Hi there, I'm a newbie from the UK.

I've just found this forum and have been reading through some of the posts.

Can trauma to the elbow cause cubital tunnel? I tripped over at work 4 weeks ago with the result of a minor facture to my ulna bone (one of the elbow bones). I told the a&e (ER) doctor at the time that my little finger felt weird and that the movement in that finger and the next finger was v weird (v jerky). Didn't hurt but just didn't feel right. My wrist was also v painful

They x-rayed my wrist and said it was fine and that the pain was being caused because the ulna bone runs down from the elbow into the hand. So it was the facture just under my elbow that causing my wrist to hurt. On a scale of 3 being the worst type of facture, mine barely registered a 1. Meaning it was just chipped and I was told it should heal on its own without splints within 3 weeks.

Over the last 4 weeks of it healing - I can def feel the facture getting better and now have more movement in my arm. The facture now barely hurts.

However, my elbow joint (particularly on the side closest to my chest) aches and aches and aches. This was x-rayed at the start of this and there is no facture there. My little finger is almost continiously with pins and needles and so is the side of my hand. At night the pins & needles are so bad that they wake me up. Typing is v painful (I too am a software developer - ironically I didn't have any symptoms of this at all until I tripped over.)

I am going back to the hospital tomorrow to see the fracture doctor - originally to get a referal for physio but now I want to talk to him to see if it's cubital tunnel.

What do you think?

hi kate! wow that is really awful what happened. sounds painful!!

and yes, trauma can cause it. that was the first thing my primary doc AND my surgeon asked me was if i had injured my elbow. though mine was NOT caused that way. it's the way i sleep.

sounds like you need to have a nerve conduction study and EMG to give your doctors and yourself more insight into this, because if it goes on too long your hand will become weaker and weaker.

i hope this helps a little anyway. good luck and keep us posted on how everything goes!

have a tooty frooty night!

Hi Kate,

I agree with Kerley, that sounds awfully painful. However the symptoms that you describe really sound to me (remember, non of us are doctors here as far as I know) that there MIGHT be a problem with your Ulnar nerve. My neurologist also said that it is very well possible that you don’t see a thing on an xray since a nerve is soft tissue. Any damage to it may cause pains. Maybe you are a curly sleeper (as in keeping your arms curled up while sleeping) and that is what is causing most of the pain at night? There is a difference of night and day painwise for me. If I don’t prevent my elbow from bending at night I wake up after an hour or two and I can start my day with 2 aspirins I wrap a towel around my elbow to prevent that, but I’m not sure that is a good idea with a fracture to the elbow. And you say that your fingers feel weird right? The pins and needles feeling that you describe is (I guess) the same feeling I have in my hand. That smells like an Ulnar nerve problem. If I were you I’dd go back to the doctor if your pain doesn’t go away.
Anyway the best of luck for you and don’t be a stranger here, we are all interested in your progress (at least I am). Good luck and greetings,

DJ

Thanks for your comments.

Today I went back to the facture clinic. I have done some damage to the ulna nerve although not sure what.

Dr said it can take up to 3 months for the nerve to heal itself after trauma. I've got to go back in 4 weeks time when they will do some tests to see how bad it is. She did a bit of tapping along my arm which sent amazing shock waves all down my arm and deadened my fingers even more!

She didn't give any advice as to what to do about helping it. She did say that physio was pointless.

Because of the facture, I have been careful at night not to sleep on my bad arm - I've had it stretched out alongside me for the last few weeks. Now the facture is better, I think I might try a splint at night.

Any advice how to manage the discomfort and pain would be gratefully appreciated!

Hello Kate,

Tapping your funnybone isn't funny anymore right? . Anyway what I do is wrap a tower around my arm at night (to prevent bending too much, I'm a 'curly sleeper' so i apperently bend my arm more then 90 degrees.) I fasten the towel with a couple of safetypins. I don't know if that is the best way but a splint keeps waking me up at night. I really notice the difference in pain when I dont restrict my elbowmovement.

About the physio... The problem is not in your muscles, but in your nerve (probably). That is why it has no use. If you have the 'dead' feeling in your fingers and no other symptoms it makes sence that physio is relative useless. I do have physio but that is because of muscle waste, caused by the nerve problem. I would be very careful if I was you. You can read the other posts on this forum about other symptoms. I am not a doctor but if your condition gets worse, I would insist for an appointment early. That's about the only useful thing I can say about this. I think the basic thing is to get rest and be carefull with bumping your elbow and all.

Goodluck