[Closed] Pins and needles in hands and feet

Only when you're riding?

How much do you ride and what's your day job? It'll be good to see how long your calf muscles are also. This can be done by standing facing a wall, and then squat down bending your knees until they touch the wall, without any of the underside of your feet lifting off the floor. Can you do this with your toes 2-3 inches from the wall? How far back can you move your toes from the wall before your heel begins to lift?

Yes, only when riding...I sit at a desk all day (but tend to get up and move around hourly), have recently increased my riding (trying for 100 miles a month so riding more often).

Will try the wall-knee thing shortly.

Getting some Body Geometry grips as I think the hand pins and needles is caused by too much weight on them...so the change in grip should hopefully resolve that issue.

Sorry, just re-read my first post - it isn't the calves that are hurting...it is the front and outer side of the lower leg that is hurting.

Ok, don't bother with the wall thingy...

That would be in the area of the tibialis anterior muscle. Do you ride clipped in? Your superficial peroneal nerve is also there. Hmmm, tricky to test over the internet!

Yes, ride with SPDs, have done for last 20 years...not done much biking over last few years (well not frequently and I'm well out of shape) - I snapped a bit of ankle bone in September and managed to damage ligaments. the 'shin' pain had started about 2 months before that - seems more trouble when standing riding over rough stuff - so put it down to legs just being out of shape. Since ankle break (all sorted now and leg muscles all back to working normally when I walk), it now seems to be sore when pedalling - I am out of shape so put it down to feeling burst, but when I get a bit of speed up and I'm pushing on a bit, the legs seem to stop hurting...so I'm unsure what it could be - certainly I spin the pedals and I don't know if I'm maybe just spinning too quickly - takes me about 30 minutes to feel warmed up on the bike.
SPD cleats were replaced about 2 years back and still feel 'good' - last pair of cleats before that lasted me 7 years - and the lower leg pain has only started since about July last year - but I had started trying to do more riding then - more frequent rides.
Could it just be that my body is still trying to catch up to what my mind thinks I'm capable of?

Could be worth a health care pro looking at that for you as could be something 'central' going on (neurological), eg central spinal cord compression in your neck

Any bladder dysfunction?

Sural, saphenous and fibular sciatic branches there too

Fibular and peroneal are two different words for the same thing. The saphenous is a branch of the femoral nerve and passes down the medial side of the leg, roughly following the path of the great saphenous vein. The sural nerve innervates the posterior aspect of the leg, hence the name 'sural', meaning calf. Good call asking about bladder distinction though, it could be a systemic neurological issue, and re: cervical compression again some kind neurodynamic issue would also be at the top of my list of things to clear. Slump test?

IIRC you are diabetic? I'd be speaking to the diabetic nurse or seeing my GP.

I don't think you would get much from a strict Slump Test, but combined with C-spine extension,yes (a bit mimicking riding position). Then C-spine compression (sitting probably). Thoracic outlet testing and then general range of movement with special focus on C/T junction. Then go onto neuro assessment, including Babinski

Should take all of 5 minutes

Blimey...I've no idea what is now being discussed - however, no issues with bladder or any other waste disposal functions - all very regular and problem free.

Yup, diabetic and seeing the doc is a couple of months so will mention it then.

How soon into riding do symptoms come on?

Yup, diabetic and seeing the doc is a couple of months so will mention it then.

It could be related to your diabetes. No harm in seeing your GP sooner than your scheduled appointment.

There's an arguement for throttling back a little on the riding if it's causing you pain but I certainly wouldn't cut it out completely! Maybe think more along the lines of regular and frequent but less intense rides rather than going out on epics once a week as your body regains its previous form. I say this because, as you point out, you haven't ridden as much as you used to for a while and it is very important not to go straight back into the level of riding that you used to before- this way injuries lie!! However cycling is ridiculously good for you, for so many different reasons, it would be absurd to discourage you from doing it completely. Also I hear what you say about the cleats, if you've used them for 20 years then keep on truckin', I thought you may have been a recent adopter that's all 🙂

Do you have a problem gripping things, balance while walking, not quite seeing things etc, if so may be well worthwhile seeing a gp, it could be MS, my old boss started off with similar symptoms and then the above set in.

^^ that should cheer the OP up 😛

Haha...thanks for the tip. I'll mention it to my physio next week when I see her as well.
Starts almost as soon as I start pedalling. I think similar when I run but I don't run often (never!) so I don't really have a reference for that.
The riding isn't intense, I'm feeling properly unfit and generally feel crap on the bike...however I'm slightly faster than I was a month or so back so there is benefit being gained.
I suspect my stretching regime isn't good enough so it could also be related to really shit condition muscles due to improper stretching exercises without proper frequency.
Obviously no magic button to fix it and I can't work out what I'm doing to cause it...

Also, no probs gripping stuff, balancing or seeing things.

Think it is bike position - spent today on the hardtail and didn't suffer pins and needles or the feet issues...so I'm going to double check saddle heights and bar heights.