Ulnar Nerve?

[chewymix]

was wrenching on the dirt bike a week ago and managed to take a hit to the ulnar nerve, aka 'funny bone', that was the usual 30 seconds or so of my hand feeling all swollen and pins and needles and this settled down and was pretty much OK but with little and ring fingers a bit tingly still.

A week later and its still a bit funky in that the little but mainly ring finger on the hand have slightly altered sensations on their pads some of the time. Sometimes the whole hand feels a bit tingly and i have a bit of a sore elbow, but i cant really find anywhere that hurts. None of the fingers are numb and i can sense heat and cold similarly between hands. The hand functions fine, motor skills are no problem and strength is not effected.

Anyone taken a knock like this offer any tips on how long it takes to get to normal again? I am guessing something is just bruised or something as no shooting pain or anything like that.

thanks all

[Vinman]

This will likely get better on its own in another week or so. If it persists you could consult your Ortho but right now just try not to hit it again and it will likely just go away with some more time. Definitely consult your Ortho if if gets worse or you start loosing strength or sensation in your fingers 4-5.

[chewymix]

yeah i think time is the key here, the ring finger feels a bit better today but the little finger feels a bit wierd and the elbow aches so there is certainly something going on and the way it waxes and wanes, first thing in the morning its hardly noticeble, makes me think something is bruised/inflammed more than anything.

[old goat]

This could actually take months to completely recover--although it sounds like you're improving faster than that. In the meantime try to keep the elbow fairly straight at night. Even with a normal nerve leaving the elbow bent for a long time can stretch the nerve and if the area is swollen that could make it stretch more. One thing you can do is wrap a pillow around the elbow and loosely hold it in place with ties of some kind--the restraints you normally use in the bedroom would work fine.

[chewymix]

yeah i think this is going to be multiple weeks rather than one or two. The pins and needles has gone but i get wierd things in both the fingers that waxes and wanes almost dependent on the position of the arm. I have never had any shooting pains or anything like that but the elbow does ache quite a lot sometimes but there is no evidence of a bruise or swelling, although i guess it could be more internal.

I try to keep the arm straight at night but i am not bracing it, i also dont wake up with a dead arm so i think i am keeping it straight ish but then again movement does not really make it hurt as such. I have a couple of kids so resting it is not really possible especially as one of them is only 1 and so being bottle fed makes me have to bend the arm quite a lot, as does the seemingly constant rocking to sleep they need at the moment. Although this does not cause it to hurt it certainly does not feel like it does it any good.

Going to see what my osteopath thinks later this week as my neck had been a bit crunchy on the same side recently and my collar bone feels a bit hurty so maybe there is something else going on aswell.

i appear to be constantly injured these days!

[chewymix]

yeah i think this is going to be multiple weeks rather than one or two. The pins and needles has gone but i get wierd things in both the fingers that waxes and wanes almost dependent on the position of the arm. I have never had any shooting pains or anything like that but the elbow does ache quite a lot sometimes but there is no evidence of a bruise or swelling, although i guess it could be more internal.

I try to keep the arm straight at night but i am not bracing it, i also dont wake up with a dead arm so i think i am keeping it straight ish but then again movement does not really make it hurt as such. I have a couple of kids so resting it is not really possible especially as one of them is only 1 and so being bottle fed makes me have to bend the arm quite a lot, as does the seemingly constant rocking to sleep they need at the moment. Although this does not cause it to hurt it certainly does not feel like it does it any good.

Going to see what my osteopath thinks later this week as my neck had been a bit crunchy on the same side recently and my collar bone feels a bit hurty so maybe there is something else going on aswell.

i appear to be constantly injured these days!

well i think this is now pretty much healed - but it took 10 frickin months! - just for info if anyone else thinks they have similar and are not healing. I got pretty close to having someone go in there and smooth it out but in the end it just needed lots and lots of time.