How to Tell the Difference Between Cubital Tunnel and Carpal Tunnel.
Have you been waking up during the night with hand numbness or tingling? Maybe when you get up in the morning you have to shake your hands out to bring them back to life and actually be able to hold something.
Nerve irritation can cause these symptoms. Based on what fingers or parts of your hand go numb represent what nerve is being pinched or compressed. When we sleep we typically like to curl up into the fetal position. Elbows and wrist bent with our hands under our heads or chins. Although super comfortable initially, sleeping in this position all night can cause our nerves to be stretched and pinched all night. When we finally wake up or move we un-pinch these nerves and get a flush of symptoms like tingling and numbness into your hand.
Maybe you notice that its always your thumb, index and middle finger that fall asleep or cause you discomfort. You may wake up with numbers in these fingers and then notice difficulty pinching or doing fine motor tasks with your hands during the day- buttons, clips, bags, zippers all may become a challenging. These is a sign of median nerve compression- also known as carpal tunnel. The median nerve travels down the palm side of your hand and wrist. It is pinched when you bend your wrists all night long. Sleeping in a wrist brace that has a metal bar on the palm side can help to keep your wrist straight and limit compression of this nerve. The brace should not be worn during the day as we want to ensure you continue to move and use that hand.
So lets say those 3 fingers feel fine but you wake up with or have burning pain, tingling or numbness in your ring and small finger? This is linked to the ulnar nerve which passes along the inside of your elbow and then down into your hand. Where this nerve sits at your elbow is known as the cubital tunnel. When we sleep with our elbow bent all night it can cause compression of the ulnar nerve (fun fact: when you fit your “funny bone” you are actually hitting your ulnar nerve which is why that uncomfortable feeling goes right down to your ring and small finger”. The way to limit ulnar nerve compression when you sleep is by keeping your elbow straight which can be a bit of a challenge. Simply being more aware of sleeping with your arms straight may be enough for you, maybe using pillows to help keep your arms down by your side. If you need a little bit more these ideas are for you: ball up a sock and put it in the crook of your elbow, use a tight sleeve or an ace wrap to hold it in place, that way when you try to bend your elbow all the way you will be stopped by the sock ball. Need even more? Check out these cubital tunnel braces on amazon which provide rigid support to keep your arm straight.
Nerve compression is no joke. Sure we all have one offs where we sleep in an odd position and wake up with numbness or pain. If this is happening every single night it’s time to take action. The more the nerves are pinched the more damaged they become. Think of a hose, park your car on it once and it will be fine, park your car on it and then leave the car there for hours, days or years and it can really damage the hose. It is the same concept with your nerves. Prolonged compression of nerves can cause damage and even a need for surgery. Nerves take an EXTREMELY long time to repair and regrow- therefore it is important to care for them while they are still healthy.
If you continue to have unchanging or even worsening symptoms it might be time to see a doctor. As referenced above, its better to take care of nerve compression early than wait years and years. A doctor can order testing of these nerves to see just how compressed they are. Based on this, surgery could be an option. Surgery is essentially removing that car from the hose. They cut the structures that cover these nerves to alleviate the pressure and allow the nerves space to move as needed. Duration of symptoms pre surgery is directly related to your recovery time. Symptoms for a year? It could take a year to improve after surgery.
Be proactive! Change your sleeping position and check out our exercise guides to be on the road to recovery!
Need more info? Read our specific blog posts for carpal tunnel and cubital tunnel.
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