Numb hands, arm pump and severe pins and needles in the hands

[Browndog77]

G'day RBers

I have ridden dirt bikes before and I used to suffer from arm pump.

Now, on a leisurely paced MTB ride last Sunday, I suffered from totally numb hands and severe pins and needles and arm pump within 10 minutes of riding from the car park.

Now back in my Dirt bike days, people used to say "ride more", so I rode for an hour EVERY afternoon after work (grew up on a farm) and I also rode for several hours of a weekend. The arm pump never went away.

When I cycle on the road I don't get as bad symptoms, I get a little bit of numb hands happening after a few hours but nothing as severe as off road riding in general.

Am I genetically allergic to off road riding, or is there a more simple cure?

I am a tradie and can't take time off work to get the carpal tunnel surgery.

Opinions please

 

[driftking]

The idea you mentioned surgery im guessing means that this is a carpel tunnel issue so that is going to be the root cause. Some things you can do is make sure your bike is set up correctly to keep your weight where it should be, If you're too far forward obviously that pressure if directly on the hands.
-Make sure all your levers and brakes are set up nicely in reach, there should be no stretching or reaching for anything is all should be nicely there.
-make sure the bars are wide enough and high or low enough along with stem lengths.
-Make sure your angles are set up correctly that goes for bar and gears and brakes, For instance as a downhill rider everything is slightly pointed down because thats the angle I ride on track. So consider how you feel on the trail, it does complicate things with xc going up and down but generally you want minimal curve in the wrist you want a nice straight line. (at least for downhill that's what I use) it puts the pressure on the bars not the wrist.
-Grips thicker grips are not always better if you have smaller hands, you want a grip that fits nicely in your hand, from here you can go for the softest/comfiest grip to help reduce vibrations.
-carbon bars help eliminate trail vibration, its minor but people find relief with them.

Ultimately though these are just things that may ease the pain but if its a serious injury that required surgery than you cant really fix it rather than band aid it until it bleeds through again.

 

[pistonbroke]

First of all relax your grip.
Next look at the angle of your wrists. Try and keep them straight and avoid bending your wrists up.
After that move up and look at your shoulders and neck. Pressure here can aggravate the nerves to your arms and cause these symptoms.
I don't think you are suffering arm pump like you did on the moto. I think it's more likely that pressure on some nerves are causing your issues.
Where does it go numb? This can tell you where the problem comes from. Does it start in the little finger or the thumb and pointer finger?
I have suffered from all of this too over many years, but more on the moto.

A lot of people will tell you to get a proper bike fit and this is probably good advice if you can find someone who really knows there stuff. It may also be worth talking to a physio.
You can also try sleeping in splints that keep your wrists straight to ease pressure on the nerves while you sleep. This makes spontaneous love making awkward but can help.

 

[Browndog77]

Yeah I have set up my controls so that I have a relatively straight wrist/hand angle.

I will look at my bike fit more closely, have just ridden what I was given by the high volume bicycle store.

The wrist splint idea is a good one. I will sus them out at the chemist.





Definitely not a chance of spontaneous love making in our house! LOL
Even floated the idea of spontaneous love making with my wife... She said that I should just get the splints :Cry:

 

[pistonbroke]

ROFL.
You can turn it into your secret code for special cuddles.
"Hey honey, should I put the splints on tonight?"
"Yes"
Then you know it's not on. And then one night you get "don't put them on just yet". Good times.

 

[Browndog77]

ROFL.
You can turn it into your secret code for special cuddles.
"Hey honey, should I put the splints on tonight?"
"Yes"
Then you know it's not on. And then one night you get "don't put them on just yet". Good times.

Hahaha, quality stuff!

Nothing like using "splints" as your "safe" word.

 

[freddofrog]

you sure its carpal tunnel? The arm pump doesnt sound right. 1st 3 fingers will be tingly, ring finger only half the side will tingle, pinky shouldnt tingle at all.

If it is it sounds pretty severe. You're going to start getting muscle wastage if you havent already and risk permanent nerve damage.

i just had it done on my second hand 2 weeks ago. Second time around I it's a oiece of cake. Went for my first short 8km single track ride 2 nights ago and it was fine. Still cant swing a hammer though. Surgeon says typically 3-4 wks for a tradie to be back on the tools. Admin people back in a day or two. However 100% full strength is about 3 months.

