Hi

I posted here about this time last year. Long story short last year I had what I thought was Cubital Tunnel.

I have it in a sense in my right arm, however what I believe happened a year ago was that I had slept on my right arm and compressed the ulnar nerve above the elbow, stretching up towards the armpit.

I had EMG tests and the signal speed in my right arm was just above boarder line. Anyway, since then I have slept with arm splints on religiously and until recently all seemed to settle down a bit.

However more recently I have been waking up with my fingers tingling or slightly numb and just at the weekend I think I hurt it bad again on my right arm as I am feeling the pain again like last year.

I am now working at resting it, ice treatment etc but I am also concerned that whilst I may have made some recovery over the last year, perhaps this latest episode has knocked it to far, so I am off to the docs to request another round of tests.

In cases of a compressed nerve, what is my prognosis if I rest again? Can a nerve eventually become 'decompressed'? Will stretching help?

I am looking to buy an electric bed and sleep in a slightly upright position so that I physically have to force myself to roll over onto my side, so I am trying to be proactive.

However what is involved in nerve decompression surgery? Is it relative successful? If I have surgery will the scar tissue not just build up and compress the nerve anyway?

As yet I do not have persistant numbness although I do have some bouts of pain and a throb down my arm and if I'm leaning on something a cold sensation starts in my pinkie.

Can anyone help please?

Hi Allan,

Sorry to hear your arm hurts again.

If your dr doesn't repeat your nerve test you can still get a pretty good idea what's going on from the physical exam portion of it. My doctor did the surgery with out abnormal nerve test because the physical exam was obvious to him what the problem was.

If you can rest again and get better that would sound like the best option. Sometimes you get to the point where no resting helps. If you can get back to 'normal' on your own that's always better than surgery.

That being said the surgery is usually helpful somewhat for most of us. If you have the surgery you can reduce you chances of compressing again by following your nerve glide exercises and avoiding those situations that trigger your symptoms (like sleeping with elbows bent).

Cindy

Hi Allan, welcome back. Sorry your symptoms have kicked up again. If you stop the activities that cause your CuTS (such as sleeping on bent elbows), it is possible to avoid CuTS surgery. In fact you are living proof that conservative treatment can work, unfortunately it was permanent in your case.

From medical studies and anecdotal evidence on the Web, CuTS surgery has about 70% success rate. Many people in these forums have been helped by surgery. I was cured for about 6 months, and then it appears scar tissue above the original incision has started to compress my nerve again, so I may need a second surgery, likely this time transposition.

Good luck. Please stop back and let us know what your doctor says.

Hi Timm/Cindy

Thanks for your response. Im interested to hear about your experience with scar tissue. My problem is in the upper arm, just above the elbow but the bottom half of the bicep/tricep. I dont feel it is in the elbow cubital tunnel itself. If I have to have surgery I believe it would be decompression surgery and I am concerned if it would be worth while if scar tissue would give me problems at a later stage. I would be interested to hear more about your experience.

So far though I am resting the arm, taking lots of hot baths and applying Tiger Balm, I found some good stretching videos on You Tube; I have a pdf document on ulnar nerve stretches you are welcome to ( email me at agc1233@hotmail.com); I take vitamin b, flaxseed and omega 3 oil and have even resorted to tying down my left hand so I cant roll over onto my right arm through the night. My doctor is also sending me to an upper arm orthopaedic consultant in a couple of weeks time. Hopefully he will send me for nereve testing and I can see how the results compare to last years results.

Hopefully with time and rest it will resolve itself in some way over the next few months.

Hi Allan,

I'm not currently having a problem with scar tissue. It sounds like Timm has issues with it.

Do you have any updates on your current situation?

Cindy

Hi Cindy

No real news to be honest. Just waiting on my appointment on the 24th. In the meantime I'm just trying to find a comfortable sleeping position so that I dont rest on my biceps and compress the nerve - trying all sorts of weird things.

Aside from that I have this strange every so slight numb sensation on my right ring finger on the fingerprint side - almost feels like its a bit spongy and I'm not sure if its the beginnings of a numb spot or my imagination.

All in all though, compared to some here I'm in good shape I suppose. It just gets frustrating when every morning you wake up with tingling/numb hands and you know its not helping any. I've actually gone out and spent £1600 on an electric bed so I can sleep in an elevated position on my back, therefore unless I force myself to do so, I cant turn on my side.

42 years on the planet and in the last year I've had nothing but problems relating to the way I sleep!

Best regards

Allan