carpal tunnel syndrome

[nailsaslegs]

came back from the Doc this morning, I've got constant pain in my hand, where the hand makes contact on the bars and pressure goes through the ulnar nerve causes numbness and tingling in the thumb, index, middle finger eventually I cant feel the dam brake or gear lever. Im going to do a nerve test to identify exactly where the issue is then surgery. Ill try double wrapping my bars for the time being. I suggested to the doc new carbon bars.....

[sogood]

CF bar and double wrapping won't save you. Try taking weight and angle off your palm/wrist area. Hold the bar with the gentlest pressure.

[TraceyG]

Consider any other activities that you that may be contributing to this problem. I know that not having the correct ergonomic keyboard and mouse set up when I am doing lots of typing is a trigger for me to have a flare up of carpal tunnel syndrome.

And I wouldn't be rushing to surgery without exploring all other options as well!

[skull]

How is this going to impact tob?

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4

[lobstermash]

I had hand issues a couple of months ago. My right hand in particular was very weak and had very poor fine motor operation.

The upside is that it repairs itself once you find and stop what's causing it. In my case, and for a number of people who I've spoken to about it, the issue was too much weight on my hands. My core strength is pretty solid, so the solution for me was sliding the saddle back a few mm and almost exclusively riding on the hoods (I used to ride mostly on the drops). This moved my centre of gravity back a touch, taking enough just weight off my hands for my issue to heal up.

Some may suggest getting a pro bike fit, but IMO it's not worth the cash until you've exhausted what you can do yourself with an allen key...

Things you can do (assuming you've got your saddle height correct already) are adjust your bar height so you're not propping yourself up on the bike (if you put it too low, you'll be leaning too far forward onto your hands, if it's too high you'll be pushing your torso straighter with your arms), and slide your saddle to set your balance point. You can also rotate your bars to adjust how far forward you're reaching.

Once you've exhausted those things, or your patience with getting them right, you may as well get fitted.

[Daus]

My issue was Ducati related with the cable actuated modified clutch- heavy springs to hold it together. Sadly after having my last accident sold it and the Carpel tunnel syndrome cleared up. What else do you do that's repetitive?

[winstonw]

came back from the Doc this morning, I've got constant pain in my hand, where the hand makes contact on the bars and pressure goes through the ulnar nerve causes numbness and tingling in the thumb, index, middle finger eventually I cant feel the dam brake or gear lever. Im going to do a nerve test to identify exactly where the issue is then surgery. Ill try double wrapping my bars for the time being. I suggested to the doc new carbon bars.....

If your GP told you pressure on your ulna nerveis causing thumb, index, and middle finger numbness and tingling, sack him and find one who knows how to do a stock standard neurological assessment.

Further, if you "really" have constant pain, as in 24 hours a day, then you want to act damned quick to see a specialist, before you end up with permanent nerve damage.

[morini]

My wife had painful carpal tunnel issues from years of rowing. She finally came across an interesting masseuse who specialised in tendon and ligament massages and he theorised that this problem was caused by tight muscles in the neck, shoulders and the cross overs in the upper chest. In short, though his massages were particularly painful they were very effective and resolved her problems. Might be worth exploring before you pursue other medical remedies.

[winstonw]

My wife had painful carpal tunnel issues from years of rowing. She finally came across an interesting masseuse who specialised in tendon and ligament massages and he theorised that this problem was caused by tight muscles in the neck, shoulders and the cross overs in the upper chest. In short, though his massages were particularly painful they were very effective and resolved her problems. Might be worth exploring before you pursue other medical remedies.

A lot of xxxx have theorized the same, but it doesn't account for why CTS sufferers have symptoms worse at night.

Those who have genuine compression at the carpal tunnel are best pursuing low bodyfat. Excess weight includes fat laid down in the carpal tunnel, higher low grade inflammation, and fluid retention.

[sogood]

Keyword - "theory". That's all.

[nailsaslegs]

Well I've taken instruction from Dennis Shaw, my coach and going in for a nerve conduct test in January, had one before...its like being tasered multiple times....I didn't mind it too much. I have changed how I hold my bar, and wrist position.

[towsw001]

came back from the Doc this morning, I've got constant pain in my hand, where the hand makes contact on the bars and pressure goes through the ulnar nerve causes numbness and tingling in the thumb, index, middle finger eventually I cant feel the dam brake or gear lever. Im going to do a nerve test to identify exactly where the issue is then surgery. Ill try double wrapping my bars for the time being. I suggested to the doc new carbon bars.....

If your GP told you pressure on your ulna nerveis causing thumb, index, and middle finger numbness and tingling, sack him and find one who knows how to do a stock standard neurological assessment.

