Hey guys,
After about 40 minutes of paddling my right foot goes dead. I tried to move my seat a bit back and forward, but with no luck. Do you guys have the same problem and how can I fix this. I am right handed, and apparently your right leg is a bit longer than your left one, but I doubt if this is the cause of my problem.
On flat stretches I remove my thighs from the thigh braces, and this seems to help.

Any suggestions ???

I found moving my thigh braces forward solved the 'numb-feet' issue for me. It was effecting both my feet though, so maybe it's not quite the same problem. Could be worth a look though…

My thigh braces can’t go any more forward. I will move them back a bit. At this stage they brace about an inch above my knees. I suppose you must set them the way you feel most comfortable, so doesn’t really help to ask everyone where theirs are at.
I do have a feeling though that I might be sitting on a nerve in my ass, which makes my foot go numb.
I did put an extra layer of foam on my seat so that I sit a bit more on top of my kayak for more hip control.

Yeah, I haven't experienced it myself, but I've heard of people's legs going numb because the front of their seats are significantly higher than the back and so it's reducing blood flow to the legs…

On all my boats I always jack up the front of the seat. It makes for a tighter fit and prevents my knees from falling down (I'm pretty flexible). Too much foam however and your legs will go numb.

I have seen a lot of people, mainly guys in K1's have foam on their seats with 2 small holes in it. The holes are typically 2 inches in diameter, maybe a touch more, and corresponds with the two bones on your ass. This stops you from pinching that nerve/blood vessel (I'm not a doctor ) that runs under your backside. Try that.

How tight are you feet once in the boat? Is your Flirt a medium? Mate of mine gets numb feet all the time... but then again he is about 6' weighs 100kg and paddles the medium Flirt with no thigh braces. I'm sure the cause of his numbness is that he's just too big

Experiment

One thing I do when I outfit men in a sea kayak is to support the thigh. Most men who get numb feet stop getting it when we put some foam under their thigh just behind the knee. Jackson makes a neat product that would accomplish this and it also acts as an implosion cover.

I get numb feet if I am not warmed up. If I get a chance to warm up my legs (jog on the spot) and get a good stretch in then I don't get numb feet in my EZG. The days I don't get to do this I have to stop after ten minutes and stretch anyway because I couldn't tell if I have feet or not.

Good luck!

The problem might also be at your feet. If your heels are being smashed against the bottom of the boat, this could be cutting off circulation. I have this problem because I hate paddling with booties, but its nothing that some thin PADZ pads can't take care of. (they also help from getting bone spurs, which is a problem for me now too).

Could also be that your hip pads are too tight and that stops blood circulation down to your legs. If the right side paddling is a bit longer than the left side it will effect it a bit more.

A mate of mine padded his boat so tight that he couldn't even stand up for 5 mins after he got out of his boat one time! Needless to say he sorted it out before he went boating again.

Hope this helps,

kotzejoe wrote:

Hey guys,
After about 40 minutes of paddling my right foot goes dead. I tried to move my seat a bit back and forward, but with no luck. Do you guys have the same problem and how can I fix this. I am right handed, and apparently your right leg is a bit longer than your left one, but I doubt if this is the cause of my problem.
On flat stretches I remove my thighs from the thigh braces, and this seems to help.

Any suggestions ???

Hi Kotzejoe,
I studied Athletic Trainning in college (University Of New England, USA) and have numerous hours of clinical experience with thrapy, rehab, acute illness and injury, gross anatomy, and general medicine.

Your sypmtoms typically happen for one of three reasons. This is either a circulatory issue or a neurological one or both well it could also be Piriformis syndrome (don't worry sounds worse than it is I'll explain this one last.)

Well let me start by saying, you should talk to a doctor always when any part of your body goes numb. Why? Sound like overkill? It probably is, but you can cause long-term irreversible damage to nerves if they are pinched (impinged) or if circulation is compromised over time. These injuries to nerves happen over time and may result in long-term damage. Nerves don't heal, they die and some nerve cells are able to regrow. You may not feel the change as it may happen slowly over time, such as a person loosing hearing. The result may be decreased sensation. Anyhow... enough about disclaimer, but please take this seriously.

