Paddling with carpal tunnel syndrome

Anyone paddling with carpel tunnel syndrome? With two recent shoulder surgeries, I had testing that said I have it in both hands. I’ve been getting cramps in my hands while paddling, once it was pretty bad on an 8 mile day trip. I’m just wondering if there’s a significant risk in tripping due to this, or if there are some measures I can employ to mitigate pain, occurrences. I’d hate to be in a windy crossing with a flare up. Thanks.

Yes. I have been dealing with it for 25 years. My hands will ache, fall asleep, and lose feeling with any repetitive motion. I need to get the release surgery done, but I have been putting it off mostly because I’m stubborn and I have found effective work arounds. If I am able to change my hand position frequently it helps tremendously. Most of my paddles incorporate a handle that allows this and still be effective.

Good luck.

Bob

I've changed the way I grip the paddle to hold it as loose as possible. I also stop paddling frequently to dip my hands in the cold water to help reduce the swelling.
The most important thing for me is to wear my wrist brace each night while sleeping.
I did have carpel tunnel surgery on one hand a couple years ago, it helped a lot. I plan to do the other hand at some point in the future.
Good luck.

No carpal tunnel syndrome for me yet, but I have developed osteoarthritis in my L hand. My middle finger is noticeably swollen and often warm to the touch. I have to paddle with the finger extended because the joint closest to the finger tip is frozen and doesn’t bend. Just the latest body part to give out.

About 20 years ago I started to experience symptoms of scarpal tunnel syndrome. I somehow got used to it, played the guitar, paddled, and did various sports. In the summer of 2014, towards the end of a 3-week canoe trip, the symptoms suddenly got worse. I could hardly hold the cutlery when eating, had to use both hands to bring a glass to my mouth, I could no longer play the guitar, paddle, etc., and I often woke up at night because of severe pain. Conventional methods such as physiotherapy did not help. I had surgery on both hands, the right first, the left followed 3 months later. Since then I have been able to use my hands normally again.

jdeerfoot said:

.... I have to paddle with the finger extended....

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Do other paddlers think you are making an obscene gesture?

Use some Tylenol for paddling. Try some topicals like Blue Emu. For longer trips I bring some DMSO for a topical and some opiates for more severe pain. Hydrocodone or Percoset. Then you can always get home.

With carpal tunnel syndrome, it is difficult to say how to do what. Depending on which nerve or tendon is affected, the “deficits” are very different ... Sometimes individual fingers are numb, cold or painful. Sometimes several fingers are tingling, numb or cold and lack sensation.

Symtomatic treatment with immobilization, little strain or even drug treatment with painkillers is only short-lived.

In the long term, only treating the cause will help, and this requires surgery. Nowadays this can be done on an outpatient basis and as an endoscopic operation quite quickly and without complications.

regards
Michael

may you have a look at this:

Buy a pair (or two) of fingerless padded bicycle gloves and wear them while paddling.

There's no risk to tripping; you'd be able to paddle even if your hands get numb. You could buy a pair of wrist braces at Walgreens and carry them for insurance if you like.

Kahei knows more than me but one thing not mentioned is that it can be worth figuring out the repetitive motion that aggravates you. Padded gloves help me a lot but retirement helped more since pounding on keyboards was more damaging than paddling for me.

Ober27 said:

I've changed the way I grip the paddle to hold it as loose as possible. I also stop paddling frequently to dip my hands in the cold water to help reduce the swelling.
The most important thing for me is to wear my wrist brace each night while sleeping.
I did have carpel tunnel surgery on one hand a couple years ago, it helped a lot. I plan to do the other hand at some point in the future.
Good luck.

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How long were you out of the paddling game after surgery?

Aslowhand said:

About 20 years ago I started to experience symptoms of scarpal tunnel syndrome. I somehow got used to it, played the guitar, paddled, and did various sports. In the summer of 2014, towards the end of a 3-week canoe trip, the symptoms suddenly got worse. I could hardly hold the cutlery when eating, had to use both hands to bring a glass to my mouth, I could no longer play the guitar, paddle, etc., and I often woke up at night because of severe pain. Conventional methods such as physiotherapy did not help. I had surgery on both hands, the right first, the left followed 3 months later. Since then I have been able to use my hands normally again.

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Can I ask what your full recovery time was? Back to paddling long stretches?

gumpus said:

Buy a pair (or two) of fingerless padded bicycle gloves and wear them while paddling.

There's no risk to tripping; you'd be able to paddle even if your hands get numb. You could buy a pair of wrist braces at Walgreens and carry them for insurance if you like.

Kahei knows more than me but one thing not mentioned is that it can be worth figuring out the repetitive motion that aggravates you. Padded gloves help me a lot but retirement helped more since pounding on keyboards was more damaging than paddling for me.

