Has anyone had problems with cycling making their carpal tunnel syndrome worse? If so, what did you do that worked?
I’ve had carpal tunnel issues on and off for years but it really acted up last year, and biking made it worse. I took the fall off riding and it helped, although my wrists are still bugging me a little bit.
Kinesio Tape helps a bit, but isn’t great. Same with the stretches I’ve been given. I have physio and massage lessons lined up but I’m taking advice wherever I can!
Thank you.
I had this for an extended period of time following a manufacturing engineering job which was very hands on resulting in RSI injuries…
At the time I was riding a Cannondale R700 650c on 19mm conti tyres around 120psi on typical rough British road surfaces.
Additionally this was a long time before quality bike fit material became available on line etc.
In short the hard riding nature of the bike with the shit roads and the overextended and aggressive position all contributed to vibration and load on my neck shoulders arms and hands, which combined exacerbated the problem leading to totally nub hands… (warm or cold weather… no difference).
Honestly I wasn’t in a position to change up the bike spec (lacked income) but addressing the position did improve the situation greatly…
These days I have no issues, and if I were in the same position now I would;
1./ Address the bike fit fully (overloading and over-stressing the upper body was causing a lot of tension and poor circulation which made things a lot worse)
2./ Run bigger tyres at lower pressure ideally on a wide rim (purely for comfort and vibe reduction, on the wider rims; 23mm tyres run as 25, 25mm as 28 etc reducing pressure accordingly I run 95psi front and 105 rear for a 78kg rider on the road bike 100 FR/ RR for TT rig)
3./ Double wrap my bar tape (or use gel inserts on the hoods position)
4./ Utilize a bike which was adept at absorbing / dissipating high freq. buzz… and eliminate / minimise other aspects which inflame the symptoms (eg using a brush cutter or power tools with high load high vibrations for extended periods etc… )
Of all of these 1 and 2 made the biggest difference for me.
Best of luck
What do you do for a day job? I find a better keyboard fixed me right up after a few years of pain.
Thanks Shadwell.
1 I’m getting my physio’s opinion first but is is on the radar.
2 Lower pressure makes sense, thanks.
3 Right before I stopped riding in the fall someone suggested cushier bar tape, but hung up my bike and forgot. Thanks for the reminder.
4 My race bike has a carbon frame, I wonder if my benefits would cover an upgrade for my commuter (also collecting dust)!
What do you do for a day job? I find a better keyboard fixed me right up after a few years of pain.
Desk job. I’ve used an articulated keyboard, and an adjustable keyboard tray, for ages and last year switched to a vertical mouse. My workplace ergonomics person checked out my set up but I may ask my physio to come in.
No worries, please also consider your bike position and the load bearing aspect on your arms / hands…
A rearward saddle position will cause you to “fall” forward relative to the saddle (as your center of mass is in front of the saddle when on the bike) and this is countered by your core strength and of course your upper body / arms / hands… IF you are unable to support that mass through your core then or course it falls to your shoulders arms and hands to do so…
Intuitively, moving your saddle forward (and correspondingly up proportionally due to seat tube angle) will maintain the effective pedaling reach, but transfer load bearing proportionally rearward, i.e. onto your backside and away from your arms / hands…
IF you feel you are bearing / propping yourself yup on your arms, doing this may also help…
IF you make a change, simply measure / mark the current position & record it, and IF you feel no improvement then of course you can revert to the previous position…
I had this bad in my right hand during the 2010 season. My hand became very numb and stiff to the point my fingers almost permanently formed the V “vulcan” symbol. I could barely move my fingers and it was discusting for someone to shake my hand. I rode 13,000 miles that season. I am a roadie and my bike in 2010 was a 2010 Orbea Orca which was very stiff for that time, with Profile Design carbon bars.
I started to double wrap the handlebars but that didn’t help. I let pressure out of my tires and rode around 80 PSI and that didnt help much.
In the end the culprit was the 20mm tires I was running on my Dura Ace wheels. At that time I thought 20mm tires were faster because they were thinner which today we know isn’t true. Around 3/4 through the season I switched to 23mm tires and what a difference. My carpel tunnel was gone with in weeks.
Today I am running 25mm tires on my road bikes.