Numbness or tingly hands is a relatively common cyclist’s ailment. Most serious cyclists have experienced this phenomenon at least briefly while in the saddle.

However, its effects can vary widely from person to person. To understand this we must understand some basic neuroanatomy by looking at a “wiring diagram” of the body.

There are many potential causes of tingling or numbness in the hands. These include autoimmune diseases that attack your own nervous system, nutritional deficiencies that impair the ability of your nerves to operate, or structural issues that physically put pressure on the nerve.

An actual impingement – that is, a pinched nerve, even if only while in riding position – is probably the most common reason cyclists experience this phenomenon. Tingling or numbness that only occurs while in the saddle pushes structural issues to the top of our list of possible diagnoses. Since this is what most cyclists tend to experience, we’ll spend most of our time exploring that possibility.

The nerves that supply feeling to your hands (as well as your sense of temperature, pain, pressure, and muscular control, etc.) start in your neck. There is a different spinal nerve, or nerve root, that supplies each of the areas consisting of your thumb and index finger, your middle finger and palm, and your ring finger and pinkie, respectively.

This means that if you have numbness felt only in your thumb and index finger, the meaning is diagnostically different than experiencing it in just your pinkie, or even in your whole hand.

This is where the “wiring diagram” comes in. There are typically only two or three places where each nerve root can get pinched. Where the roots start, in the neck, is a very common location for impingement.

If your numbness goes away after keeping your neck extended (i.e. looking up) for a minute or two, that’s a good clue that this might be where your problem is coming from.

It is unlikely that your neck is the root of the problem if you experience numbness that covers the whole hand. For this to happen, all three of the primary nerve roots that supply the hand would have to be simultaneously pinched. The only places this can happen easily is under your collarbone, or clavicle, and as the nerve bundles pass through an area deep in your armpit. Below the armpit, the nerves spread out as they supply different parts of your shoulder, upper arm, forearm, and hand.

Around the elbow is another spot where nerve bundles can experience impingement. This is why smacking your elbow in just the right way is called hitting your “funny bone”.

What makes it funny (other than the name of the bone, the humerus) is the nerve that passes relatively close to the surface of the skin and supplies parts of your forearm and hand. Giving it a good whack is enough to send strange signals to your nervous system, which you experience as a tingling or buzzing sensation. You can then imagine what pinching a nerve off, even mildly, for longer periods of time can do.

A common misconception about any tingling or numbness in the hands is that it must be a condition known as carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), where impingement of a nerve happens at the wrist. The carpal tunnel is a channel formed by the bones of your wrist and muscular and ligamentous attachments binding them together.

There is only one nerve that passes through the tunnel, and it supplies sensation and muscular control to the thumb side of your hand. This means that if you experience any tingling or numbness at all in your middle, ring, or little finger it is unlikely that you have CTS. The impingement is likely coming from one of the spots mentioned above.

Now that we’ve discussed some ways to distinguish one problem from another, what can you do about it? First, posture is king. Riding with your ears up close to your shoulders is a good way to increase the odds that you’ll pinch a nerve under your clavicle.

Similarly, riding with the head down (chin close to your chest) can set you up for neck problems. Especially with neck problems, daily postural habits make a huge difference.

Repeatedly reading in bed or watching TV on the couch with your head propped up, or working on a computer with the center of the screen lower than eye level can increase the likelihood of impingement in the neck. Frequent overhead activity (think painting a ceiling) can predispose you to compressing the nerves around your shoulders.

Long-standing cases of tingling or numbness typically need treatment. Specific, precise chiropractic adjustments of the neck, shoulders, and upper back can provide a lot of relief. Therapy should also be directed at correcting muscular issues that can impair shoulder and neck function and support.

If you experience numbness in all fingers of your hands on both sides, especially if it continues while not riding, non-structural causes should be ruled out. Any good chiropractor, MD, or physical therapist should be able to help you determine what is happening in your particular case.

If you have this problem, be a detective. You might just solve your own problem or, at worst, you’ll have more precise information to provide your doctor that will help immensely in diagnosing, and ultimately fixing the problem.