What to do to help bloodflow in hands?

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Andrew · #1 Unread post by **Andrew** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:41 am

I've been having a hard time with blood flow in my hands when I ride for any length of distance(30 min +). My palms turn purple and my fingers tingle. I originally thought I was gripping too hard, but I make a points to relax my hands, and even use my cruise control on a regular basis.

I may put too much weight on my palms, but my riding position is very comfortable and natural. Is this a problem with the position of my handlebars or my riding position? Any suggestions?

1will · #2 Unread post by **1will** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:53 am

try squeezing the tank with your knees and supporting your upper torso using your ab muscles. sounds like you are putting too much weight on your hands if the palms are turning purple.

periodically flexing your hands and forearm muscles may also help, especially through stretches of road where your hands aren't working the controls.

how well do your gloves fit?

#3 Unread post by **bok** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:56 am

i find when i ride the ex250 that my hands and wrists get sore sometimes and i just kind of lighten the load up front by putting more effort into using my legs to stabalize rather than my hands to hold on...if that makes any sense

Andrew · #4 Unread post by **Andrew** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:59 am

Gloves fit well. Definetly not too tight.

Whenever I can I'll stretch my arms or take them off the handlebars and move them around a bit.

Didn't think of squeezing the tank a little more. I'll give it a shot.

Kaiser Soze · Thu Jul 13, 2006 12:05 pm

I have a hard time with this too. Squeezing the tank with your legs will help a lot, though I find myself "forgetting" to do this after a few miles and resorting to using primarily the hands again to support my weight.

I'm trying to keep at it though, using my legs and lower back to hold more weight. Hopefully after doing this for a while it'll become second nature, and my lovin' hand won't take so much abuse on my rides.

MattL · #6 Unread post by **MattL** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 12:25 pm

This is a common problem not many riders know how to remedy. Point is they don't reolize they are doing it.

Most tend to use their arms as support, this is wrong. Keep you're elbows bent and use you're back as you're support. Use you're legs as well.

MontyCarlo · Thu Jul 13, 2006 12:42 pm

While posture/weight on hands can contribute, this is a problem often exacerbated by excess vibration in the bars. For some reason the vibration is really bad for bloodflow; it must disrupt flow through the capillaries or something. IANAD so YMMV, but the seating position on your bike should already be "sit up and beg", so I doubt there's much more you can do to take off any more pressure on your wrists.

Combatting vibration might help a lot. I purchased a Bar Snake, and it's one of the best comfort mods I've ever made to my RT. I've heard of people injecting butyl rubber into the handlebars, but I venture that's a bit messier, and I figured I can move the snake to my next bike.

NorthernPete · Thu Jul 13, 2006 12:51 pm

can you get some gel grips?

Andrew · #9 Unread post by **Andrew** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 1:11 pm

probably, but my grips are heated, and I don't feel like replacing them.

sounds like concentrating on sitting upright could be a good starting point. My bike is pretty smooth, and it doesn't seem that I should need to buy accesories to fix this. It's much easier just to blame myself.

MonteCarlo, what does "IANAD so YMMV" mean? 'lol' is about as far as I go in the internet jargon.

MontyCarlo · Thu Jul 13, 2006 1:16 pm

IANAD = I am not a Doctor. IANAL is more common (L for Lawyer)

YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary.

Heated grips? If I recall the wires are *inside* the bars, so that rules out a Bar Snake. But you could still go to Home Depot and pick up a caulking tube full of butyl rubber. Anything to dampen vibrations will help with tingly fingers.