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carpal tunnel acting up...

4K views 48 replies 18 participants last post by  bill 
#1 ·
Figured there is a number of older gents here.

How ya deal with that shit acting up to keep riding?

Over workes my arm/hand (ya ya) and boy is it being a cunt now. Full numb in half hour if i dont put a brace on when sleeping....

Really dont want to have to move to a more upright bike....
 
#5 · (Edited)
GET THE SURGERY, IT CHANGED MY LIFE! :coffee

I took care of myself my whole bloody life, been playing guitar for years n' never had a single issue... my 2010 accident fvcked me right over! :surrender

during my trip to L. Tahoe in '11 i got as far as Salt lake city n' Reno before i could no longer ride!! it was a bloody nightmare, i had no idea what the fvck
was going on.... turns out i developed carpal tunnel from the fall previous year.... it left me without being able to drive within six months!!

got the surgery in spring of '12 and realized very quickly my recovery was not gonna be a walk in the park, so be ready for some serious pain in the arse,
dont take the doctors word that you'll be back to normal in 6 weeks.... not to bore you, i was not able to return to my old job driving truck... that was the
end of it! now having gone to school i'm ready to begin a new career, no way could I have typed all this out 1.5 years ago.. not a chance at all!...

i'm replacing my clutch with ASV sport clutch as it has bearings to help with cable travel, less friction, smoother action... I CANNOT RUN SHORTY CLUTCH LEVER!! FAT CHANCE!

i purchased a very wonderful set of APEX 3" RISERS which have allowed me to continue to ride my R1, i love sportbikes too much to let a little CT slow me down..
 
#4 ·
It started this bad after summer road trip.

Climbing towers, moving valves, hitting stuff with a wrench.... too much weight at the gym....

Sucks.
 
#6 ·
#7 · (Edited)
It is completely fixable with a five minute surgery. Get it done or deal with the pain. It will never go away on it's own.

http://www.ratemds.com/doctor-ratings/61630/Dr-Bertrand+H-Perey-Port+Moody-BC.html

Get a coonsutation at least.
yup, heard of him as well.. MadeMan, you will need to see a Neurologist n' have them do their test to determine suitability for the surgery :D

I went with Dr MARK HILL! head of plastic surgery @ Vancouver General Hospital, does the surgery out of his office in UBC!!...
he's the absolute best in the province, took about 15-20 minutes from the time i walked in the door till i was stumbling out... lol

his specialty is in Hands!!! http://www.drmarkhill.com/meet-dr-hill.html



 
#8 ·
That is shitty. I am sorry to hear that. For me it was my right hand and I couldn't ride for more than five minutes before I couldn't grip the throttle anymore. I was slowly becoming left handed. I haven't had any problems since and I actually know four other people that had the surgery with great success.
 
#9 · (Edited)
yeah i was all set for a quick recovery since i had never had an issue, and my right hand had cleared up in 3 months swimming after i returned from California
i rode from Reno to SF n' parked the bike for a week before riding back home, so i knew this was very serious after i had the tests done.

POST surgery, after four months of slowly, very slowly gaining some use of my hand my doctor laid it out for me, either I stop driving big arse 10 tonne truck or i'll never ride
again!... that same week i decided to return to school n' retrain myself @ BCIT... i still get very serious pain from extended use of left hand requiring strength,
typing can flare it up from time to time, just thinking about it brings it all back,

my old man had the surgery done on both hands, he had gotten to the point where he could not drive anymore either... over ten years later and he is good to go,
life long mechanic who could not possibly continue the way things were, he's also a long distance rider!! loves his big Vtwin cruisers... converted his VTX1800 to a monster trike this year!! :D
 
#10 ·
Copy.

Will make appnt with my doc.

He doesnt like doing needless procedures (and that worked out well up until now). Will ask to get him to set up the appnt with the specialist.


So it takes months to recover after surgery?

Ouch. Need to use hands for at work.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Copy.

Will make appnt with my doc.

He doesnt like doing needless procedures (and that worked out well up until now). Will ask to get him to set up the appnt with the specialist.
a neurologist is the only one that can tell you weather you will benefit from the surgery, its a test they do, to see how much flow of electricity
there is from your forearm to your hand... my right hand after the trip, was fvcked but still had continuity, it was a little sore, but did not require surgery
and has not flared up since that trip, knock on wood... my left hand on the other, he cranked up the levels and kept looking very puzzled and concerned!

did not take long for him to say how amazed he was to hear i managed to ride a full on supersport from BC to Tahoe to SF n' back at all!! should not have been
able to make it out of WA state... i had next to zero continuity!! within 5 months of that visit I had completely lost my ability to hold a steering wheel, could not
even get to work since I drive a standard :(
 
#11 ·
53 yrs old, in the glass business for 35 yrs, heavily taxed hands, arms, shoulders, and the carpal area of the wrists. Bike rider since 1968. Bad carpal tunnel issues 10 yrs ago, went to my doc, where he said the risks of the operation were too high for my diagnosis. He told me I had to stretch the carpal area every morning, and 10 yrs later it is still gone. You have to stretch it out minimum 30 seconds every morning . Put your arm straight out in front of you, Palm down, fold hand up, and with your other hand, fold your hand back, for 30 seconds.

