aches and tingles in my fingers

[dimati]

I've been experiencing aches and tingles in my fingers recently (not at the same time). Could they be caused by a technique problem?

[Nosmo]

Could be but could be something else too (like using a keyboard).

Make sure your wrists and knuckles are straight. just letting the finger curved over handle thumb loose and hanging down.

Make sure your arms are very loose. Try rowing legs only for a while concentrating on a relaxed upper body. then add back, then arms. Make sure your forearms are roughly parallel to the ground at the end or the stroke and your shoulders come back (you should feel your shoulder blades come together).

If this continues for more then a couple of days, stop erging! You don't want this to develop into something serious. If you can swim instead that may really help.

If you can post a video of yourself rowing and someone may see something that will be useful

[Hal Morgan]

Relax your grip. Straighten your wrists. This injury is hard to trace to origin. Mine has to do with deeath gripping everything from pencil to plow planes to coffee mug handles.

[djh]

I've recently purchased a Concept2 and am working out almost daily, trying to ease into a routine without injuring myself. After some harder sessions recently, I've had brief episodes of pins and needles in my left index finger lasting perhaps 10 minutes. Just that one finger. This is definitely not caused by keyboarding: it's the rower.

This morning I had quite a strong episode in the same finger, plus another symptom that troubled me. The top two joint segments of that one finger were cold and waxy white and my fingernail bed was very white. I understand the numbness being caused by some nerve irritation, but the lack of circulation seems very odd to me. This lasted almost half an hour. I'm in very good health, with no circulatory problems. Have others experienced the same symptoms?

I also have a somewhat painful callus at the root of my left RING finger. I'm not conscious of having a "death grip" on the handle. But my Dad has arthritis in his hands so I have to be more careful, even at the tender age of 55.

Clearly, I have to take a few days off and ease back into a gentler routine. That much stands to reason. I was also considering weight-lifting gloves mentioned elsewhere, but the padding is in the palm of the hand. I think I need more bracing for my fingers.

I'd appreciate getting any thoughts from people more experienced in this than me. (Just about anyone!)

Doug

[Bob S.]

This morning I had quite a strong episode in the same finger, plus another symptom that troubled me. The top two joint segments of that one finger were cold and waxy white and my fingernail bed was very white. I understand the numbness being caused by some nerve irritation, but the lack of circulation seems very odd to me. This lasted almost half an hour. I'm in very good health, with no circulatory problems. Have others experienced the same symptoms?

Doug

Check out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raynaud's_phenomenon

Bob S.

[M. Podolsky]

I get calluses on both hands, but when I started my ring finger was the worst, so I got into the habit of removing my wedding ring before workouts, and that has helped. From time to time I get a bit of tingling in one hand, but only when I pull too hard with the arms. The tingling reminds me to push harder with the legs, and if I do that things improve in a day or two.

You might ask someone to watch you for a few minutes, because you could have some obvious posture or technique problem that you don't realize. I've got a lot of hardware in my left arm, so I favour the right side, and even though I'm left handed, it's the right hand that gets tingly. My wife asked me why I was leaning to one side long before I noticed any tingling.