numb hands while cycling - I Love Bicycling

The Basics

Most of the time, tingling in hands on the bike happens because there is a muscle that is impinging a nerve. The position on the bike puts the body in a position that is not natural, and while we try to make it as natural as possible, it will never be as easy on the body as standing upright or lying down. At a few critical points, muscles crowd in on the space of nerves that run to the hands, reducing their function. The result is tingling.

The Specifics

There are four different places that are common of nerve impingement for cyclists. Remember this is not a replacement for seeing a medical professional; if the symptoms are too much to bear, get a physical examination.

Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

Thoracic outlet syndrome is when the anterior and middle scalenes, muscles on the side of the neck, impinge the brachial plexus, a complex of nerves that run in between the two muscles, from where they branch out to other areas, including down to the hands. This is common for cyclists because of the head position on the bike; body forward with the head tilted back. It strains the scalenes against the brachial plexus, impairing nerve function. Craig Abrams, a doctor of chiropractics that specializes in athletes, especially cyclists, says, “Numbness in your hand is neck dysfunction until proven otherwise.” Look for the upstream cause, like an impingement up around the neck.

An Additional Pinch Point on the Brachial Plexus

The meeting point of the pectoral and acromium process is also a point that can impinge the brachial plexus while riding. Both of these situations are symptoms of upper cross syndrome, where the pecs and scalenes are facilitated (overused) and the lower trapezius and lower cervical flexors are inhibited (not allowed to fully extend). The result is pressure on nerves that are not used to pressure.

Lower Arm Nerve Impingement

While thoracic outlet syndrome is the most common cause of tingling in hands while riding, there is one other common position on the bike that impinges nerves. The pronation of the arm to reach the handlebar can cause pressure on the radial groove at the back of your elbow – your funny bone. Everyone knows that when you hit your funny bone, it is not very funny. While it is not an impact that hits the nerve, the low level pressure will give you a funny bone-like sensation.

The Pronator Teres

The pronator teres, the muscle that runs from the elbow across the arm, and across the ulnar nerve, can cause tingling in hands. This is the muscle that rotates the lower arm. It is always engaged on the bike, as long as your hands are on the handlebars. If you are gripping the bars exceptionally hard, say when riding hard or across bumpy terrain, it will contract that much more which then can result in the tingling. This is exceptionally true if you don’t have a good hand position on the bike, say with your wrists at a kinked angle instead of straight.

How To Fix Tingling in Hands on the Bike

Like most causes of chronic pain, tingling in hands can hugely benefit from a proper bike fit. Getting as much pressure off of overworked muscles that are impinging nerves can reduce or eliminate tingling. But the natural position on the bike is not the natural human position. Bike fit sometimes can only go so far.

Dr. Abrams says, ” What you do off the bike greatly impacts how you feel on the bike. Any good training program must require off the bike work, not just a rest day, not just spinning the legs out. It requires true active recovery.” What this means is that you should be exercising the muscles that are taking the daily abuse on the bike. Engaging in a core program will help both facilitated and inhibited muscles deal with the loads you place on them and help support your body properly, both on the bike and off.

Proper posture off the bike helps too. Sometimes you maintain elements of your on-the-bike position while off the bike, maintaining a low level of impingement on delicate nerves. By holding your body properly, it can ease the impingement.

Like most cures, there is no silver bullet. A combination of efforts will bring more feeling and comfort to your rides. Be diligent in your work to eliminate tingling in your hands. It can be a stubborn problem. Once you get control of it, your rides will be more pleasant.

The good news: It is more than likely that you are able to solve numb hands while cycling.

Avid cyclists will know that the hobby can get a little bit tough on various areas of your body, particularly if you are not taking the correct steps to protect yourself against the issues that can be caused by longer rides.

While many people place a lot of their focus on the legs, the rider’s hands are also extremely important. After all, if cyclists hands go numb then the constant shifting can put you in less efficient positions and it can also be a hazard, adversely affecting steering and braking.

What is Causing My Hand Numbness?

There are several nerves in your hand and if they are compressed then you will start to feel that tingling sensation. The ulnar nerve runs through the bottom of your wrist and to your pinky and ring finger, where as the median nerve runs through the middle of your wrist and to your thumb, index finger, middle finger and ring finger.

