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Has this happened to anyone after long rides? On Friday my left hand didn't seem to fully "wake up" after falling asleep while on my ride. My pinkie and the general area beneath it remained slightly numb for the whole weekend, felt like it was only 85% recovered from falling asleep. Even now it still feels a little off. I was using the drop bar for a 30 mile ride along the LFP and was probably leaning on my hands more than I should've. Any ideas/experience with this? Thanks

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Definitely not uncommon.  First, try to move your hands around a bit more on the bars and try to not put weight in the crease in your hand perpendicular to the middle of your wrist (where the two halves of your palm come together....ulnar nerve is there).  Second, raise the bar as much as you can.  This will do the most good.    If your saddle is tilted forward, try tilting it back a little (this can bive you other issues, though).  Gloves can help, but bad gloves make it worse if they put pressure on the ulnar nerve.  Handlebar shape can help if they position your hands better, but that is a bit more of a personal thing and costs money.

Is your seat level? If its sightly down you can increase pressure on your hands and arms. If you cannot shake it out or make it go away by modifying your hand position its worth getting it checked. 

It's been a few days and it's still numb? You should go see a doctor.

Ulnar nerve compression. Pinkie and ring. Middle affected?

I use butterfly handlebars so I have lots of options. Shake your hands out on rides and shift positions. I also get lots of issues. I used to ride with a backpack and that caused weight compression issues. Riding with panniers can save the neck and hands.

This became a serious issue for me during winter time commutes. The gloving and cold left me gripping Kung fu action figure style. No bueno.
Your elbows should be bent and relaxed to absorb shock and vibrations, and your bars should be high enough that you can use the drops comfortably.

Some shaky advice here. Grayn8 most accurate. Ulnar nerve does not run in middle of palm, and bent elbows in some cases can -cause- ulnar nerve problems (although of a different flavor-- see "Cubital Tunnel Syndrome.")

For the problem at hand (ha ha)- read:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guyon%27s_canal_syndrome

As long as you do your homework to figure out how to keep the pressure off your pinky-side palm, there is no reason to see a doctor-- there is nothing they can tell you except to wait. You've obviously done a real number on it, meaning it's going to take a little longer to recover.  I see nerve palsies resolve over 2-3 weeks pretty frequently, and generally if there's not much improvement by that time there migth be fairly permanent numbness... but again there's not much a doctor i going to o for you right now (although if you look around enough you're going to find one who's happy to perform an unnecessary surgery.

2nd to this. I had the same issue on a long ride so I moved my seat up as much as I could (maybe only an inch or so), and haven't had the same numbness since.

Your arms should never be fully extended in any of your riding positions. 

Kelvin Mulcky said:

Your elbows should be bent and relaxed to absorb shock and vibrations, and your bars should be high enough that you can use the drops comfortably.

Slightly bent. Agree that locked elbows could potentially be contributing to the pressure on the hel of the hand. Not enough info here to know though.

T.K. 8.4 mi said:

2nd to this. I had the same issue on a long ride so I moved my seat up as much as I could (maybe only an inch or so), and haven't had the same numbness since.

Your arms should never be fully extended in any of your riding positions. 

Kelvin Mulcky said:

Your elbows should be bent and relaxed to absorb shock and vibrations, and your bars should be high enough that you can use the drops comfortably.

Another thing that helps wit hand and upper-body comfort on long rides is to pay attention to your core strength and posture. So far I have found that, more than paying attention to the abdominal muscles, paying attention to my lower back and hip rotation (rotate hips forward) makes a very obvious difference in comfort in my upper body and arms.

Normally, we associate ulnar nerve compression (4th and 5th fingers) with cubital tunnel syndrome, a compression at the elbow.  The nerve is somewhat unprotected as it tracks through the groove. However, with cycling there can be ulnar nerve compression at the wrist. The vernacular is cyclist's palsy. http://highperformancesports.blogspot.com/2006/03/cyclists-palsy-cy...

Its similar to carpal tunnel syndrome but a different nerve is being compressed. This condition is also called Guyon's Tunnel Syndrome.  The area where the compression in the wrist occurs is called the Guyon's Tunnel or Canal. I have attached a study that was done on some local riders in RAGBRAI. Its dry and  academc but does show you hand positions that were considered by the researchers.

Attachments:
David Barish - thanks for the link. Knowing where the nerve runs will make a difference for me....sorry for getting that wrong!

Simply riding on the hoods was enough to help? Having drop bars creates no obligation to ride all the way down in the drops. The drops are for sprinting, some people like the security of being in there for descents, many people are unable to brake from above the hoods and so stay in the drop to be near the braking action. No one has to be all the way down all the time. Myself I am down there possibly 1% of the time. If there's some reason you end up in the drops a large part of your riding time move the bars in closer - higher up so you lean over less or shorter extension on the stem to bring the bars to you.

The Gadget said:

No middle, just pinkie and a little less so ring finger. It's feeling more normal today but still only back to about 95%...I figured it was just some kind of nerve irritation caused by bad posture.

This is the first year I've ever used the drop bar while on my road or cross bike, and I've definitely leaned forward too much while in the drop position...even before this I remember thinking to myself that my posture didn't "feel" right. Should've trusted my instincts. I took Sat/Sun off and stayed on the hoods this morning, conscious about trying not to put too much weight on my hands. 

Thanks a ton for all the good info...thanks to everyone else as well!


grayn8 (5.3 - 36) said:

Ulnar nerve compression. Pinkie and ring. Middle affected?

I use butterfly handlebars so I have lots of options. Shake your hands out on rides and shift positions. I also get lots of issues. I used to ride with a backpack and that caused weight compression issues. Riding with panniers can save the neck and hands.

This became a serious issue for me during winter time commutes. The gloving and cold left me gripping Kung fu action figure style. No bueno.

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