Finger numbness and wrist position

[putridp]

I've been ramping up the km in the last couple of months - nothing huge - but routinely doing 10-20km several times a week, from doing nothing on the rower for years.

I've been getting some numbness in the fingers of my dominant hand. I don't have a death-grip and wiggling my fingers on the recovery is no help.

But unless it's just been a matter of needing to get stronger and taking time to adapt I think I've found the answer. Usually at the finish my wrist will end in lateral flexion so that all my fingers are engaged evenly on the handle, but in an effort to find the cause of the numbness I've recently been holding my wrist straight at the finish, which means the handle is at an angle under my fingers. This seems to prevent any numbness issue.

I currently use a wooden handle, but I've ordered a plastic handle to see if the wider slightly and angled grip will help too.

Any comments? Perhaps this is a common and well-known issue but I've not come across discussion about lateral flexion of the wrist at the finish before.

[Dangerscouse]

I can't say I remember ever having that issue, but the old wooden handle might be the problem.

Whatever the issue is, you'd be best advised to make sure it's resolved as numbness isn't ever a good thing

[GreenStratMan]

I've been ramping up the km in the last couple of months - nothing huge - but routinely doing 10-20km several times a week, from doing nothing on the rower for years.

I've been getting some numbness in the fingers of my dominant hand. I don't have a death-grip and wiggling my fingers on the recovery is no help.

But unless it's just been a matter of needing to get stronger and taking time to adapt I think I've found the answer. Usually at the finish my wrist will end in lateral flexion so that all my fingers are engaged evenly on the handle, but in an effort to find the cause of the numbness I've recently been holding my wrist straight at the finish, which means the handle is at an angle under my fingers. This seems to prevent any numbness issue.

I currently use a wooden handle, but I've ordered a plastic handle to see if the wider slightly and angled grip will help too.

Any comments? Perhaps this is a common and well-known issue but I've not come across discussion about lateral flexion of the wrist at the finish before.

Hi, how is your neck? Do you feel any restrictions on lateral flexion or rotation of the neck and/or respectively? Are your shoulders rounded? You could have brachial plexus impingement. It’s very common.

[GreenStratMan]

I bought the new handle last week. I like it, I am quite broad. It's more comfortable for me. Although I had done a million metres on the wooden one with no issues.

[Tsnor]

..Usually at the finish my wrist will end in lateral flexion so that all my fingers are engaged evenly on the handle, but in an effort to find the cause of the numbness I've recently been holding my wrist straight at the finish, which means the handle is at an angle under my fingers. ..

You want your wrist flat, especially when you put any force on it. Flat like you were hanging from a bar. You wouldn't hang from a bar with your wrist bent. At the finish you get this nice flat position with elbows out slightly from your side (not straight out like chicken wings, nor down by your side, just loosely out.

Google tells me "Wrist flexion is the action of bending your hand down at the wrist, so that your palm faces in toward your arm."

Wrist flexion at the finish is bad, glad you found and fixed it.

Here is a video that talks exactly about wrist position. One of the better rowing tall videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZpyRghgly8

Good Luck.

[matthew92]

Great video suggestion! I love Austin's content, especially his recent shorts like this great one on push-ups.
https://youtube.com/shorts/-TtM9f-neEI?feature=share

[putridp]

Thank you for the suggestions. I agree that wrists must be flat (no up or down bending), but my topic is about lateral flexion, especially at the finish. It's impossible to hold a horizontal bar tight at your upper belly/lower chest with both hands without considering how your wrist are poised horizontally. I think it's important to make your fingers work to adjust for the horizontal angle change and keep your wrist straight laterally.

I still notice some radial nerve numbness on occasion, but never whilst rowing. I think a big part of the problem which made me post the topic originally was solved by rowing more and giving my body time to adapt to the increased movement pattern I'm demanding.

[jackarabit]

Is the wrist angle at finish as circled above the one to be avoided? I realize it’s palm view rather than knuckles up and fingers extended but I think the adducted wrist angle (ulnar deviation ) is what you’re trying to avoid by re-orienting or lifting the outboard fingers at finish. Oddly, the chevron plan view of the newer handles mimics the angulation of oar handles at catch rather than finish. The new handle most likely does increase your comfort at finish owing to increased width. The aft and down angulation accentuates your awareness of hanging on by your index and middle fingers at finish to avoid wrist adduction.

[putridp]

Is the wrist angle at finish as circled above the one to be avoided? I realize it’s palm view rather than knuckles up and fingers extended but I think the adducted wrist angle (ulnar deviation ) is what you’re trying to avoid by re-orienting or lifting the outboard fingers at finish. Oddly, the chevron plan view of the newer handles mimics the angulation of oar handles at catch rather than finish. The new handle most likely does increase your comfort at finish owing to increased width. The aft and down angulation accentuates your awareness of hanging on by your index and middle fingers at finish to avoid wrist adduction.

Yes, correct - my query was about whether or not wrist adduction at the finish could be an issue for injury. I used incorrect terminology to describe the posture, sorry for the confusion.

[jackarabit]

In my case the neurological consequence of repeated wrist flexion in plan and and side views at finish was ulnar and medial nerve atrophy and eventually surgical correction. Your attempt to avoid extreme wrist flexion at finish is absolutely warranted.

[Dangerscouse]

Yes, correct - my query was about whether or not wrist adduction at the finish could be an issue for injury. I used incorrect terminology to describe the posture, sorry for the confusion.

I guess that it could be an issue, but it's never been for me, but I don't finish my stroke like I see some others doing which would be very likely to cause a repetitive stress injury.

[Slidewinder]

The handle on a rowing ergometer is a human/machine interface. At any such interface the machine should adapt to the user, not the user to the machine, as is the case with the standard, single-piece, rigid handle. At the finish, the hands, wrists, and forearms should be aligned and in alignment with the direction of applied force. The rigid, non-articulated C2 handle does not enable this and for that reason is the cause of your injury and that of many others. The C2 handle is a bio-mechanical abomination.

[Citroen]

The C2 handle is a bio-mechanical abomination.

As are lots of things in life. The rowing oar isn't exactly comfortable, and there's nothing that can be (practically) done about it. You have to learn to adapt to your environment rather than adapting your environment to you.

[Slidewinder]

You have to learn to adapt to your environment rather than adapting your environment to you.

The "environment" here is the C2 rowing handle, and its design deficiencies can be easily corrected. A simple mechanical linkage would enable the handgrips to follow the natural angular progression of the user's hands and thereby maintain a bio-mechanically correct alignment of the hands, wrists, and forearms throughout the stroke. Let us not pretend that this is a difficult problem to solve. It isn't.

[jackarabit]

Feeling your oats are you, Bob, now you got the fizzicists all atwitter about the chain return bungee? Nothing for you in this thread I think, but hey, knock yourself out. Please do take a shot at promoting your althandle herein. Should arrive at threadlock in jigtime and then who will you have to irritate? How sad it must be to be you.