The cubital tunnel is a 4-millimeter channel in the elbow that houses the ulnar nerve. This nerve provides sensation to both arms and hands.
This nerve can become compressed or irritated through leaning on it, sleeping with bent elbow, and repeated arm and elbow movement. Conservative treatments like NSAIDs and physical therapy may reduce pain significantly.
Stretches
The cubital tunnel is a narrow passageway of bone and muscle on the inside of your elbow that houses the ulnar nerve, which provides movement and sensation to your hand and fingers. Initial symptoms may include numbness in your palm side hand as well as in the ring and little fingers; symptoms progressing into pain as tightened wrist muscles restrict nerve flow to these areas.
Repetitive or sustained elbow bending can compress the ulnar nerve in its tunnel and lead to compression of its branches, leading to this condition. This could occur as a result of repetitive movements like typing or working on a computer, sleeping with one’s arms bent for hours on end (common in certain professions and sleep patterns), or simply spending too much time sleeping in this position.
Stretches that involve keeping the elbows straight can help those living with cubital tunnel syndrome. Such exercises increase space for the ulnar nerve, enabling it to function freely and heal more quickly. Furthermore, stretching chest and front shoulder muscles relaxes them, which increases blood flow and promotes healing.
Nerve gliding exercises may also help relieve the symptoms of cubital tunnel syndrome by aiding the ulnar nerve to move more freely through its tunnel. Such exercises include extending and flexing arms, rotating wrists and shifting shoulders forward and backward.
Cubital Tunnel Syndrome patients may benefit from sitting in a chair with one arm extended out in front, keeping it level with your shoulder and slowly tilting their heads right until a stretch occurs in their wrist area. This exercise should be repeated several times until desired results have been attained.
If the symptoms of cubital tunnel syndrome don’t respond to non-surgical treatments, surgery may be necessary to release the nerve from its tunnel. This process is known as an ulnar nerve release or Guyon’s canal syndrome and requires only minor incisions on the inner elbow. Following surgery, physical therapy sessions are advised in order to strengthen arm strength and enhance elbow mobility.
Strengthening
Many individuals who experience numbness or tingling in their fingers, hand and arm mistake it for tennis elbow or carpal tunnel syndrome. But this pain is actually caused by compression of the ulnar nerve rather than median nerve, where it passes through the cubital tunnel in their elbow. A physical therapist can devise exercises designed to ease cubital tunnel syndrome symptoms.
This condition, also known as funny bone syndrome due to its painful symptoms in the “funny bone” area of the elbow, according to Cleveland Clinic, causes sensation in that part of your elbow that feels similar. Compression of ulnar nerve provides movement and sensation for all three ring and pinky fingers and backside of hand; without this nerve you wouldn’t be able to open jars, write or use your fingers!
Cubital tunnel syndrome is typically caused by direct pressure applied directly or extended elbow flexion such as sitting for extended periods on armrests at work or sleeping with one’s elbow bent; over time this causes fluid build-up which compresses nerves. Other contributing factors may include osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis as well as obesity and diabetes.
Your physical therapist will begin by identifying activities that exacerbate your symptoms and advising that they be avoided for an indeterminate amount of time. He or she will then teach you range-of-motion and muscle strengthening exercises designed to ease them; these will restore muscle length that has been shorten due to protective posture while strengthening those that remain unaffected.
Your physical therapist may suggest other movements that can help relieve pain and prevent worsening of symptoms, such as moving the affected fingers and wrist in circular motion or bending forward at the elbow. They will also offer advice regarding proper posture while performing these exercises to limit nerve pressure and speed healing.
Range-of-Motion Exercises
Your physical therapist may suggest exercises designed to increase range of motion in order to alleviate cubital tunnel syndrome pain, such as flexing and extending of your elbow. These are intended to gradually and gently increase elbow movement while decreasing post-surgery swelling; just remember not to begin these exercises too quickly without prior approval from a doctor or surgeon.
The ulnar nerve is one of the primary nerves in your arm and runs through a passage known as the cubital tunnel on the inside of your elbow. Cubital tunnel syndrome occurs when this nerve becomes stretched, compressed or irritated; symptoms include numbness and tingling in ring and little fingers as well as difficulty opening jars or typing on computers. You may also experience pain when repeatedly bending your elbow over time.
Your doctor will likely prescribe a splint or padded elbow brace to wear at night and during the day if your work involves leaning on your elbows for extended periods. They may also suggest anti-inflammatory medication to alleviate pain and swelling. If conservative treatments don’t improve symptoms, surgery may become necessary.
Your physical therapist may suggest other treatments in addition to avoiding symptoms, such as ice packs and therapeutic ultrasound to ease pain and swelling, including trigger point release techniques and trigger point release techniques.
Trigger point releases are a form of manual therapy which involves applying pressure directly to muscles that have tightened or knotted, in order to release pressure off of the ulnar nerve and relieve any related discomfort.
Your therapist may suggest stretching and strengthening exercises to assist in your recovery from cubital tunnel syndrome. These can help restore full length to muscles that have become shorter due to protective posturing as well as improve strength in other parts of the body unaffected by cubital tunnel syndrome.
These exercises will help keep your elbow in a neutral position and allow the ulnar nerve to function freely. Your therapist may suggest what are known as “ulnar nerve-gliding exercises”, which enable the nerve to stretch while moving the elbow from side-to-side or flexing and extending.
Post-Operative Exercises
The ulnar nerve runs along an arm tunnel known as the cubital tunnel on the inside of your elbow. It is one of two major nerve compression syndromes in arms; carpal tunnel syndrome being the other. When compressed or irritated here, symptoms include numbness in little finger and half of ring finger (often described as feeling “pins and needles”) as well as pain in elbow, wrist and forearm as well as weakness of small intrinsic hand muscles on palm side of hand (intrinsic hand muscles).
Common causes of elbow tendinitis include repetitive elbow movements and extended periods with bent elbows, such as using tools at work, sitting at a computer, playing an instrument or talking on the phone. Furthermore, sleep postures that put strain on nerves or activities with bent elbows for prolonged periods, like driving long distances or carrying heavy objects can exacerbate pressure.
People living with tennis elbow may benefit from wearing an elbow splint or brace to relieve pressure on the nerve, while physical therapy is essential to treating cubital tunnel syndrome. Therapists can instruct exercises that stretch and move the nerve through its course within the cubital tunnel, decreasing any associated pain.
These exercises aim to increase the space available to the ulnar nerve as it passes through Guyon’s canal and the cubital tunnel, either while straight or bent at 90 degree angles. Your therapist can demonstrate these exercises for you and suggest how many repetitions should be performed; practicing these as soon as allowed will help improve range of motion post surgery as well as decrease pain symptoms post surgery; it is vitally important not attempt this on your own!