It is much more common to have the ulnar nerve pinched on a road bike due to the hand position in the drops and on top of the hoods. To prevent numbness setting in you need to ensure that your wrist and hand position is in line with your forearm. If there is a bend in your wrist it will cause a pinch in the nerve and your hands will go numb. If you adjust your position and you find that you are unable to get your forearms, wrists and hands flush it may be an issue with your bike fit.

Bike Fit

Another common problem is having a poor bike fit. If your handlebars are in the wrong position or your saddle is at the wrong angle, you will find that you are putting extra pressure on your hands to maintain your posture. Specifically check the angle of your seat with a level. Generally speaking your saddle angle should be between 0% to a maximum of -3%. Any more than -3% and too much of your body weight will be held up by your hands which can cause them to go numb.

Sometimes the issue is not just the saddle but a cumulation of many factors. For instance, even small things such as the shifters being angled out to the side too much will cause your wrists to bend ultimately pinching the nerve. Perhaps you were watching the Tour De France and saw how low some of the handle bars were in relation to the saddle and you figured, “hey I could drop my bars down, be more aero and go faster,” not realizing that you just added more pressure on your hands.

There is a quick simple test that you are able to perform to determine if there is too much pressure on your hands. Grab a friend, get on a trainer and do a good warm up, after your warm up is complete start to bike at your Functional Threshold Power or at a quick pace that you would not be able to sustain for any longer than an hour. Once you have found that pace, make sure you are in the drops and have your friend standing in front of you ready to catch you while you quickly throw your hands back to your hips (envision grabbing the top of your butt cheeks).

If your bike fit is set up properly you should be able to hold that position without raising your torso, falling on your face or arching your back. In essence this little test tells you that you are at a perfect balance point and do not have too much weight on your hands. If you topple forward then it’s likely that you need adjust the saddle position backwards more to relieve some of that pressure on your hands.

Thankfully, there are plenty of additional measures that you can do to prevent hand numbness cycling.

If you would like to learn more about bike fit purchase “Bike Fit” by Phil Burt who explains hand numbness, knee pain and more.

Gloves

The most obvious solution for numb hands cycling is a decent pair of well fitting gloves with a fair amount of padding to spread out the pressure on the hands. Cycling gloves protect your hands when you are riding, thus ensuring that they don’t succumb to numbness when you are on the road, but will also offer that extra little bit of grip to ensure your hands don’t slip off the handlebars at a crucial moment.

It is important to make sure that the gloves fit your hands correctly, as a lot of discomfort can be caused by having the wrong gloves. If they feel tight in the shop they are going to get even tighter when used, especially after a couple of washes.

As well as wearing gloves make sure you change your hand position every once in a while to put pressure on different parts of the hands.

Handlebar Tape and Gels

A lot of people see handlebar tape, particularly the types used on road bikes, as more of a cosmetic issues than something that can help with your hands, but that isn’t always the case.

There are a variety of tapes and gels on the market that are designed to reduce the amount of vibration your hands feel when riding, which in turn means that your hands don’t end up going numb.

While the tape will be subject to wear and tear, most are fairly easy to buy and aren’t particularly pricey, so it can be replaced as and when needed.

Dynamic Stretching

Dynamic stretching is important before you undertake any physical exercise, and cycling is no different. While your legs will usually be your main focus, you should be sure to take a little of time to stretch the muscles in your arms as well.

Place particular focus on wrist exercises and make sure you feel nice and loose before you get on the bike. If your muscles are stiff, then you are quickly going to find you run into issues, which could lead you to overcompensate or adjust your weight so that you are placing even more pressure on your hands.

Body Limitations

Body limitations can play a part in causing that tingling feeling in your hands but make sure you exhaust all previous suggestions before exploring if your body has a weak core, you are not flexible enough in your hamstrings or have back issues.

Luckily a weak core can be fixed with exercises to strengthen your core and your tight hamstrings can be remedied with some stretching exercises.

Ultimately, if hand numbness is your problem there is a solution. Find which combination of the suggestions work for you. Are there any other things that can help with numb hands while cycling?