Why do my hands go a bit numb?

[Marc40a]

I get it after about 35 minutes of my morning commute but never on the way home. Go figure.

[Ken Robb]

In my case it happened when I had too much pressure on my hands. Nver happened again once I admitted I was a fred rather than a racer and raised my bars to saddle height or higher.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by belopsky

Fit seems fine, does not feel like too much weight on them. Sometimes it's just my right hand...

Tight sleeves on your jersey? This was something I saw, little cut in sleeve fixed it.

[dgauthier]

I'm surprised no one has asked if you're changing your hand position on the bars when your hands get numb. I had always heard road bars are shaped the way they are because you're *guaranteed* to get numb hands after long hours in the saddle. The only way to fix it is to keep moving your hands to different positions. Tops, drops, hoods -- mix it up.

That's why so many people on this thread mention problems with numb hands on mountain bikes. One of the acknowledged downsides of flat bars is they don't provide the variety of hand positions road bars do.

[tylercheung]

It sort of depends on where - if you're numb on the 1st 3 fingers or the last 2 fingers it may be one of the nerve branches in your hands. If it is the whole hand then it may be further up.


I know I get numb if the ramps of my bars are tilted too forwards so my hands slide and put pressure on the shifter "horns", especially between my thumb and index finger. Same w/ my GF, so usually fixed by rotating the bars so that the ramps are level.

[belopsky]

seems to be somewhere further up (more of all fingers) so it makes me thinking of something similar to thoracic outlet syndrome but not as bad.

i did try to change positions

[soulspinner]

Originally Posted by marciero

Could be anything, but often small adjustments can address. If tilting or raising bars dont affect, you might try sliding saddle back, or tilting back. After (or before) that, perhaps try different bars.

This......

[buddybikes]

Ulnar nerve (elbow) perhaps. Although carpal tunnel (affecting thumb through half the middle finger) can make it feel like it is the whole thing.

Number of simple carpal tunnel (start by putting arms straight up, and let hand flop to 90 degrees, and if begins to tingle - that's it. And ulnar, tap down by inner lower part of elbow, and see if that triggers.

[Cloozoe]

I like this group of people, too, for the most part, but do you really expect to diagnose the nature/location --lots of possibilities-- of your particular nerve impingement via internet?

[Ken Robb]

Originally Posted by Cloozoe

I like this group of people, too, for the most part, but do you really expect to diagnose the nature/location --lots of possibilities-- of your particular nerve impingement via internet?

Sure! We have solved many of the world's problems here. Medical diagnoses are easy.

[buddybikes]

Go to a good hand doctor, ideally they will do a few quick nerve tests.