As noted previously, I signed up for the HCR 600K this past weekend for several reasons but the one relevant to this post is to experiment with using aerobars to give my hands some relief. My thinking going in was that if I had the "hands crushed in a vise" sensation post ride then my days of doing long brevets on a DF were over.
I took careful inventory of how my hands felt prior to the ride and they were actually pretty good. Maybe a 1 on a 1-10 pain scale.
During the ride, I really focused on not keeping my hands in the same place for any length of time. My mantra was "tops, drops, hoods, aerobars, tops, drops, ...". I didn't set an alarm or anything, just stayed in one position until it started to feel slightly uncomfortable (this on day 2) then moved on to the next.
I'm happy to report that it was mostly a success. My concern with using the aerobars is that I'd be substituting low back or neck pain for hand pain but this didn't prove to be the case. After the ride I'd say I had "normal" 600K soreness. A bit of tingling in ring/pinkie on both hand and some general soreness/aches but nothing like the post-PBP pain. Post ride I'd say 3-4 level of pain/ache which I'd consider mostly normal, especially for a 600K on Texas chip seal.
In related news, I had the first of several appointments about my hands yesterday. This was with a GP/Sports Medicine doc that does consulting for Trek. I went through the history and my diagnosis and he did some tests. For the most part, he thought it likely that my theory of nerve impingement in my neck was probably correct. I have some weakness in my right hand/wrist as compared to my left and constant readers will recall my right hand hurt somewhat worse than my left.
I've got an MRI scheduled in a little over a week on the C2/C3 area (which are the vertebrae I broke). If it doesn't reveal anything then we'll move on to a test that focuses on the flow of signals through the nerves (don't recall what it's called).
So, some progress. Too early to declare victory but at least some forward movement on a few fronts.
