![]() If you take in a lot of fluid during your runs and you are not a heavy sweater, you may want to cut back a bit and see if the numbness decreases. In studies at Boston and London Marathons, a little over 10% of tested runners had lower than normal sodium levels although most were asymptomatic. This can occur when you take in as much or more fluid than you sweat or urinate out. This water leak causes swelling and the hands feel puffy. If the intravascular sodium level drops, water flows into the cell to equilibrate the solute level on each side of the cell wall. Hand swelling can be a sign of exercise associated hyponatremia. Most people have symptoms at night or when working with the hands and it would be unusual to just have symptoms when running, but “never say never.” Running with your wrist hyperflexed or hyperextend would make this worse. Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs with the median nerve is compressed as it courses through the carpal tunnel. I remember red, white, and blue as the skin changes color with the vasoconstriction and pain. Raynaud’s syndrome is an exaggerated response to cold that constricts the blood flow to the finger and can be very painful. There are medical conditions that may present with numbness and pain in the hands. ![]() You might try running with a small soft ball or cylinder in each hand and squeezing regularly to “pump” the fluid out of the hands. In running the blood flow is high in the legs and less in the upper extremities, which may also explain the numbness as less blood is available for the hands and fingers. During exercise, blood is preferentially shunted to more active muscles. Swinging the hands may accentuate the fluid leak by “holding” the fluid in the extravascular space. During long runs, the vessels may leak fluid into the surrounding tissue, causing swelling that may cause numbness by affecting the nerves. These vessels open up and close down to change the amount of blood flow through the hands, possibly to help with heat transfer. The hands and feet contain a large network or plexus of small blood vessels. Pain associated with the numbness adds to the possibilities. The usual cause is probably related to blood flow and hand tissue swelling affecting the nerves. There is not much in the literature to explain the problem. Of interest, I have not had problems with numbness while Nordic skiing, which involves arm work and repetitive hand contractions as the pole is re-gripped with each pole plant. I have seen this at the marathon finish line and I have personally experienced it during long skates, but not to the extent you are describing. Hand numbness occurs in some runners, routinely in some. Am I having wrist issues, or could my running form be causing it? - Yvette Not only is it painful and distracting while I run, but I can't even get my gel packages open. When I run long distances, 20 miles or more, my hands go numb.
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