Originally Posted by Lara

Hi and welcome to the NeuroTalk Support Groups.

I had some episodes about 15 years ago of cubital tunnel syndrome or tennis elbow as people used to call it.

In fact it was one of the main reasons I downsized my massive book collection because every time I moved I ended up with irritated or damaged nerve in my elbow due to picking up heavy boxes.

In my case it was my left arm and the fingers affected were the little finger and 1/2 of the ring finger. When the nerve in my elbow was irritated or inflamed, my little finger and ring finger would form a claw. Meaning they would contract inwards onto the palm and stay contracted until I was able to stretch the arm out. I also had really bad pain in the elbow. They would also become weaker and sometimes numb feeling.

My GP told me to wear a brace especially when sleeping, but the brace was very large and very cumbersome and in the end it was suggested to me that bracing my elbow was really not the right thing to do. I used to do stretching exercizes. If it does turn out to be the ulnar nerve that is affected then you could find out more about those from a physio or even online.

This is just my experience and it was a long time ago but it's important that you find out exactly what is going on.

If you check in Images on your search e ngine then you can find pictures of the tracks that the nerves make both through the cubital and through the carpal tunnels. Just use search terms like "nerves to fingers cubital tunnel" or similar, like "Ulnar nerve entrapment".

If your doctor isn't helping then maybe get in to see a physio.