Cubital Tunnel Syndrome For The Past 6 Weeks

by Mark
(New Hampshire)



For the past six weeks I've had numbness in my left pinky finger and ring finger - probably from cubital tunnel syndrome.

Think it's from leaning on my elbow too much while working on the computer, also could be inflamed from a very hard landing on my elbow when parachuting 25 years ago.

Anyways the numbness in finger is pretty constant and now wrist area is feeling tender. Went to an Active Release Technique Chiropractor - which gave it temporary relief until I used computer again or found myself sleeping on arms.

He agreed it was Cubital tunnel syndrome, seeming to be a pinched nerve near the funny bone and also thought it was going from my neck, under my arm all the way down to my fingers.

Also was doing Bikram Yoga extensively (everyday) prior to the numbness starting. Cut back for a month wasn't sure if that would aggravate it.

Just went last week once and it seemed to help - went today and half way through it started bothering more in the elbow area.

Never had any of these challenges previously - 46 years old and pretty active. Getting both your elbow and carpal tunnel DVD's any other suggestions?

Thanks
Mark

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Joshua Answers:

Hey Mark. I saw your order. The DVDs are on their way.

So let's see.

The old fall could have something to do with it, in the sense that it set up the beginnings of tight muscles and an overprotective nervous system.

25 years ago though....it's a clue but at this point I'm not going to put a lot of attention on it, unless you did something like break or fracture the bone.

Leaning on the elbow a lot can be a cause of Cubital Tunnel Syndrome.

The tissue around the nerve can get irritated and swollen, which would tighten up muscle and connective tissue around it and get the nervous system worried.

Also, the nerve itself can get irritated.

This could very well be a the primary (and only) cause of the prolonged numbness.

The Bikram yoga may or may not be a 'problem'. I did
Bikram's for a couple months (And was dehydrated the whole time...that was rough! Loved it other than that) and as I recall there's a opportunity for straining your elbows, hyper extending your elbows, and making the muscles involved unhappy.

The connection to the neck makes a lot of sense too. Your numbness could be just from the body being unhappy about all the leaning on the elbow.

Or it could be partially from that and partially from the nerve getting stepped on at the neck.

And it could be entirely from the neck, like you strained a neck muscle in yoga, it clamped down to 'protect' you, and it hasn't let go.

This would account for increased numbness when sitting at computer and various sleeping positions.

I'm just throwing out the first things to hit my brain.

You'll see that there's a fair bit of overlap between the DVDs, as Tennis Elbow and Carpal Tunnel share some of the same dynamics. You may find the overlap repetitive, and, they both have activities that you and I will talk about/base our fine tuning on.

Some questions:

1. Do you have any neck pain?

2. Roll your head around. How's your range of motion? Any pain?

3. You said the elbow bothered you at yoga. Say more about this. Pain? Numbness? What does 'bothered' mean?

4. Lean your elbow on the desk as you have been doing. Is there instant numbness or pain/problem?
Or can you lean for a while and numbness/increased numbness show up later?

5. Any other factors or clues?



Joshua Tucker, B.A., C.M.T.
The Tendonitis Expert
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Comments for Cubital Tunnel Syndrome For The Past 6 Weeks

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Sep 08, 2012
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Cubital tunnel syndrome due to trauma in triceps area.
by: Andreas

Hi!

Thank you for a good source of information. I have a few questions that I hope you find the time to answer. Thank you in advance.

Since this is the injury you've listed that's closest to problems with the
cubital nerve/tunnel, I thought I'd ask here.

I'm wondering if you have any knowledge of that type of injury and if there's a DVD containing the information. Three years ago I was soccer kicked by a heavy dude in my upper arm, close to the elbow. I got an inflammation and the diagnosis tennis elbow.

Problem is, the pain is moving and I also experience numbness in the two last fingers as well as the back of my hand and forearm. It comes and goes and acupuncture helps for a while.

The doctors don't care and my arm is slowly dying (lost strength and muscle tonus in comparision to my other arm). I'm affraid it has something to do with a nerve or tendon.

My massage therapist tells me that the muscles in my forearm are tight and the tightness is recurring, even though he eases it up.

Thank you in advance.

Andreas from Sweden


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Joshua Comments:

Hi Andreas.

1. How long has the numbness etc been there (in relation to getting kicked 3 years ago).

2. What have you done for it, to try to make it better, anywhere along the line?

3. What wast the progression of symptoms etc, from the moment of getting kicked till now?

4. How long does the benefit from massage last? Does massage reduce the numbness etc?
Sep 08, 2012
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Andreas from Sweden
by: Andreas from Sweden

Hi Joshua!