 

[poita]

Sounds very much like there is something going on further up than your wrist! What are your shoulders and neck doing? Are they relaxed or tense? Definitely a physio or experienced bike fitter is a good idea. If you explain your symptoms carefully they will be able to tell you exactly where the problem is. Sounds to me like nerve compression somewhere in your shoulder rather than carpal tunnel.

 

[Browndog77]

Hmmm

Well that has got me thinking.

About 10 years ago I was trying to learn to wake board, and I couldn't get up on the board at all despite being a half decent skateboarder as a teen/young adult. We were about 700m down river from our camp, so my mate who was driving the boat slowly towed/dragged me back up river. The whole 700m took a while and my arms were extended above my head the whole time. Once I got back on the beach, I had the most severe arm pump and pins and needles EVER.

And since then it has been a problem. Maybe you are correct and I need to see a physiotherapist and possibly get a scan done on my neck/shoulder region?!?

I will go to a GP and get a complete check up and a referral.

Thanks for jogging my memory.

 

[driftking]

Why didn't you just get back in the boat, that's some heavy force on your muscles been pulled trough the water by a boat, I'm sure it was slow but still a big load in a less than ideal fashion.

Wouldn't be surprised if something was torn or damaged.

Definitely get checked out. I'd also keep checking online, drs don't always know it all or remember everything it's an impossible task, it may be a good idea to have a few questions for them.
Iv seen a few GP's where my own research has prompted them to consider tests.

 

[haltz]

Maybe try a test at home, my arm pump exercise is grab a broomstick/cricket stump or something of that nature, tie a fairly light weight to it, i find 10kg's sufficient, with some rope and wind it up and down, this gives you arm pump petty quickly, if your fingers go tingly from that you'll know it's acid/blood flow related. Bike riders body reactions are still fairly in the dark ages as far as doctors are concerned, I've spent time training at the ais for enduro(moto) and heard it straight from their nutritionists and scientists mouths that they can't pinpoint a way of stopping the kind of cramps/arm pump and other crazy reactions our bodies go through. I used to try and put it down to my pre race diet but there's been weekends where ive had a shitty first days racing so eaten shit that night then felt perfect the next day, I can't say I've ever had arm pump cramps or tingles on the DH bike but after 20 years of serious riding I still get it at random times on the moto jus can't escape it. Your problem sounds more serious than cramps and arm pump though.
Definitely try slackening your grip and really concentrate on easing the weight on your arms in cruisy sections of the trail that don't require any aggression.

 

[freddofrog]

....Sounds to me like nerve compression somewhere in your shoulder rather than carpal tunnel.

Agreed. My father just did the capal tunnel test where they run electricity down your arm and its not cp. They now think its a pinched nerve somewhere else.

 

[Browndog77]

Maybe try a test at home, my arm pump exercise is grab a broomstick/cricket stump or something of that nature, tie a fairly light weight to it, i find 10kg's sufficient, with some rope and wind it up and down, this gives you arm pump petty quickly, if your fingers go tingly from that you'll know it's acid/blood flow related. Bike riders body reactions are still fairly in the dark ages as far as doctors are concerned, I've spent time training at the ais for enduro(moto) and heard it straight from their nutritionists and scientists mouths that they can't pinpoint a way of stopping the kind of cramps/arm pump and other crazy reactions our bodies go through. I used to try and put it down to my pre race diet but there's been weekends where ive had a shitty first days racing so eaten shit that night then felt perfect the next day, I can't say I've ever had arm pump cramps or tingles on the DH bike but after 20 years of serious riding I still get it at random times on the moto jus can't escape it. Your problem sounds more serious than cramps and arm pump though.
Definitely try slackening your grip and really concentrate on easing the weight on your arms in cruisy sections of the trail that don't require any aggression.

That's interesting. I used to do the wind the weight up & down thing when I rode Enduro too. Great for the arm/wrist strength. I also used to split wood for my old man, he loved it and I got an intense arm work out.

Going to see a physiotherapist in the near future. Till then I will be cutting the off road riding back to once a month and just putting kms in the bank on bike paths and on my road bike.

Fark this is frustrating.

Thanks everyone for the input.