Handling Numbness in the hands.

Motorcycle Riding Tip.

 

 

Numb hands while riding is a common problem that’s sometimes accompanied by tingling or a pins and needles feeling. Some people experience this problem within a half hour of getting on their bike while others suffer only on long distance rides.

A study of motorcycle riders by Manes found through history, physical exam, and electrodiagnostic testing that CTS was present in both hands in 8%, in the right hand in 30%, and in the left hand in 12% (Manes H. "Prevalence of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in Motorcyclists. Orthopedics. 35 (5): 399-400. May 2012).

An European study of Enduro motorcycle racers found that almost 50% of riders had pain or numbness/tingling in their hands. CTS was present in the left hand in 32% and in the right hand in 43% of riders after a second run (Sabeti-Aschraf M, Serek M, Pachtner T, Auner K, Machinek M, Geisier M, Goll A. "The Enduro motorcyclist's wrist and other overuse injuries in competitive

Enduro motorcyclists: a prospective study. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 18 (5): 582-590. Oct 2008).

A Japanese study of traffic police motorcyclists found that 19% of riders had finger numbness. The researchers found an increased rate of hand symptoms was associated with greater cumulative vibration exposure of the hands over time (Mirbod SM, Yoshida H, Jamali M, Masamura K, Inaba R, Iwata H. "Assessment of hand-arm vibration exposure among traffic police motorcyclists." Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 40 (1): 22-28. 1997).

There are a number of reasons for hand numbness. The problem could be ergonomical (your bike) or by the way you ride. Before spending money on bike fixes, make sure there’s no problem with your riding technique or handlebar positioning since fixing these is free. Don’t try to tough it out because you could end up with serious nerve damage.

Look through these motorcycle tips for hand numbness to see which works best for you:

Rider Technique

 

Lighten up on the grip/ avoid overgripping the bars.

Over gripping the handlebars fatigue the forearm muscles as well as the tendons in your wrist. Apply just enough pressure to control the bike. Your grip should be light enough so that you can easily wriggle your fingers. You should also periodically shake your hands out.

   

 Put less weight on wrists. Hold weight up with core abdominal and leg muscles.

 Bent wrists place pressure on both the median nerve and carpal tunnel nerve. Sometimes the handlebar positioning forces you to grip them with bent wrists. Reposition the handlebars as necessary.

   

 Bring a small rubber or tennis ball on long rides and squeeze it on breaks.

Keep hands relaxed, upper body loose, only lightly touching and steering the bars. Grip gas tank with knees to keep weight off wrists and upper body loose. Ditto foot pegs.
     

Shake out hands out every half hour or so.

Squeezing/pumping the hands to release muscle tension.

Remove rings before venturing out.

Rings (especially tight ones) put further strain on the nerves that pass through each finger. Especially during a tight grip

   
Increase exercise off the bike in order to Improve overall fitness and core strength.

Keep fit when you’re not riding. Over all fitness is important.

Bike Mods/Gear

 

•     Replace stock grips with softer/foam grips.
•     Add grip covers/grip puppies and palm rests
•     Add throttle lock, throttle rocker or throttle pads.
•     Wear well-padded gloves, like gel palm gloves.
•     Replace OEM bar end weights with heavier ones.
•     Adjust brake and clutch levers to straighten out the wrists.
•     Reposition your bars so your wrists are straighter.
•     Loosen the handlebar mounts/rotate the bars for a more comfortable angle on the wrist.
•     Reposition handlebars closer to the body, or choose a different bend.
•     Check tension on the steering head bearings to reduce vibration on the handlebar ends
•     Make sure seat is not set too high.
•     Fill handlebars with silicone or Bar Snake. This cylinder gauged with a high-tech polymer absorbs high frequency vibrations thus, reducing vibes. 
•  Use Anti-vibration risers.
•  Use cruise control attachments.

Have you found any other methods to combat hand numbness? Kindly share them with us in the comments. Ride Safe!