Impression (from least to most likely)

#1 Circulatory issue:
You arterial supply for the femur and therefore lower leg is the Femoral artery, which passes down the front of your leg near your crotch. This is unlikely the culprit because this artery is deep and cannot really be pinched off especially in a sitting position.

Managment: If it is a circulatory issue it is most likely happening at the ankle or foot itself. So... pad your foot area or feet to reduce pressure points and/or unnatural foot positioning.

# 2 Impingement (pinched nerve):
Symptoms that may constitute a medical emergency include progressive weakness in the leg or bladder/bowel incontinence. These symptoms may result from cauda equina syndrome and should seek immediate medical attention. In general, patients with complicating factors should contact their doctor if sciatica occurs, including people who have been diagnosed with cancer; take steroid medication; abuse drugs; have unexplained, significant weight low (possible cancer); or have HIV.

Now, that being said... the above is not likely but nerve involvement always warrant medical follow up.

Numbness means that the nerve is being compromised somehow, either blood supply or physical pressure on a nerve. I don't believe it is compromised due to poor circulation, as I mentioned above so it would likely be a pinch. This could come from anywhere along the nerve route starting from your Lumbar Vertebrae (lower back/spine) to the foot itself. With injured discs or spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal), low back pain may be present along with the leg pain, but usually the low back pain is less severe than the leg pain. Other symptoms include, pain in the rear or leg that is worse when sitting, burning or tingling down the leg, weakness, numbness or difficulty moving the leg or foot, a constant pain on one side of the rear, a shooting pain that makes it difficult to stand up. Not all of these symptoms have to be present at once for this to give you the impression of vertebral involvement.

Management: Please consult a physician first. Typically, the numbness is dependant on position of the spine not as much the leg or foot. In this is the case, tightening a back band could be making it better or worse. Generally, slouching makes the symptoms worse, so sit up straight and work on stretching your hamstrings for better posture.

# 3 Piriformis Syndrome/Sciatic nerve involvement:
Piriformis syndrome is when the Piriformis muscle (deep in your butt cheek/hip area) becomes tight or spasms and places pressure on the sciatic nerve that runs beneath it. With some people this nerve actually runs through the Piriformis muscle placing even greater pressure on the nerve. Pressure on the sciatic nerve can cause low back pain and/or pain that radiates to the rear and down the leg (similar to sciatica pain). Piriformis Syndrome does not cause true sciatica but it can cause nerve damage as well. Like sciatica, Piriformis syndrome can cause pain, numbness and tingling along the sciatic nerve, which runs down the back of the leg and into the foot.

Management: The key for Piriformis Syndrome is well it's all about leg/hip positioning. Try loosening the backband, try more padding in the seat, or less padding. Take pressure off your butt cheek any way you can and sit on the two bones under your butt not on the glutes (butt muscles). Also, having more or a bend in your knees may help. Finally taking your legs from a less cross-legged hip position to a more parallel and straight position is likely to help.

Consult a physician before following any of my suggestions.

Let me know how it goes,
Whitewaterules

Thanks for all the help. After this weekends paddling, I found that the problem is at my foot. I think I pinch a nerve in my heel, so I will pad it a bit and see if it helps. It seems that my left leg is a bit more flexible than my right. When I twist my feet, there is a bit more strain on my right heel. I seldom stretch my legs before a paddle, so from now on I will give a bit more attention to my legs and not only my upper body.

One last question, is there a difference in the numb feeling when you pinch an artery or a nerve?

Thanks again for all the help.
Joe

Hey guys,
I just recently bought my first WW boat at the NOC, its a used Dagger RX 6.9. I am 6'2" and about 170 lbs. I paddled my new boat on the nanty this past weekend and my feet went crazy numb to the point where I could barely move them. after reading this post I orderd a NSI delux outfitting kit for my kayak. I'm hoping the thigh supports will solve this problem is there anyone here with experience in the thigh supports? I'll be at nantyfest/GAF next weekend anyone else goin?
Thanks
Rhett