Hello Group, Tom Sanders' recent letter about old cycling injuries has given me permission to ask if anyone in our circle has heard of permanent numbness in the hands and feet that might be attributed to cycling. I don't have a friend with this problem. I confess that the injury is mine. It is called "Stocking and Glove Neuropathy." The main symptoms are numbness, a burning sensation, tingling, occasional little "electric shocks." (Sam Fitzsimmons, who has neuropathy in one foot and leg due to chemotherapy, described the sensation as similar to that one experiences when he has been out skating on a cold winter day, and your feet begin to warm up once you are back inside the house). The neuropathy gets its name because it usually creeps into the body about as far as you pull up socks and gloves. No physician to date is able to tell me why I have this affliction. I would actually be quite pleased if I could connect it to the sport I love. If anyone has ever heard any evidence, anecdotal or "official," that suggests intense cycling can bring on this disease, I would be very grateful to hear about it. Thanks.
Daniel Dahlquist
Galena, Illinois