A few other things, I've got a throttle locker that I use on all the bikes. I also adjust my clutches the closest to the handlebar.
 
#45 · (Edited)
I sympathize with all the sufferers as I am in a similar position, however I have avoided surgery and other extreme invasive measures by soaking my hands in hot water and carefully stretching all the parts of the hand and arms etc. I have not found physiotherapy to be of any help nor naturopathy, acupuncture, chiropractry, etc.
Good information above. I faced (and still do) similar wrist problems I addressed in a forum post in late 2012 :

http://www.bcsportbikes.com/forum/s...gered-Up-Wrist.-Carpal-Tunnel?highlight=wrist

I saw Dr. Bertrand Perey twice (thank you Kelaog and rgm). I was diagnosed with FCR Tendonitis and tenosynovitis. His recommendation was to wait a year and see how my wrist progressed. I stretch it up and down for 30s every day in the shower. Like Chumly, physio and chiro were ineffective. I ride a 1200GS and came from a Triumph Daytona. I didn't notice any relief in my wrist from the different riding position. I will definitely be purchasing a throttle lock (Kaokoo?) for my Southern California trip. The pain is in my right wrist only.

Every situation is different, my advice would be to select surgery as a last resort given the recovery time and the real possibility of complications.
 
#15 ·
bubbles? hahaha... i couldnt ever make a fist anymore in Fall of 2011, and when i woke up, my hand was a full blown frozen fist... once
your nerves and muscles relax, they look for the most relaxed position but get stuck there... if this happens to you GET ON IT!! dont wait another second

I still have my guitar but i havent played it since i went in for surgery... i bought myself a bass and will be learning how to play it soon so i can keep everything in check, need to have music in my life... cant give that up :)
 
#17 ·
Throttle hand is the problem one.

During the trip it was clutch side, but that went away after a couple months. Still cracking badly when i make a fist.... didnt do that before.
 
#18 ·
get yourself to the pool and do some swimming if you continue having issues, it will help clear some of it up in some cases as it helps
to loosen nerves and tendons from your neck to your hands... yup, i had cracking, nasty feeling, its how it 1st started in Reno, i got
a rubbing lotion which helped immensely but obviously that was just the start of it..

get yourself a set of adjustable clip ons for sure if you wanna keep riding that RSV4, as Racerboy suggested, convertibars are popular as well..

I personally like my Apex much more as i have 8 different angles i can adjust my clip ons at, over the raise in height and overall adjustability
which allowed me to bring the bars closer to my body as well... they have been wonderful to use!! i would not have taken my trip without them!
 
#20 ·
Yeah, its called a car :-D

Gonna see a doc... great. So much for an easy way out.
 
#23 ·
was pretty bad when signing paperwork this morning was painful...

years of computer use as a yongun didnt help.

V4 is actually comfy when moving. when stuck in traffic is when it gets very bad.... do NOT go road tripping in USA around july 4th weekend. US101 was pure torture the entire way to SF.
 
#24 ·
I noticed it flare up after I bought an 1150 GSAdv. I rode it for 20-30000 km that first year and it turned out the bars and levers were at an angle that was just enough to mess me up. Physio 5 times a week for 3-4 months (yay for full medical) and I didn't need to take time off work. I kept wrenching and parked the bike for quite awhile. They used heat, ultrasound and a TENS machine. The TENS IS such a great tool I bought one for home use.

Take care of it sooner rather than later. Good luck Max.
 
#25 ·
Max,

I feel your pain literally. I had mine flare up in February of 2005, I went for Tens, Physio the whole deal. Nothing worked, because mine was not really for related i had to pay for my surgery privately or wait three years., Pleas read the following quotes very carefully "where I am certain that at least a good portion of your injury could be caused by work, especially work in the cold" you might want to consider filing a Compensation Claim in the province you work in. Work Safe BC and the Alberta Equivalent fast track these type of injuries.

I was not so lucky and had to pay for mine personally but it was money well spent. I had the first surgery done June 1st and the second done the last day in June. mid August I rode to Denver, finished the Iron Butt Rally and rode home no problems.

My carpal tunnel finally really flared up in 2005. How bad was it well I couldn't hold up a newspaper for example.It was as best we can figure out a combination of things

1) bad ergos on a BMW 1150 GS until I fitted the Ricky Bars

2) worse ergo on a Honda Goldwing. It needed all sorts of modifications

3) ill fitting Held gloves that put pressure on my wrist. I had worn Helds for years and then they sent their manufacturing overseas and for me the fit was gone.

