# Can tight calf muscles cause foot numbness?



## Shut Up Legs (24 Aug 2017)

I was just wondering if tight calf muscles can cause any foot numbness, and would like to hear CC forum members' experiences of this, if you don't mind sharing them.

Regards & thanks,
--- Victor.


----------



## ColinJ (24 Aug 2017)

I think that I have had it the other way round!

My main pair of cycling shoes are falling apart so I went out yesterday wearing a pair of Shimano shoes that I hadn't used much before. Halfway through the ride I remembered why. The shoes are a very snug fit across the widest part of my feet when I first put them on, but my feet always swell slightly when riding so the shoes became too tight. The discomfort in my feet seemed to affect the way that I pedalled and my leg muscles felt more uncomfortable than they should have done after I completed my 50 km ride.

I will probably get away with wearing the shoes for short rides when wearing very thin socks (or no socks at all) but I need to glue my old shoes back together or buy some new, wider ones. I have noticed before that Shimano tend to be a fairly narrow fit and my feet are fairly wide.


----------



## Lee_M (24 Aug 2017)

A tight calf and foot numbness together can indicate a back problem.

As a consequence of major back problems followed by surgery, I have the same.

Not saying this is the cause of yours but you might want to get it checked out


----------



## MossCommuter (24 Aug 2017)

Sounds like it could be sciatica


----------



## Shut Up Legs (24 Aug 2017)

MossCommuter said:


> Sounds like it could be sciatica


There's no pain, only slight (not full) numbness of the outer half of my left foot. I noticed purely by accident this evening that when I massage my left calf, by rubbing my knuckles along the length of it, I can feel tingling in that part of the foot, so I thought perhaps my calf muscles were too tight.
Yes, I know, I'm self-diagnosing, and shouldn't do that.


----------



## MossCommuter (24 Aug 2017)

You're right, none of us know for sure what's up with you but my standard, background level of sciatica is numbness in the pads of my foot (whatever that bit's called). That ramps up to pain in my toes and foot every now and then and sometimes aches, cramps or pains in my legs.

It'd worth half an hour with a physio


----------



## vickster (24 Aug 2017)

See a Physio or podiatrist if a concerted period of calf stretching doesn't help


----------



## the snail (24 Aug 2017)

If you're riding clipless pedals, look at cleat positioning. I found I need to have the cleats adjusted so that the ball of my foot is slightly forward of the centre of the pedal spindle. If the cleats put my feet further back I get numbness and calf pain. Once you've set the cleats, get the saddle height/horizontal adjustment right. It took me years to realise that cleat position needs to be right before you adjust anything else, and it affects your whole riding postion.


----------



## Shut Up Legs (24 Aug 2017)

the snail said:


> If you're riding clipless pedals, look at cleat positioning. I found I need to have the cleats adjusted so that the ball of my foot is slightly forward of the centre of the pedal spindle. If the cleats put my feet further back I get numbness and calf pain. Once you've set the cleats, get the saddle height/horizontal adjustment right. It took me years to realise that cleat position needs to be right before you adjust anything else, and it affects your whole riding postion.


Thanks, but I've had the exact same setup on my commuter bike for over 5 years now, and this partial numbness only started 2 days ago.


----------



## CXRAndy (25 Aug 2017)

It could be many things, trapped nerve, circulation problem, some medical condition developing or just a temporary situation


----------



## sleuthey (26 Aug 2017)

I had numbness and tingling in the outer part of the foot (in addition to pain) when I had Piriformis Syndrome which is where the Piriformis muscle at the top of the thy tightens up and traps the Sciatic Nerve. I received advice and treatment from an Osteopath. I'm guessing that if the nerve were to become trapped by a muscle further downstream (such as in the calf) then similar symptoms could occur, but I'm no medic. What keeps me out of trouble is sitting on one of these. Should you decide to not seek medical assistance then you may wish to consider getting into a side plank position and rolling on one of these. Only problem with both products is that the best results are achieved by putting loads of weight on them to cause as much pain as possible!


----------



## Duc gas (26 Aug 2017)

I have a similar problem that's getting worse. Winter riding gives me frozen toes just in my left foot,remedied to a point with foot warmers.unfortunately now I'm getting problems in the summer after about 20 miles a numb left foot.my shoes aren't tight I've moved the cleat position as far back as it will go. I've moved my seat position up and down and also just tried 3 different seats all to no avail. I can also now feel tingling in my left calf and toes when doing nothing. I'm assuming it's sciatica and might give that foam roller a try. Any other suggestions appreciated.


----------



## vickster (26 Aug 2017)

Bike fit with a Physio if you have one close by


----------



## Globalti (31 Aug 2017)

I don't buy this nonsense about tight muscles. If it was possible half the population would be unable to walk around and get on with life. It sounds as trendy and folkloric as the belief that malaria came from bad air.


----------



## Levo-Lon (31 Aug 2017)

Tight calf would be more likely to cause planter pain..
Numbness in foot....id be looking at a diabetes and sciatica check first and maybe physio


----------



## bozmandb9 (18 Sep 2017)

Shut Up Legs said:


> I was just wondering if tight calf muscles can cause any foot numbness, and would like to hear CC forum members' experiences of this, if you don't mind sharing them.
> 
> Regards & thanks,
> --- Victor.



Yes. Rather not tight, but effectively a spasm/ trigger point. I have it now, though not causing numbness, but an inflamed metatarsal joint. The muscle is now pulling through tendons to the tip of my toe, causing compression in that joint. The solution is a combination of stretching, and self massage (myofascial release), thought it can take some time (couple of days of intermittent stretching). 

The cause in my case was doing power tests on a Watt bike.


----------



## Shut Up Legs (9 Oct 2017)

The feeling eventually completely returned in my left foot, but it took so long I only just now realised it had returned. I have no idea of the cause of the partial numbness, though.


----------



## SoCalMTBr (31 Jul 2019)

Shut Up Legs said:


> The feeling eventually completely returned in my left foot, but it took so long I only just now realised it had returned. I have no idea of the cause of the partial numbness, though.


Have you solved your partial foot numbness issue? I just started having the same issue 3 weeks ago after some extra hard riding hills (even though I've been riding 5-6 days a week, at least 2-3 hours each ride for the past 2 years with no hint of an issue before) I don't notice so much on my bike but I do notice most of the time off the bike, yet not 100% of the time.


----------



## Shut Up Legs (31 Jul 2019)

SoCalMTBr said:


> Have you solved your partial foot numbness issue? I just started having the same issue 3 weeks ago after some extra hard riding hills (even though I've been riding 5-6 days a week, at least 2-3 hours each ride for the past 2 years with no hint of an issue before) I don't notice so much on my bike but I do notice most of the time off the bike, yet not 100% of the time.


Sorry, no idea what caused it. It hasn't returned since then.


----------



## SoCalMTBr (31 Jul 2019)

Shut Up Legs said:


> Sorry, no idea what caused it. It hasn't returned since then.


Great news that it went away on its own, glad you are better and I expect mine will go away with time. I’m already finding that massaging the calf muscle and icing the front of my ankle is helpful...


----------

