Why do I feel numbness in my hands after mountain biking?

You are out to have some fun on your mountain bike. You see a hill and you set a goal to get to the top of it. You start pedaling with all your heart, but then suddenly you feel pain in your wrists. You stop and realize that both of your hands are numb and you can’t grab the handlebar any more.

Numb hands in mountain biking is a common thing. Every newbie bike rider or those who haven’t been riding for a long time will suffer a little bit of numbness in their hands. Some riders feel a little nauseous as well. There are a few reasons why riders feel numb in their hands during mountain biking. We will talk about them here and hopefully give the internet the answer it wants.

Why do hands become numb after or during mountain biking?

Our hands are one of the most complex structures in our body. One human hand is composed of 27 bones. What makes our hands complex is the networking of muscle tissue, tendons, bones and neurons. Our hands are made this way to move, lift, grip, touch or feel our environment. Everyone is capable of doing this no matter the size of their hands. 

When it comes to cycling, a bad gripping position of the hands could cause stress on the complex structure of the hands. This could happen in other activities as well such as, climbing, ring pull ups, heavy weighted exercises or anything that requires a strong grip. Stress to the bone structure, muscles and neurons could cause pain or soreness. But what causes numbness?

The numbness is caused by the stress on the neurons. As the hand is a complex structure and an accumulation of multiple body components at one place, strain on the hands can affect all of these components.

In activities like mountain biking, the hand is constantly under stress by the shaking and rebound effect from the rough paths of the mountain. We have mentioned about the three body contact points on a bike in our other article about “How to make a mountain bike seat more comfortable?”. The ankle and calves are affected from the pedals, the butt and lower back is affected from the bike saddle, and finally the hands and arms are affected by the handlebar and grips. The constant stress on these parts from the bouncing and shaking from the rough paths puts stress on the body or in this case, hands. The more the bike shakes you the more you strain to grip the bar.

When the stress is too much, the last component of the hands to get affected is the neurons, mainly the Ulnar and the median nerves.

The Ulnar nerve originates from the wrist and stretches all the way to the outer side of our hands. There is a condition called Handlebar Palsy, caused from the pressure on this nerve. In this condition the outer side of the hand, especially the pinky and the ring finger temporarily becomes weak. The person feels a tingling sensation and is unable to move these two fingers.

The median nerves originate from the wrist and stretch to the thumb, index and middle finger. Excessive pressure on this part of the hand can cause numbness as well. This numbness is called the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and the feeling the person gets from this is the same as Handlebar Palsy.

We now know why the numbness in hands occurs and which parts of the hands cause this. Excessive stress and hyper flexion of the nerves causes this numbness. If there is a way to reduce the amount of stress such as, reducing the rebound effect on the handlebar with high quality grips, we could avoid numbness. We will talk about how to avoid and treat numbness in a minute.

How to avoid the numbness from happening?

There are a number of ways you can avoid numbness on your hands from mountain biking. This mainly requires maintaining and changing a few things. We will list a few tips below to help you avoid this from happening.

1. Stretching daily

Maintain a daily hands and wrists starching routine. Stretch your wrist in both directions, supinate and pronate. If you want more of a detailed guide on hand stretch, then follow this article “Stretches for wrists and hands”. Stretching the wrists and hands daily will make your hands stronger and more resistant to pressure. This will help you in mountain biking. You will be able to hold on to your grip for longer without any pain or numbness.

As stretching increases the blood flow in your hands, your neurons will already be fired up and your hands will be prepared for any type of pressure.  

2. Warm up before the ride

Warming up before any physical exercise or activity is necessary for strength, stability and avoiding pain and injury. Warming up also increases the blood flow, firing up all the neurons and tissues in the body.

A warm up before cycling will help the rider in a lot of ways. It will increase performance, stability during riding and reduce the chances of injuries. It will also reduce the chances of pain or soreness and numbness, because the body will be ready.

We have already talked about hand stretches. Now we are asking you to prepare your entire body before cycling as it will also benefit your hands, especially in avoiding hand numbness. Follow this guide in this article “3 warmup exercises that will make you a better cyclist“, to get your entire body warmed up.

