Jarred wrist resulting in pinky numbness

[eveready2]

Hi all,
Went for a ride today and ended up a bit sore. I hit a bump on the road at speed. I jarred my wrist and now my pinky and outside edge is slightly numb. My wrist is sore though. Thought?
Also why I am at it I had some back pain today too. On my right lower back. It's quite painful. Is it more of a bike fit thing? I tried sitting more equally on the saddle. I know I have crap hip flexors and tight butt cheeks. My other complaint is a pinching pain in the base of my neck? I think that is from me not relaxing.
Sorry for the complaining, but damn riding is addictive. Despite all the pain I keep going back!
Cheers Dale

[lardass71]

the numbness in the pinky, would most likely be a pinched nerve in the wrist, the nerves of the two outside little fingers run to your funny bone

[greyhoundtom]

Hi all,
Went for a ride today and ended up a bit sore. I hit a bump on the road at speed. I jarred my wrist and now my pinky and outside edge is slightly numb. My wrist is sore though. Thought?
Also why I am at it I had some back pain today too. On my right lower back. It's quite painful. Is it more of a bike fit thing? I tried sitting more equally on the saddle. I know I have crap hip flexors and tight butt cheeks. My other complaint is a pinching pain in the base of my neck? I think that is from me not relaxing.
Sorry for the complaining, but damn riding is addictive. Despite all the pain I keep going back!
Cheers Dale

Hi Dale,
Mate there is no doubt in my mind that when you get that many physical aches and pains riding your bike there is a major problem with the bike fit.
This can even hold true in regard to jarring your wrist, simply because if your position on your bike is correct flex in your elbow would have taken the strain instead of the bump hurting your wrist.
Cheers,
Tom

[Duck!]

This can even hold true in regard to jarring your wrist, simply because if your position on your bike is correct flex in your elbow would have taken the strain instead of the bump hurting your wrist.
Cheers,
Tom

Not necessarily, regardless of fit, this could come down to how the rider holds themself on the bike. If they lock their elbows rather than adopting a slight bend, shock loads will go straight into the wrists. This will be exacerbated if they place their hands so the bar is up near the base of the fingers rather than across the heel pad near the base of the thumb. This kind of posture will force the wrist back into extension, further irritating the nerves through the wrist, potentially contributing to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome & other similar conditions.

Holding the bars with a white-knuckle death grip will also limit the body's ability to absorb shock loads compared to a relaxed grip just resting on the bars.

[coffeeandwine]

Everyready, sounds like it could be one of the small nerves that run up that side of the hand. On the pinky side of the hand, there is a small bone that sticks out and you can jiggle it back and forward slightly-the nerve is just next to that. An image appears below:

and an explanation can be found here.

If your bike fit isn't quite right, you could be putting too much pressure on your hands.

As Duck said, how hard and where you hold the bars will make a difference to what part of your hand is in contact. For me, I find that on the drops puts more pressure on this sensitive part of the hand on the pinky side; on the hoods puts more pressure on my thumb side where there is a lot more padding. Good Bar tape and gloves with gel pads will help until you sort out the bike fit part. If it is still an issue in a few days, might be worth getting your doctor to have a look but it should settle fairly quickly I would hope.