Cyclist Palsy

[Lawmanmx]

well, it seems i have have the above affliction, which seems to coincide with the Brachial plexus injury i sustained from a motorbike crash back in 2001, anyways, has anyone else suffered from this and how long was it until you could ride again?
just to clarify, i started with bad headache 40 miles into the ride down to Bearstock, which developed into pain in my upper back/shoulder, then numbness down my left arm and hand, this got worse and worse over the 4 day ride to the point i was in agony so had to abandon! anyways, a couple of days at home with physio and massage and it has eased loads, however i still feel like i have been shot in the shoulder blade and my hand is still numb and very weak.
has anyone else had experience of this? apparently its quite common with distance cyclists.

cheers, Tony

[benp1]

Never had it, doubt I've cycled long enough or far enough!

Have you got enough hand positions? Would some extra options help a bit maybe?

Maybe it's your back to front levers

[Richard G]

Sorry to hear that man. Is especially sh*t given we were talking about various injuries / physio time and how much of a pain in the arse it is. Really don't want to be adding anything new.

Adding to the hand positions thing... did you have anything on your back? (Camelbak etc?) Can increase pressure on that nerve. Also worth looking at your wrist angles to see if you can find something a bit better. I suffer pretty badly with the hand numbness thing (hasn't progressed as far as yours), so I find myself having to rely on heavily padded gloves.

[Lawmanmx]

Nope, fully aware of bar position/hand position/ weight on the back and shoulders, hence no back pack, (waist pack 6ltr) jones type bars (multi hand position) sponge grips, high stack height, Bluto forks. and my Brakes are the Correct way round for an Ex Bmxer Ben Lol

i had a lot of weight on the front of the bike tho, possible problem???

[Richard G]

Did you set up the sag on the Bluto fork to account for the additional weight? If not you may have been tipped forward by a couple more degrees than normal which definitely would have put extra pressure on your wrists / palms.

[Lawmanmx]

to be fair, i didn't pal, with distance i covered on back roads i had the fork locked out most of the time anyway, there is an inch of bump compliance when its locked though, i recon its down to the brachial plexus injury i had in 2001 anyway! hence a weakness that i just have to accept, im just keen to find out any real world recovery times more than anything

[Ray Young]

Are you sure of that diagnoses. Seems very odd that a condition that generally affects the hands started with a headache and then worked it's way down. I think I'd be looking for a second opinion if it where me. I regularly suffer tingling in the hands that is caused by a problem in my neck.

[Lawmanmx]

i do get headaches anyways so that might be coincidental, and as ive said i have suffered brachial plexus which makes the area weaker anyway, physio and my own searching confirms the palsy Ray

[Bearbonesnorm]

Here's a thought ... could you be over-gripping on climbs? It's something that I've done in the past and leads to tight shoulders / neck and headaches.

[Wotsits]

Count yourself lucky that you don't get Shermers Neck Tony!

http://www.active.com/cycling/articles/ ... rre-injury

Hope you get yourself sorted soon..

[Justchris]

well, it seems i have have the above affliction, which seems to coincide with the Brachial plexus injury i sustained from a motorbike crash back in 2001, anyways, has anyone else suffered from this and how long was it until you could ride again?
just to clarify, i started with bad headache 40 miles into the ride down to Bearstock, which developed into pain in my upper back/shoulder, then numbness down my left arm and hand, this got worse and worse over the 4 day ride to the point i was in agony so had to abandon! anyways, a couple of days at home with physio and massage and it has eased loads, however i still feel like i have been shot in the shoulder blade and my hand is still numb and very weak.
has anyone else had experience of this? apparently its quite common with distance cyclists.

cheers, Tony

never had as bad as you describe. have had shooting 'electric' pains in my hands before. I was aware of what was causing it and took action to prevent further damage. since then i have changed to a carbon handle bar to reduce vibration, which it has done so significantly, i also have wide handle bars to concentrate pressure on the outside of the palm (or inside if you are looking at your palm) away from the ulnar nerve. nerve damage takes ages to repair, so could be affected for 3 to 6 months depending on the damage. if you cannot sleep at night because of it, go and see your gp, they may prescibe an atypical pain killer for nerve pain. there is not much a physio can do, but they might be able to help you with a kind of stretching of the nerve. it makes the nerve glide easier within the sheath. which would be very useful if you get affliced again.

good luck.

c

[barney]

Tony I may have dreamt this but didn't someone at Bearstock have a pair of rigid/bounce forks? Perhaps a pair of them might help?

