While runners tend to focus on what's happening in their legs, the upper body isn't immune to unusual and often unwanted sensations triggered by exercise. Numbness in your fingers can occur as a result of systemic illnesses with a neurological or vascular component, problems with your hands themselves or environmental factors. Determining just what's causing your fingers to go numb helps guide you toward a solution.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome results from compression of the median nerve as it passes through the wrist, resulting in numbness and -- at times -- pain and weakness in the thumb and first three fingers. Virtually any activity involving repetitive flexion of the wrist can trigger symptoms, and if your fingers become tingly or numb during your workout, you may be bending your wrists too far and clenching your hands during your arm swing. Make a conscious effort to relax your arms, starting at the shoulders, and shake out your arms from time to time to stay loose.
Raynaud's Disease
If you run in cold weather and experience numbness in some of your fingers that seems out of proportion to the temperature, you may have Raynaud's disease. Stress can also bring on symptoms, which result from constriction of the small arteries supplying the digits. The redistribution of blood flow to the leg muscles during running, combined with cold air, make attacks more likely during your workouts than at other times. Although the numbness in your fingers is more an annoyance than a threat to your health, if symptoms worsen or become more frequent over time, see your physician.
Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
In contrast to the median nerve neuropathy of carpal tunnel syndrome, which spares the outer one and a half fingers, thoracic outlet syndrome affects the ulnar nerve and thus one side of your ring finger and your pinkie. Although you feel the problem in your fingers and sometimes your lower arm, it originates in your brachial plexus, a network of nerve trunks and roots near your shoulder. Improper arm carriage, such as hunching or tightening your shoulders as you run, can bring on or worsen this condition, which, like carpal tunnel syndrome is a repetitive stress issue.
Other Neuropathies
Interruption of the blood supply to the fingers can arise from mechanical factors, certain medications, arteriosclerosis, infection, or fluid-level disturbances. Chronic diseases such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis can cause finger numbness during activity as well. If you started running as part of a rehabilitation program after a myocardial infarction or diagnosis of coronary artery disease, check with your doctor to see if any medications you are taking or lingering cardiovascular or health issues may be contributing to your finger numbness.
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