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I also figure it was keyboards that did me the dirty. I do have those gloves. Never thought of using them to paddle. Since I can’t ride my bikes anymore, it can’t hurt to use them.

I’ve had flare ups paddling and driving. Hands cramp and go numb. I tied my left hand on the paddle with a bandana once, when there were no exposed beaches.

Using a double blade might be worse, less changes in hand placement.

The above exercises are great. Really feel the stretch. Hope they help.

Black_Fly said:

How long were you out of the paddling game after surgery?

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I had the surgery late fall or early winter, so I missed a year of cross country skiing, but was able to paddle and row by spring. I keep planning to have the other hand done, but other injuries and illnesses have take priority recently.

Black_Fly said:

Can I ask what your full recovery time was? Back to paddling long stretches?

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6 weeks after the second surgery that happened early March and by mid May I went back to paddling with no issues (besides feeling out of shape).

CANOETRIPPING has turned into OHWOEISME.com
If you can still get out and walk, walk to a nearby park. Find someone of your mental capacity, challenge them to chess or checkers to while away your dotage or dimise. That’s what I have done. Base camp somewhere, in your back yard is better than nothing.
Even the fur trade voyager (the long haul truckers of their day) had to step back and hang out at the fort doing odd jobs that didn’t require the strength of paddle & portage. Might just be the time to step down or back. Read books, watch canoe trip YouTube videos, vicariously canoe trip in places that you should have done in your youth, while you still could.
For health care see a doctor, preferable a specialist, a physical therapist with a PHD can do wonders. People on the internet are not the the answer to physical decline, get advice from a professional.

For those of us still chained to a desk, I found an ergonomic keyboard and especially a vertical mouse very helpful. I also got a rightie and a leftie mouse and switch periodically. Learning curve on the left mouse but got used to it. That helped a lot.

As for paddling, guide-style/north-woods style grips allow different positions, and a slightly longer shaft helps take advantage of the grip possibilities. I've also learned that a very light grip on both top and shaft, as you would with a palm-rolled in- water recovery, helps. Trying to rapidly spin a boat like those fancy freestylers tends to aggravate the wrists.

I had carpal tunnel issues for many years before corrective surgery on both hands, about 11 years ago.
Pre surgery I had no problem paddling, but symptoms while cycling were severe. Even sleeping wasn’t great, multiple mid sleep awakenings with numb fingers.
Recovery from surgery was quick, I was back to normal activities, pain and numbness free, within about a month and a half.
Get the surgery continue on

Thanks folks. The exercises are helping. I dug up my bicycle gloves and added them to my kit. I’m looking for a good hand surgeon but will only go that route if it won’t interfere with snowshoeing or padding. Does anyone feel a certain paddle blade shape is better? I looked at some ottertails at Canoecopia, seems they might relieve some strain in deep water, but not sure.

BB, Please feel free to skip over topics that prove helpful to others’ trying to stay in the game as long and safely as possible, or ones that just remind you of your own aging process.

I previously posted this in another thread, but it seems appropriate here as followup to boreal birch’s suggestion to pursue new, and hopefully exciting activities when wilderness canoeing disappears with advancing age. It worked for Kathleen and me.

In the summer of 2022, Kathleen and I completed our last northern Canada wilderness canoe trip (Whitefish & Lynx Lakes, NWT: 2022). To fill the void we finally accepted our daughter Monica’s annual invitation to share her passion for cruising. In May of 2023 we cruised for nine days from Barcelona to Rome, with Monica, her partner Sean, and Sean’s son & wife. We began the trip by flying to Barcelona three days before the cruise. We ended the trip by staying in Rome for three days after the cruise. The highlights for us were the three days in Barcelona and Rome, respectively, where we strolled the streets, revelling in the architecture, and marvelling at the history. We also very much enjoyed sitting at sidewalk cafes with a glass, or two, of chardonnay, absorbing the unending vibrant street life parading past. Our hotel room in Rome looked out in two directions above the street immediately below. We left our bedroom windows open at night so that we could hear people promenading and relaxing in the evening warmth.

During the cruise, we visited the Pope’s Palace in Avignon, explored the Villefranche port, toured Nice and Saint-Paul de Vence, rode the train to Florence, climbed the tower of Pisa, ate focaccia and pesto in Genoa, and dined on original pizza in Naples.




We never asked ourselves whether or not visiting Europe was as good as canoe tripping in Northern Canada. Both activities excelled in their own way. Just different, desirable experiences for different stages of our life.

PaddlingPitt said:

We never asked ourselves whether or not visiting Europe was as good as canoe tripping in Northern Canada. Both activities excelled in their own way. Just different,

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I can't help but notice you're both smiling. Something I don't recall seeing too often in your canoe tripping photos.

Alan