He was rather anonymous about them and for the life of me I cant remember who it was but a quick search of the tinterweb and apparently they actually do exist...

http://www.laufforks.com/

[Richard G]

lol

[Fat tyre kicker]

Just follow the trail of the vomiting gnome ??

[benp1]

Slightly different one for some variety!

[Lawmanmx]

Lauff forks??? yer having a Laugh .... i'll stick with the palsy

[paramart]

please keep this thread updated with any results as I,m waiting for a head scan as I have been getting violent headaches, last year my arm/hand went numb, and they think it,s mild carpel tunnel, but it varies in numbness and pain, like your explanation stu, hope this is the cause for me as I grip for my life when climbing,

[JohnClimber]

Buggers

[Lawmanmx]

please keep this thread updated with any results as I,m waiting for a head scan as I have been getting violent headaches, last year my arm/hand went numb, and they think it,s mild carpel tunnel, but it varies in numbness and pain, like your explanation stu, hope this is the cause for me as I grip for my life when climbing,

Oreet Mart, does any of THIS sound familiar pal???

http://www.physio-pedia.com/Cyclist's_palsy

[paramart]

tony sounds similar mines my right side, but i'm left handed so it might have something to do with maybe being weaker on that side, I am getting worried about the headaches, but my right hand is numb and hurts it actually started after last years bb200, gets worse when riding long rough tracks was going to try different grips and raise the bars but as stu said I grip really hard climbing so will try a combination of the idea's and see if it eases off, mines deffo not the ulna nerve had a test carpel tunnel but only mild case

[adjustablewench]

Headaches neck and shoulder problems here, not always all three but varying combinations of each.

Finally relented and have book a private physio recommended by my gp - will see how that goes. I've put it off as when my neck is bad the last thing I want is someone moving it . . . And then it eases off and I get hopeful it will stay away.

Gave up today and sore clunky neck and have had a headache for days . . You have my sympathy!

Only get hand issues when my shoulders flare up - I have arthritis in the right (could have it on the left but that one hasn't been scanned!). I had bashed the right one a couple of years ago and that caused some weird numbness in my hand when I drove.

I put it down to some kind of circulation issue as my shoulder was healing - as there was no real pattern to the numbness to link it to a specific nerve. And because it got worse if I drove (when my hands were raised up on the steering wheel)

Improved when my shoulder settled anyway (which took over a year . . . Probably wasn't helped by BB2014's tussocks either )

[Lawmanmx]

Oreet ione, first off, i don't think mine is relaited to death grip as Stu suggested earlier as i am always awear of that, plus i tend to ride quite light on the bike anyways, but same as you , i have damaged shoulder's through Two seperate injuries which doesn't help, anyways, i Always try to ride in 'protect mode' unless im confidently bouncing downhill, Lol. but this was something on another level pain wise, it seemed to come from nowhere as i was tootling from wigan to chester on the road, and got worse as each riding day progressed up to the bail on day 4 of 5, im a huge user of Physiotherapy anyways so i went as soon as i got home which did ease it a lot, im left wondering hoe long im going to be off the bike now tho? (i had summer plans) Lol ... Gutted from Wigan.

[Beesey]

I had something similar after a week touring in the Alps, couldn't move my little finger side to side and had no grip strength. I had jones bars but only moved my hands around after I noticed the grip problems 4 days in. Anyway doctor said it was palsy and it took about a month to feel vaguely normal and be able to move my finger but much longer to be back up to normal strength. I did carry on commuting but i wasn't in any pain, probably didn't help with the recovery either, but its only a few miles. bought some ergon grips after and have served me well.

[Farawayvisions]

Hey Tony,

It could be all that pent up frustration... you know, what I'm on about

[Lawmanmx]

Nope! i don't ... ya wierd irish nit! ... BREXIT!!! Lol