Handlebar palsy

When I started riding my bike, I thought about possible injuries to my knees or injuries caused by falling. It never occurred to me that I might injure my hands. However, hand injuries are apparently the most common among cyclist and the most common among hand injuries is ulnar neuropathy also known at "handlebar palsy".

Handlebar palsy is caused by the compression of the ulnar nerve, often by leaning on the handlebars too much. There's a good explanation, complete with drawings here. I learned about this condition while trying to find out why I had numbness and tingling in my ring finger and pinky hours after my ride (in fact, it still hasn't gone away).

At this point, for me, it's just a minor annoyance that will probably go away very soon. However, it can become very painful, so I'm glad I learned about it now so that I can try to avoid recurrences in the future. I hope someone else will find this information useful, as well.

Take care of your hands!