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alisonut
Oct 28, 2005, 3:59 AM
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I often loose feeling in the tips of my fingers or they go all tingly. Does this happen to anyone else? It happens at night or in the am and also when I'm mtn biking. It often takes a while to get the feeling back.
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gblauer
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Oct 28, 2005, 5:55 PM
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sounds like a trip to the DR is in order...
(my hands go numbish when I mountain bike too...the pressure of my hands on the handle bars seems to do it)
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slobmonster
Oct 28, 2005, 10:44 PM
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Questions for you:
Caffeine?
Nicotine?
Hydration?
Electrolytes?
Climate where you live?
I have a family history of Raynaud's disease, a fairly common circulatory disorder. My fingers turn green/white as the blood rushes from them, and it's *worst* in rainy/damp 40-ish degree weather (i.e. autumn).
If you're wearing gloves while biking, consider getting some long enough to cover your radial artery, near the heel of your palm. There is some anecdotal evidence that this spot acts as the "thermostat" for your hand.
Warm up, too. Lots of arm-swings, push that blood from your core out to the tips.
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alisonut
Oct 28, 2005, 11:56 PM
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Thanks for the advice about gloves. No nicotine but I've been known to consume a bit of caffeine which I guess can effect circulation. I was wondering if it is circulation or a nerve thing. But luckily this problem is just annoying and not debilitating! I do a lot of yoga which I believe helps prevent lots of injuries and increases my circulation.
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cindylou
Oct 29, 2005, 2:00 AM
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My symptoms are almost identical to yours. It helps to have my back "cracked."
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lhwang
Oct 29, 2005, 11:15 PM
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My educated guess would be carpal tunnel syndrome. Next time your fingers go tingly, try to notice whether all of the fingers are tingly or just a few of them. That will help your doctor when you go to see him/her to get this sorted out!
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climbjunk
Oct 31, 2005, 5:41 AM
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agrre with lhwang (again!): CTS seems the most likely, it typical is loss of sensation at night, also you overextend your wrists typically on a MTB.
treatment can be conservative ((antiinflammatories) or surgical.
Raynaud's Syndrome seems unlikely as you do not report the typical whitening and the painful reperfusion (when the blood comes back..), it may be worthwhile checking out though if you have a rheumatological condition.
If you have tingling elsewhere it may be useful to check your Vit. B12 and folic acid levels.
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climbjunk
Oct 31, 2005, 5:43 AM
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agree with lhwang (again!): CTS seems the most likely, it typical is loss of sensation at night, also you overextend your wrists typically on a MTB increasing preasure on the nerves in your wrist; treatment can be conservative ((antiinflammatories) or surgical. See an orthopedic surgeon.
Raynaud's Syndrome seems unlikely as you do not report the typical whitening and the painful reperfusion (when the blood comes back..), it may be worthwhile checking out though if you have a rheumatological condition.
If you have tingling elsewhere it may be useful to check your Vit. B12 and folic acid levels.
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artsay
Nov 10, 2005, 10:34 PM
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Sounds to me like you have a compressed nerve in your neck. My husband had bulging discs and experienced the same thing but more extreme (arm and first three fingers completely numb. When it's mild he just gets "tinglies"). The doctor said surgery but he was aggressive with heat/ice/massage/yoga, along with not doing anything to irritate his neck (running, belaying, etc. ), and was climbing again in three months. Maybe try some of those things and see if it goes away? I'd definitely go to a Sports Medicine doctor and look into it. Bulging discs aren't anything to fool around with.
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artsay
Nov 10, 2005, 10:37 PM
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Sounds to me like you may have a compressed nerve in your neck. My husband had bulging discs and experienced the same thing but more extreme (arm and first three fingers completely numb. When it's mild he just got "tinglies"). The doctor said surgery but he was aggressive with heat/ice/massage/yoga, along with not doing anything to irritate his neck (no running, biking, climbing, etc. ), and was better in three months (minus tinglies here and there). Maybe try some of those things and see if it goes away? It makes sense you feel it when you bike (as did Ray) because you're looking up...thus compressing the nerve. I'd definitely go to a Sports Medicine doctor and look into it. Bulging discs aren't anything to fool around with.
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alisonut
Nov 11, 2005, 3:54 AM
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That's interesting. How do they diagnose a bulging disc? Do they do an xray or mri or something else? I think I won't go to the dr. unless I'm in dire straits. I just had a couple of cavities filled and it cost $400! And that's with insurance. Yoga seems to help alot. Surgery seems drastic to me unless something is hanging off. I notice when I miss a couple of days I get more tingly. Thanks for the advice. This has been an off and on problem with me for a number of years. I was curious to see if other people experienced it.
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artsay
Nov 11, 2005, 1:58 PM
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It's diagnosed with an MRI.
In your spine you have vertebrae and in between them you have discs which are soft and squishy and absorb shock and energy. Alongside of these you have nerves running in and out of everything. If you imagine sandwiching a balloon between your two hands, your hands being the vertebrae and the balloons being the discs, when you apply pressure, the balloons start flattening and push outside your hands. This represents a bulging disc. Any nerves that are alongside this get compressed and that's when you feel tinglies. So the key is to keep those bulges from bulging.
We have the whole tingly thing dialed. When Ray starts feeling them, he keeps a heating pad on his neck for 20 minutes and then I massage him for awhile and afterward we apply ice. It gets rid of them every time. Throughout his injury, he would still ride on the wind trainer keeping his head down but, the second he looked up, his left arm and first three fingers would get numb and/or tingly. Yoga helped a lot too but he couldn't do the Cobra or any other neck tweaky poses.
I'm not saying for sure this is your problem too but it sounds like it to me. Ray will probably have to live with the tinglies (feels like electricity, he says) forever but he's okay with it. As long as it doesn't get really bad again. You just sound like you're experiencing the minor symptoms and I'd recommend doing everything you can to not let it get worse.
~Michelle
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alisonut
Nov 11, 2005, 3:48 PM
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Thanks again. My tingling actually happens most upon waking up or in the night so it could be how I'm sleeping. It is also mostly in my right hand middle and ring finger. Did Ray ever feel tightness/stiffness in his neck? I often do have a bit of stiffness in my neck. You sound like you might be in the medical field too. I will take your advice and be proactive so it doesn't get worse. Cheers, Alison
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artsay
Nov 11, 2005, 4:11 PM
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Nope, I'm not in the medical field. Just learned a lot going through it with Ray. And yes, Ray has a lot of stiffness in his neck.
Good luck! :)
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climbinggirl33
Nov 14, 2005, 8:12 PM
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Hey there - It absolutely sounds like carpal tunnel, and sleeping on you hands can aggravate it. You have nerves that run from your neck down to your fingers, so it could also be a pinched nerve - I would certainly go see a doctor . . . but in the meantime you could go to any pharmacey and pick up some wrist guards for CT . . . sleeping with these for a while may go a long way to correcting the nerve aggravation.
I have a similar problem (Ulnar Tunnel) and take out the braces whenever I start getting that tingley feeling in my fingers (for me it's my pinky - don't use my pinky much climbing so am all set ;-)
Dratted computer jobs!
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