front of the keyboard and mouse pad. I then get some of the good, durable pipe insulation from Home Depot and place it over the 1 x 1. Cheap, easy and works.

Ben

79pmooney

And then there is my light hearted joke on CT, carpool tunnel syndrome, aka the big dig; Boston's massive highway tunnel project with it's equally massive cost overruns, water leaks, etc. Major surgery. A huge improvement. But there were some serious complications.

Ben

OldTryGuy

Almost 1 year post Open Release for CT left hand and still some remaining issues but far-far better than before surgery.

goldfinch

If you truly have it bad don't wait too long. Muscles can atrophy and be permanently damaged. My spouses hands are permanently damaged due to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. At a point atrophied muscles do not come back.

Yen

I have carpal tunnel syndrome in my right (dominant) hand and came here looking for advice. It began early last month (December 2015), so still in the early stage.

There's lots of excellent advice here about exercises and hand position, but one point that's missing is to maintain a neutral (flat) wrist position as much as possible. I've tried riding with the heal of my hand on the bars AND a neutral position, and found that it's nearly impossible to maintain that dual position all the time. If I bend my wrist like shown in the photos in the link above, my fingers will go numb within seconds. It seems more sensible to find another form of exercise until this heals.

bo31210

Had a cortesoine shot? May do wonders Make sure you get a script in case you get tested by USADA or something

BlazingPedals

My $0.02 is at the front of the thread. But I guess some people would rather die than be seen on a bent. Their loss. BentUpCycles is in N. Hollywood and Laguna Hills.

Rick@OCRR

Since I was diagnosed with CT today I was thinking, "Wow, what a timely post!" But then I looked at the date of the OP's post and it was Feb. of last year. Ah well.

So far my doctor has told me to start wearing a brace (though not while cycling or driving) and do some exercises (quite a variety, actually!). Since my appointment was this morning I haven't actually even gotten a brace yet and just played with the exercises. . . but thanks for all the notes above!

My only cycling related problem with CT is tingling in my left hand and arm when leaning into left turns. Not painful but really annoying!

Rick / OCRR

Rick@OCRR

Okay, got the brace now. Doesn't seem to work well with brifter hoods (a pad in exactly the wrong place) but should be okay on my commute bike (flat bar with Ergon grips).

Rick / OCRR

Yen

Rick, I can ride my Surly LHT with mustache bars (and brake levers underneath near the bar ends) while wearing my rigid brace. The brace keeps my hand in a neutral position, so I just need to remember to avoid resting AT ALL on the median nerve. I rode today for 1 hour and I think it went well.

When I got home I tried squeezing the brake lever on my road bike -- totally impossible with the brace on, and I won't ride without the brace.

Surly LHT (with mustache bars) to the rescue (so far!)!

Rick@OCRR

Thanks for your help Yen!

I did the club ride last night (37 mi.) with the brace on but rode mostly on the tops of the bars (FSA Wing) and as little as possible on the hoods. Shifting into the big chain-ring was the only really painful part (SRAM Force brifter hoods) but I did have some upper back pain (esp. when climbing) which I think is related.

Rode to work this morning with my flat-bar commute bike with no pain and no problems. I'm thinking my flat-bar with Ergon grips gives my hands a similar position as your mustache bars. Commute bike is single chain-ring so all shifting is with my right (good) hand.

Sleeping with the brace has been no problem. Will have to research location of median nerve . . . but I think I have a good guess already!

I'm happy to wear the brace to avoid surgery.

Rick / OCRR

OldTryGuy

I am assuming your neurologist did an EMG test to check for severity of the CT issue and the results were mild since you are using the brace and doing exercises. Even with the use of a brace and exercises, a delay in the actual release procedure can result in worsening issues and if waiting too long the release might very well not end the CT issue.

Good luck.

Rick@OCRR

No OldTryGuy, I went to my GP and he didn't refer me to a neurologist nor did he do an EMG test. I will use the brace and do the exercises and see if there's improvement but if not I will get another appointment with my GP. He said if the brace and exercises don't work a cortisone shot is the next step before surgery.

My feeling (tell me if I'm wrong) is that the cortisone shot will just take away the perception of the symptoms but is in no way a cure. Or am I wrong?

Thanks for your advice!
Rick / OCRR