4) 30 years of skiing 60 + days a year and being too tall for the longest ski poles starting wrist issues for me in my mid teens

Vancouver has a lot of good hand surgeons my surgeries were done by Arko Demianczuk (he used to ride sport bikes and understand what we do)

http://surgery.med.ubc.ca/people/ademianczuk/

The major decision you will have to make post surgery is what kind of a motorcycle you will be riding.

Sport Bike Ergonomics will no longer be your friend. You may be able to get some more years out of riding with Heli-bars. (I have been the the plant and know the owner) but quite seriously if you plan to keep riding you will likely be moving to a dual sport.

It is nit just buying V-strom and ri=ding off the lot with your face down.

To look after your wrists you may end up spending hours getting the right set of handle bars and bar riders set up for yourself, going for a custom seat , etc,etc. Some sport tourers have enough after market ergonomic farckles that you will be able to fix your riding position. The FJR seems to work for a lot of riders.

Good Luck

PM me if you want to talk
 
#26 ·
Wish it was work related.

Never happened like this before touring last summer. This return im pretty sure due to shit form doing bench press. Something tells me having wrists locked back wasnt a good way of doing it.... syncro?
 
#31 · (Edited)
ohhhhh snnnnaaaaappppppp.... yikes!! I totally thought it was somewhat work related, since you mentioned issues with wheels/ wrenches at work... :eek

Vancouver has a lot of good hand surgeons my surgeries were done by Arko Demianczuk (he used to ride sport bikes and understand what we do)

http://surgery.med.ubc.ca/people/ademianczuk/
YES! i met him personally, he was the one my Doctor 1st referred me to, it was my neurologist who made an appointment with Dr. Mark Hill...

Unfortunately I was not able to get a quick surgery date with Dr. Demianczuk as there was a very long waiting list.... his office is on Burrard, downtown across from that Esso gas station...


I received very quick reply from Dr. Mark Hill's assistant and they got me in only 3 to 4 months after my initial visits with him :tredmill Thank you!! :D
 
#27 ·
Don't give up on anything until you have to. Since the surgery I have done everything I used to do. Mountain biking, track days, fishing and I do landscaping and property maintenance for a living. I drive all day from site to site and use loud, annoying vibrating two stroke equipment all day. Everyone is different. Good luck.
 
#29 ·
I haven't had the pleasure of carpal tunnel(yet) but I did blow my right wrist into a thousand pieces of mushed bone from downhilling. I've got plates and screws in it now, and have approx 90% strength and 80% mobility. I worried about riding again after the surgery and whether I could wrench again. 6 months of physio helped a bit but the most helpful thing for me was getting back into the routine of what I loved to do. The downhilling was by far the biggest help as it beat the wrist into moving a lot and taking hits, at first it would swell up badly but I gained a ton of movement/strength from that. I slowly worked my way up on weight at the gym and this also helped a lot. From there I went from working on lightweight shit to working on heavy duty equipment and my body's loving the hard work. I guess what I'm saying is just use it within reason but try to use good form and you should be ok, the body is an amazing thing.
 
#33 ·
yeah, when it comes to my hands, i ALWAYS played it safe.. and it paid off for a very long time...
this should never have happened to me, but alas, some idiots shouldnt on the road and i got bit... :(

i'm putting good $ into controls this year, all in an attempt to have better feel n' functionality without
the constant headaches... we'll see where it all gets me... not giving up the bike... its my therapy..
 
#35 ·
yeah, i can see that.. one thing was for sure in my case, i was kinda glad i had several other upper body injuries (thats not right.! :laughing)
as I managed to get a swamper to come out on delivery runs n' he was doing most of the heavy lifting for a long time... i would have been FOOOKED otherwise
 
#36 ·
Over the years I have pulled all the muscles in my shoulders, all the lower back muscles, crushed an upper disc which put me into one of those fancy machines, both knee's have had minor fractures numerous times, same with both elbows.

Every day I get out of bed, it takes me an hour of just sitting an allowing my body to slowly warm up, sometimes only one or two things hurt, sometimes it feels like every part of my body hurts. I talked to a few doctors over the years, and basically they all told me the same thing.
Stay off the booze, eat well, and get lots of rest. And basically, keep a steady routeen.

That has worked for me for a long time and still does to this day.

I don't work harder now, I work smarter, I think about everything before doing anything.

Believe it or not, everyone lives with a certain amount of pain, the reason most of us don't feel it, is because our minds have learned to get used to it as the norm.

Also barometric pressure can effect how our bodies feel somedays, not all people are affected by barometric pressure.

Sudden temperature changes, say -20 one day and +10 the next can also effect how you feel.

Some people relate mental stress to physical pain.

And your body does have the ability to heal its self.

My choice was to let the body heal naturally, instead of going the way of the knife, it took eight years for some of the nerve damage to finally sort of heal its self.

But go see a doctor, see what they have to say first.
Cause what the hell do I know, for pete's sake I'm a truck driver!
lol
 
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