Why is my neuropathy worse while driving?

I do not have neuropathy of the feet - only my right hand and some with the left hand. I have also experienced increased pain, numbness, and feelings of swelling when I drive. I have attributed these increased symptoms to the vibrations of the vehicle thru the steering wheel. I find myself alternating hands on the steering wheel to help control how bad the pain gets.

As most days offer me variability in my PN feet & hand sensations, I do find that gripping the steering wheel too hard (or exercise equipment if I’m at PT) can aggravate the PN in my hands. I try to “shake it off”. I loosen my grip as much as I can do safely, rotate the positions of my hands on the wheel as practicable, and make sure I take any opportunities to stretch my fingers or flex my wrists. I try to do these whether I need to or not, and it generally seems to help me.

I take B12. Doesn’t repel them from me. I get eat eaten alive.

I’m always pretty good while driving. It’s when I get out if the car that the stiffness and pain are quite evident and it subsides a bit as I stand and begin taking steps forward. The longer I drive, the worse the pain and stiffness.

I have the same problem. The neuropathy has progressed to the point that I get sore and stiff after most activity.

I am the same way if I have been sitting down in a chair for awhile or driving a car. I get slowly and have to take a little care with the first few steps.

How long have you had the neuropathy and what caused it?

I’ve had it for about 17 years starting in my left leg from a bad incorrectly diagnosed case of shingles. It got progressively worse and is now in my right leg as well. I’m worried it will travel to my arms and then what do I do. But why worry. Who knows what comes from one minute to the next. Enjoy each day for what it is. 😊

@bonniethompson1234, I've had neuropathy more than 20+ years. I have idiopathic small fiber peripheral neuropathy as my diagnosis. Not sure if you have seen it by I posted my story in the Member Neuropathy Journey Stories: What's Yours? discussion here https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/310341/

No I hadn’t read your story previously. I only check in when my time allows. Always something doing with my grandkids. I thank God I can still do a bit.

@flashgordon51 and @dbeshears1, I appreciate that you have genuine concerns about driving with neuropathy in your hands. I also have pretty significant numbness, pain, and tingling in both of my hands from SFN (small fiber neuropathy), I began to notice that I was gripping the steering wheel pretty intensely. It finally came to me that I was concerned about losing control because of limited normal feelings. Here are two things that have helped.

1. Twice a week I have MFR sessions with two therapists. They split their work for my hands and feet. This means that one begins and the other finishes. For my hands, they lock fingers with my hand and perform a flexing of the fingers. That sure helps.
2. I use a topical Medical Cannabis balm on my hands to reduce the tingling and numbness.
3. My bonus is that over the last few years I have become more able to tolerate the neuropathy symptoms to some extent as the SFN progresses. I was surprised at how much we can learn to tolerate.
Have you tried any of these helpful possibilities?

May you both be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.
Chris