Ulnar nerve neuropathy?

[Rumpus]

I noticed that some posters have asked health questions, so I thought I would give it a try. I have experienced mild numbness and tingling in my 5th, 4th and part of my 3rd finger over several months. It comes and goes. Last week I woke up with severe numbness in those fingers including the other 1/3 rd of my palm. I also had severe weakness in those fingers and cannot spread my fingers. This was completely out of the ordinary and I was able to get an appointment with a hand surgeon the same day. He is scheduling me for EMG's (nerve conduction studies) but its clearly the ulnar nerve. He just needs to isolate the beginning/extent of the problem. I was so upset about my hand and wanting to get things done that I neglected to ask him what to do about it while we are waiting. I have wrapped a towel around my elbow at night so I don't flex my elbow and stretch the nerve. My big fear is corrective surgery. Anyone ever have this problem and have successful, conservative treatment?

 

[katie26]

I was diagnosed with an ulnar nerve entrapment after an EMG last year. (The test feels super weird, by the way - not painful, but kind of tingly and funny.) Surgery was never even discussed for me - the neurologist said to wear an elbow brace while I was sleeping and to be more conscious about leaning on my elbows. Turns out that I spent a lot of time at my desk leaning on my left elbow to read things on the computer, and once I stopped leaning, the problem stopped.

Listen to your doctor, of course, but you might want to spend some time wearing an elbow brace and see if that helps - it's definitely a lot cheaper and less invasive than surgery! Good luck!

 

[Rumpus]

I was diagnosed with an ulnar nerve entrapment after an EMG last year. (The test feels super weird, by the way - not painful, but kind of tingly and funny.) Surgery was never even discussed for me - the neurologist said to wear an elbow brace while I was sleeping and to be more conscious about leaning on my elbows. Turns out that I spent a lot of time at my desk leaning on my left elbow to read things on the computer, and once I stopped leaning, the problem stopped.

Listen to your doctor, of course, but you might want to spend some time wearing an elbow brace and see if that helps - it's definitely a lot cheaper and less invasive than surgery! Good luck!

I will absolutely do everything I can to avoid surgery. (which wasn't mentioned btw, just jumping to worse conclusions). I am glad to hear that the test isn't painful. I guess I wasn't far off creating my own elbow brace. How long did it take your problem to resolve? Did you have weakness?

 

[katie26]

I wasn't having constant pain/numbness, just every few days... I think the issue resolved itself pretty quickly once I started watching how I held my arm. It comes back every now and then if I get careless about my elbows or if I lie down on my left arm for too long, but it's basically all taken care of.

I never had any real weakness in the fingers, at least none that I noticed. The numbness episodes were usually short - three to five minutes? - so I'd just ride them out instead of like, trying to use the hand for anything.