Motorcycle Hand Numbness – Guide For Prevention & Help

No matter what type of bike you have, you can feel the machine working. Even if you’ve never ridden a motorcycle before, you can feel the rumble as they drive by! Whether you’re out on a short outing or a multi-day trip, riding can take its toll on your body. One thing that you face as a motorcyclist is irritation and even numbness in your hands and wrists.

There are a few different factors that can cause this. Cold weather and getting caught in rain, putting too much weight on your hands and wrists, and feeling the constant vibrations from the bike can make your muscles cramp up and feel sore. At least to some degree, you’ve probably experienced this. But don’t worry — there are some easy ways to make those aches go away or subside. That way, you can get back to enjoying the ride instead of worrying about your body.

If you experience carpal tunnel, wrist pain or hand numbness from riding your motorcycle, read our tips below.

Loosen Up Your Grip

Like we mentioned, putting too much weight and pressure on your hands and wrists can make these symptoms come up. Simply stopping that death grip on the handlebars and distributing the bike’s weight to other parts of your body will make your hands and wrists feel much better.

If you’re new to riding, you may be nervous and hold onto the handlebars a little too hard. This stresses out your muscles and can cut your ride short. When you loosen up your grip, you’re relieving that pressure and letting yourself feel more confident as a rider. And that goes for the rest of your body, too — be sure to stay alert, but don’t let your body get too tense.

You can use other parts of your body besides your hands and wrists to help keep your balance and support the weight of the motorcycle. Try to use your core and legs to take on more of your motorcycle’s weight and grip the gas tank with your knees and the foot pegs with your feet. Your hands and wrists will thank you for it.

Stretch Out

You can stretch during breaks when you get back from a ride and even while you’re on the road. Repeated motion and maneuvers with your hands and wrists will put stress on them, but giving yourself a stretch break can really help.

When you get back from a ride, stretch out your hands and wrists to work out any kinks. If you only have a few moments during a break on a long trip, squeeze a stress ball or a tennis ball to limber up before heading back out.

When you let yourself go too long without stretching, you can experience soreness and pain in your wrists and hands and potentially even develop carpal tunnel.

Buy Special Gear

To be extra careful, you can buy some special gear to help with the pain and numbness. Pick up some shock-absorbing gloves or a wrist brace to wear while you’re out riding. The gloves can absorb some of that harmful vibration to avoid numbness and the brace can help treat it if you’re already experiencing it.

Riding motorcycles can be tough on your body, but the feeling of cruising down the road is worth it. Stop by Susquehanna Valley H-D® today to pick up the gear you need and to talk to us about other riding tips to help prevent numbness, carpal tunnel and wrist pain while riding your motorcycle. Contact us to learn more!