Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Been to the doctors this morning and he has diagnosed carpal tunnel syndrome in my left hand. GP gave me a cortisone injection which is supposed to treat the symptoms - and therefore ease the pain (in the long term - it's flipping agony right now!!) - but says I need to try and identify the cause. We talked about some stuff: work being computer based is a contributor for sure, but he also mentioned the bike. (He rides too, a Bonneville, so certainly not a safety nazi out to get us all back on four wheels).

I have suffered with this pain all summer. I am a fair weather rider,and it is my first summer with the SV, so the timing is right, but I have hardly done any miles this year with the crap summer we have had. Also I would have thought it was harder on the right hand than the left.

I am really pleased with my SV, I don't want to have to change bikes to something with a more upright riding position!

Have you tried adjusting the clutch lever? Maybe that would help. I noticed after even such a short spell of not riding that my left hand ached a little after a day or two back on the bike. No CTS here tho thankfully. Hope yours is sorted before too long and without having to get rid of the SV too

There are things you can do to take pressure off your wrist, you could get raised clip ons so you dont have to lean in so low or even go for a flatbar. The most important thing tho is that you make sure that your brake and clutch levers are in line with the direction of your forarm so that you dont have to move your wrist back or forward to use them. This alleviates a lot of pressure on the wrists, its a bit like if you use a keyboard sitting down and then stand up and use the same keyboard in the same place you put a lot more stress on your wrists cause you are bending them backwards.

[Luckypants]

Gemma, I used to get a RSI type pain from the clutch on the SV. Sometimes it lasted for days. I found that adjusting the clutch lever so that it was in line with my forearm so I could use it without bending my wrist helped enormously. (cured it in fact).

Get the bike on a paddock stand or get a mate to hold it upright for you, get on and adopt your normal riding position. Stretch out your hand as if to use the clutch, the lever should fall under your fingers without your wrist being bent at all. If it is not in line, slacken the retaining bolts and rotate the lever around the bar till it does.

HTH

When I first got the SV I did struggle with the clutch, the lever seemed too much of a reach for my ickle hands. But I just got used to it. Maybe I should've done something about it back then heh!

I'm not allowed to ride this weekend after the injection. Perfect motorcycling weather forecast too!

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by gemma1675

When I first got the SV I did struggle with the clutch, the lever seemed too much of a reach for my ickle hands. But I just got used to it. Maybe I should've done something about it back then heh!

I'm not allowed to ride this weekend after the injection. Perfect motorcycling weather forecast too!

hindsight a wonderful thing, but yes, you should!

If the reach is a little too much, then a GPz550 lever (IIRC) can be substituted and this has a span adjustor for ickle fingers.

Originally Posted by gemma1675

Been to the doctors this morning and he has diagnosed carpal tunnel syndrome in my left hand. GP gave me a cortisone injection which is supposed to treat the symptoms - and therefore ease the pain (in the long term - it's flipping agony right now!!) - but says I need to try and identify the cause. We talked about some stuff: work being computer based is a contributor for sure, but he also mentioned the bike. (He rides too, a Bonneville, so certainly not a safety nazi out to get us all back on four wheels).

I have suffered with this pain all summer. I am a fair weather rider,and it is my first summer with the SV, so the timing is right, but I have hardly done any miles this year with the crap summer we have had. Also I would have thought it was harder on the right hand than the left.

I am really pleased with my SV, I don't want to have to change bikes to something with a more upright riding position!

i used to suffer with the same i had an op to clear it and i have found the most amazing thing to totally get rid of it its called a power ball its a little difficult to work it at first but youll get used to it heres a link http://www.play.com/Gadgets/Gadgets/...archtype=genre
trust me it really does work in about a week if you use it everyday for about 5 mins each hand

Originally Posted by Luckypants

Gemma, I used to get a RSI type pain from the clutch on the SV. Sometimes it lasted for days. I found that adjusting the clutch lever so that it was in line with my forearm so I could use it without bending my wrist helped enormously. (cured it in fact).

Get the bike on a paddock stand or get a mate to hold it upright for you, get on and adopt your normal riding position. Stretch out your hand as if to use the clutch, the lever should fall under your fingers without your wrist being bent at all. If it is not in line, slacken the retaining bolts and rotate the lever around the bar till it does.

HTH

I had to do this with both brake and clutch levers. I rotated the levers so that they were about three quarters of an inch lower. Your arm and hand should be in a straight line, not bent backwards.