Hand pain due to cycling

[Gwylan]

Over the summer, on our tour, my right hand started getting what I assume is some nerve damage - it didn't hurt but it became harder to move my thumb. Once we were home and I wasn't riding all day, the thumb became more mobile but started hurting quite badly on the tendon on the front of the thumb, that joins the bottom knuckle to the wrist. This has improved slowly over the past two months as I ride my bike much less over the winter although it's still sore at times. If I run my hand down the tendon, it's quite sore to the touch. And, after a fun day on the bike (primarily my MTB) yesterday, it's hurting much more this morning.

Does anyone have any similar experience or advice on how to fix it? I don't want to stop riding my bike, obviously. Would thinner handlebars help - are they even available? Should I go to a physio? Anyone got any ideas?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11498934...dTVsK_rRQC&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I have broken bones in both hands and now pay the price of not giving them enough attention at the time. Pain management was getting beyond a few ibuprofen.
I fitted these and find having the load on my whole palm works very well. It doesn't take all the pain away, but it makes less extreme.
At that price worth a shot.

 

[Juan Kog]

I did take his card , it may be still in my “filing “ system.

Could be this place? Although doesn’t look like he’s a qualified physio
https://venture-performance.co.uk/

@vickster I found the business card . Dean Taylor fit-me-up 17 Bull plain Hertford . The website doesn’t appear to be active just 404 . So not sure if still at that address . My only experience of Dean is when he gave a very informative talk at our club room.

 

[vickster]

Doesn’t look like any of his social media has been active since 2020

 

[Cathryn]

In Wiltshire:
https://www.thebikethebody.com/

I’ve not used them, just driven past a few times.
Hope you can find a solution.

Oooooh thanks

 

[Cathryn]

Thank you all for helpful responses. Really appreciate it.

 

[harlechjoe]

Physios are good for treatment yet their advice about prevention will vary between practitioners. Look for Chartered Physiotherapists/ Clinical Bike Fitters e.g. ukbikefitters.com
Since I received a bike fit my hand pain is just a painful memory.

 

[chriswoody]

To add into the excellent advice above about bike fit, whilst I've not had any actual pain from my hands, I have had tingling and numb hands from riding, especially on the Mountain Bike which I bought in the summer. So I swapped out the standard narrow saddle, which it came with, for the wider Brooks C17 saddle that I was already using on the Kona, I also measured my hands and purchased the large size Ergon GA3 grips. Both of these changes, along with a few smaller tweaks here and there, completely resolved the issue for me.

A professional bike fit is always a great idea, but for me a wider saddle and larger diameter grips managed to resolve my issues, I may well still look into a professional fit at some point.

 

[kingrollo]

Bike fit and some excercises.

Somewhere there is most likely fatigued muscles - hit the gym and make them strong.

 

[Juliansou]

Ditto all the physio / bike fit comments. However, working on the principle that prevention is better than cure, have you tried just taking you hand off the bar for a minute or so? I ride a road bike, and on my longer jaunts I tend to move my hands about ( limited I know on a MTB). I find a minute with my hand dangling by my side and a bit of finger flexing works a treat.

 

[Cathryn]

To add into the excellent advice above about bike fit, whilst I've not had any actual pain from my hands, I have had tingling and numb hands from riding, especially on the Mountain Bike which I bought in the summer. So I swapped out the standard narrow saddle, which it came with, for the wider Brooks C17 saddle that I was already using on the Kona, I also measured my hands and purchased the large size Ergon GA3 grips. Both of these changes, along with a few smaller tweaks here and there, completely resolved the issue for me.

A professional bike fit is always a great idea, but for me a wider saddle and larger diameter grips managed to resolve my issues, I may well still look into a professional fit at some point.

Why the wider saddle?

 

[chriswoody]

Why the wider saddle?

I have relatively wide sit bones and the narrow saddle was forcing me to sit in a weird way as I tried to balance either one sit bone or the other on it, I couldn't rest both on. This in turn led me to rest more weight on my hands and as a result I was putting pressure on the Ulna nerve in my wrist. The saddle was the first change I made, and it was instantly better. I was sat on the saddle fully and the majority of my weight was now here rather than on my wrists. I can now easily ride long days in the saddle with no problems, previously I was only getting to about 15km before the numbness and tingling set in. The fatter, flared grips, came a few weeks later and maybe I could have got away without them, but they are definitely comfier than the originals.

 

[Chris S]

I balance on my saddle so there is hardly any weight on my hands. It improves your core strength as well.