3. Ergonomic grip

Ergonomic grips are made to give you comfort. Why won’t they reduce the chances of hand numbness?

If you don’t have one already, get yourself a Ergon GA2 Fat. This will greatly improve your performance in mountain biking as well as reduce pain. Its soft thick grip and non slip function is great for racing as well. If this is not enough, try the Ergon GA3.

4. Soft gloves

There are mountain bike specific gloves out there that are designed to handle the pressure of a rough path. These gloves are soft and thick enough to allow the rider to comfortably grip the handlebar without pain. These gloves alone can make the hand numbness problem go away. If you don’t have any, try the Firelion Cycling Gloves for your mountain bike trail. 

5. Riding posture

We have said this many times and we will say it again. Riding posture will always have a great impact on the rider’s body. Bad form and posture will always put stress on body parts. It could be the hands, thighs, calves, hamstrings, lower back anywhere. 

Bad posture can also affect the hands as well. As you arch your back forward to pedal faster, you start to lean forward and put pressure on your hands. Your hands then fall under double pressure as this time it will have to handle your bodyweight too. You will not feel the pain immediately, but after the riding. This is why riding with a straight back is always advised.

6. Reposition the cockpit

We have already written how body posture can affect the hands or any other parts of the body. The cockpit of the bike includes the wheels, the bars, the stem, the seat and the pedals. We advise you to reposition them so that they don’t affect your posture. If your bike is in the right alignment, then your body should also be in the right posture. Thus, your hand should be numb and pain free.

Follow these small tips and you might actually see a result. You will improve eventually and your body will start to adapt to the harsh nature of mountain biking.

How to treat this numbness?

If you actually have numbness right now or you get numbness frequently, you could follow the tips below to treat yourself.

1. Rest

Resting always works. We are not talking about sleeping, but yes sleep is a great recovery tool. Whenever you are feeling numb in your hands during or after mountain biking, just stop and take some rest. Your body has a recovery system of its own. Drink some water and stay calm until the numbness goes away.

2. Warm water bath

If the numbness is causing too much annoyance, then just come back home and take a bath. A warm water bath is always effective at calming down the body. Your hand numbness should also be relieved by it too.

3. Stretching

Stretching helps bring the blood flow back to the muscles and tissues. With the flow of blood water will be delivered to the nerves as well, which will rehydrate them. This will break the numbness quickly and it might help you get back on riding again.

4. Anti-inflammatory medication

Use this tip as a last resort. If your numbness stays for a long time along with pain, then you can take some anti-inflammatory medication. Talking to your doctor would be a good idea in this case.

Keep an eye on the hand condition. Does the numbness come with the pain? Does it stay for a long time? Does the pain go away but not the numbness? Inform your doctor if you find anything serious. 

F.A.Q.s

Will this numbness cause permanent damage?

It does have the potential to cause permanent damage or injury. If your numbness on your hands stays longer than 1 hour, then you should consult a doctor.

How long does this numbness last?

This numbness should go away within a few minutes, although the duration is different for everyone.

Will warm up and stretching help avoid numbness?

Warming up and stretching your back, wrists, ankle and calves before bike riding will always increase the chance of avoiding numbness.

Why do I feel thirsty when my hands are numb?

You feel thirsty when your hands are numb because your nerves are dehydrated. Dehydration is a contributing factor to numbness. Drinking water will actually fix this problem.

Conclusion

Reckless biking through a rough uneven path without any physical preparation could have a negative impact on the body. Numb hands during mountain biking is just one of the results of the physical impacts. Other body parts include the butt, the hamstrings, the ankles, the calves, the lower back and sometimes the neck can be affected by this impact as well. 

It is necessary to take preparation such as warming up the entire body and stretching before biking. These physical issues we have mentioned above may seem normal and they will go away on their own if you just take rest. But these issues could get worse and could cause permanent problems if they are left untreated. Consistent daily pressure on these areas of the body will definitely bring bad news one day.