Home› Chat› General Chat

OW swim - numb hands

CCSCCS Posts: 53
in General Chat
Can any of you experienced folk give a newbie a few pointers?

I had my first experience of open water swimming on Saturday (did the womens' training day at Dorney lake). It wasn't quite as terrifying as I had expected. However, by the end, I had lost most of the feeling in my hands (for some reason the right one was worse than the left) - to the extent that I really struggled to get my bra strap done up when getting changed afterwards.

Any ideas?

Can I wear gloves?

Am I just a complete wuss who should stock to nice warm swimming pools...?

Grateful for any help!

Comments

  • JessterJesster Posts: 482
    The more advanced version of this is 'claw hand', which is when your fingers bend inward involuntarily and it is impossible to move them or grip anything whatsoever. This happens if you go in in the winter after forgetting your gloves. Foolish! (I have done this, but only the once!)



    Simple remedy to this is a pair of gloves, which slightly increase the surface area of your hand and slightly increase your paddle (yay!) and also keep your hands all toasty and warm (double yay!) and thus allowing bra strap catch operation and wetsuit unpeeling ability.



    The webbed kind are not allowed i dont think and anyway might make your shoulders ache due to increased resistance. Booo!

Sign In or Register to comment.