Thank you for your reply.

I didn't really notice the numbness until a few months after. At first there was some pain and numbness that subsided after som rest, anti-inflammatory pills and streching. It worsened after I worked out (deadlifts may be the culprit) and has since then been coming and going in periods but it's been there pretty much the whole time. I've been almost symptom free for a few days, except for the numbness.

I've tried: deep tissue massage, stretching, laser, acupuncture, shock wave therapy, ecentric excersises, theraband therapy and weight lifting. And a darned cortizone injection in my elbow (4 months after the injury).

At first there was pain in my upper arm, along with "heat" (due to inflammation). Three months later came pain in my elbow along with tendonitis symptoms. Two more months and I started to experience golfers elbow symptoms along with the tendonitis. Six months after that I started to experience tingling sensations in my two last fingers and started waking up in the morning with my arm being numb, which lasted for six more months until i got massage therapy (it helped a bit). Tingling and numbness was "ok" when I started working out, as long as I used straps or tape to fixate my wrist. Lifting weights seems to help some. I could also box as long as I used wraps but I can't use full power. I did that for a year and the pain subsided more or less (still had synptoms).

Then it came back, along with the numbness and tingling and I went to see an acupuncuter who claimed it was periferal neuropathy, since he found that I was much weeker in the arm in comparision to the other arm. One session of acupuncture made the arm stronger right after. I had about five or six sessions and the last time i went, i was painfree, no tingling and some feeling for about one week. That's the longest I've been "ok".

I'm comvinced that there's something wrong in my upper arm above and also close to the cubital tunnel. Tension of the muscles in my forearm seems to be a symptom, rather than the cause. Though, putting pressure on my hand/wrist (push-ups and such) and holding a telephone, aggravates the tingling and numbness.

Sorry for such a long response and for the grammatical errors. I thought it be best to be thorough at once. Again, thank you for your time.

/Andreas


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Joshua Comments:

There's no such thing as too much information/details, so no worries.

1. Why do you think your upper arm is involved?

2. Read this page, let me know what you think: Pain Causing Dynamic
Jan 29, 2013
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		pains without inflammation all over the hand
by: Peter Renkel

Hello,
Recently, I've got an upper back pain. I did some exercises to fight with it including swimming, hand rotations. Also I performed some massages to my wife applying extra force with my wrists. I didn't exercise for months. Immediately after the massage, I felt strong pain in my ring finger. It went away, but since then I feel pain in my palm and some pain in fingers. It gets worse after any use of my palms. I am feeling pain mainly in the base of my thumbs, right/left lower parts of my left/right palms, middle of my hands - look like these are tendons corresponding to my middle and ring fingers. So lots of pain and almost no inflammation (except some minor inflammation on right/left lower parts of my left/right palms). Also, mobility is fine now.

My neurologist said that I have a carpal tunnel since at that time I complained about tingling/numbness in my little/ring, but I feel now pain in all parts of my palms.
I've also got an achilles tendonitis in my both ankles from exercising.

The time when I stopped almost all palm-related activities is around 3 weeks.


It looks like a wrist tendonitis, but not sure. I tried penetrex and icing (just several times). I want to do something so this won't get chronic.


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Joshua Comments:

Hi Peter.

You didn't leave your email or check the notification box, so I hope you find this.

You absolutely do have a Process of Inflammation all over the hand. You just don't have swelling that you notice.

If you have pain as you describe, you have inflammation. Also, technically if it's numbness/tingling in the pinkie finger, that's Cubital Tunnel issue.

Regardless of what we want to call it, it's all the tendonitis dynamic: too tight muscles and connective tissue, inflammation, and nutritional insufficiency, all working together to cause pain and problem.

Icing a few times isn't going to fix it (or, as you've noticed, even helped it more than for a few minutes). Now will anti-inflammatories of painkillers, other than to help get you through the day.

You've got to effectively deal with each of the three factors that cause your pain. Your personal scenario looks like what it looks like, is a little different than other people's, as far as where pain is felt, etc, but it's all about the DYNAMIC. You gotta deal with the basics.

And if you are having Achilles issues too, that's a big clue that there's A. a lot of inflammation in your body and B. nutritional insufficiency such that your whole body is being affected (or at least, you're experiencing tendonitis symptoms in multiple areas of the body).
Jan 29, 2013
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Two Related Threads
by: The Tendonitis Expert




Related, see: Carpal Tunnel Both Wrists Cubital Tunnel One

Related, see: Cubital Tunnel and Tendonitis From Driving And Surgery To Move The Nerve (Let's try to avoid surgery, shall we?)

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