Further, if you "really" have constant pain, as in 24 hours a day, then you want to act damned quick to see a specialist, before you end up with permanent nerve damage.

First time poster. But Winston is correct. Median nerve distribution. The amount of riding you do will affect this and also depends what you do for work. Go see a physio for a full assessment as most GPs are hopeless. I am a musculoskeletal and sports physio so have daily experience with them. Also don't rest all of your assessment on the nerve conduction studies as they have poor sensitivity. Also don't rush into surgery as more often than not it is the rest from aggravating activities, not the surgery itself that helps in most cases.

[towsw001]

My wife had painful carpal tunnel issues from years of rowing. She finally came across an interesting masseuse who specialised in tendon and ligament massages and he theorised that this problem was caused by tight muscles in the neck, shoulders and the cross overs in the upper chest. In short, though his massages were particularly painful they were very effective and resolved her problems. Might be worth exploring before you pursue other medical remedies.

A lot of xxxx have theorized the same, but it doesn't account for why CTS sufferers have symptoms worse at night.

Those who have genuine compression at the carpal tunnel are best pursuing low bodyfat. Excess weight includes fat laid down in the carpal tunnel, higher low grade inflammation, and fluid retention.

Night pain associated with CTS is thought to be associated with the drop in blood pressure and associated drop in pressure within the arterioles --> capillaries --> nerve --> and venous return in a simplistic way. Fluid retention as you said may play a role in some individuals however most individuals are affected by their aggravating activities and poor elbow/wrist biomechanics and motor control (excessive pronation/flexion wrist, poor co-contraction flexors/extensors)

[ColinOldnCranky]

came back from the Doc this morning, I've got constant pain in my hand, where the hand makes contact on the bars and pressure goes through the ulnar nerve causes numbness and tingling in the thumb, index, middle finger eventually I cant feel the dam brake or gear lever. Im going to do a nerve test to identify exactly where the issue is then surgery. Ill try double wrapping my bars for the time being. I suggested to the doc new carbon bars.....

If your GP told you pressure on your ulna nerveis causing thumb, index, and middle finger numbness and tingling, sack him and find one who knows how to do a stock standard neurological assessment.

Further, if you "really" have constant pain, as in 24 hours a day, then you want to act damned quick to see a specialist, before you end up with permanent nerve damage.

You've lost me Winston. Perhaps you could expand in this.

To the OP, go with Winston about not letting it go on. Nip it in the bud as soon as you can. With respect to morini that is dangerous advice - this is not a time for miracle cures, quackery and the local supplements hack and the "credibility" supported by testimonials (google "confirmation bias"). The sort of condition that needs to be treated seriously, with haste, and with specialist opinions. Annoy the crap out of your GP and specialists.

[ColinOldnCranky]

Of course, you could think outside the box...

[outnabike]

You are on the ball Colin. Best advice re cycling alright. :

I have known two people who have finished up with ops due to Carpel tunnel.
One was a female friend who did years of heavy duty car seat and furniture sewing, constantly pulling the fabric through to the outlet side of the machine.

The other was a male who was a store supervisor and had to do a lot of data entry and it was found to be the height of his type deck that was causing it. (way too high on a bench and no support.)

Just mentioning this in case you are looking for a cause and it may help with an understanding of differing situations.

Any both had a lot of pain, went through surgery and ok now. but it was a lengthy process even after surgery to fix things and the offending activity had to be either stopped or changed.
Hope you get well as I know the bother it causes.

[casual_cyclist]

came back from the Doc this morning, I've got constant pain in my hand, where the hand makes contact on the bars and pressure goes through the ulnar nerve causes numbness and tingling in the thumb, index, middle finger eventually I cant feel the dam brake or gear lever. Im going to do a nerve test to identify exactly where the issue is then surgery. Ill try double wrapping my bars for the time being. I suggested to the doc new carbon bars.....

I have CTS in both hands which I manage through specific exercises. Anyway, when I first started cycling I got shocking pain in both hands on longer rides that got worse the longer the ride when on... killer on a 200km ride. It was so bad I considered quitting cycling. I resolved this through a better bike set up. Once the bike was set up properly, the issue resolved over time.

[nailsaslegs]

I had my nerve conduction test this morning and the prognosis wasn't good, I have severe CTS in my right hand. Surgery is going to be required. On a scale of 0-10 my hand was a 9. My hand has been okay for the past couple of weeks as I have had two weeks off training and been doing tempo rides only. Now I wait for a date for surgery.....we will research what surgery will be done and how to recover. I'll keep the training on track until the day I go in for surgery. Even now started to think about, I can still get onto the trainer.....