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
www.TendonitisExpert.com