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Ulnar nerve compression at elbow, experiencing problems...

I am a 35 year old female. Good health- no diabetes, heart problems etc.

Here is some background..

In winter of 2006 I started to get numbness in my little and pinky finger, electrical sensation/shock if I leaned on my elbow etc. Eventually I had mild atrophy affecting my hand around the pinky finger area. I was sent for an nerve conduction test which showed severe compression of the ulnar nerve at elbow level. I was surprised because none of the above symptoms aggravated me that much, except for some clumsiness of the hand. I had surgery. There was a lot of scar tissue,  decompressed the nerve.

About 9 months later the symptoms started to come back. Eventually I had another NC test which showed mild compression. This time I had more pain-burning. My family doctor suggested conservative treatment- splinting, physio, not leaning on my elbow. The problem didn't go away, referred to a plastic surgeon. I had surgery in September 2007. The surgeon decompressed the nerve but also removed a small piece of bone around groove area to make more room for the nerve.

I also had a neuroma in my wrist (thumb side) which the surgeon removed partially, buried the rest. Previous to this neuroma I did have dequervains tendonitis surgery, about two years prior to the neuroma developing. With the neuroma, everytime I touched my old incision scar it burned, sent a burning pain up my thumb.

Anyways after my September 2007 surgery I was unfortunately injured in early November 2007, and my elbow was banged really hard into a wall. There were no fractures, heavy bruising.

Since this injury I get burning pain in the palm of my hand below the little and ring finger. Increased numbness in little and ring finger. If I bend my elbow send electrical shock/sensation up my arm to the wrist. The incision area in my elbow does have some mild burning but palm of hand is worse. My wrist/thumb area where I had the neuroma surgery is burning now since this injury. Once in a while the burning pain does spread further across the palm below index and middle finger but not as often compared to below little and ring finger.

Gripping objects, bending my fingers or typing increases the burning sensation in the palm..

My back, neck, shoulder, upper arm is not painful, no problems in these areas.

I did go back to see the surgeon for a follow up, mentioned injury. They waited it out and told me to come back in 4 weeks. I did go back and they decided to send me for another nerve conduction test. Depending on the test results of if symptoms haven't improved they could do another surgery but they won't guarantee it will help. Said it may help significantly, improve little or not at all.

I had the test and it came back normal. The neuro tested the ulnar nerve region from elbow to palm of hand.

This is where I am confused. I have all these symptoms but nothing shows up?

The neurologist said that it is possible I bruised the nerve or it was injured in a different way.

I also go for physiotherapy and the therapist mentioned that NC tests are only a guideline as to show where a compression could be. Such as the neck, elbow or wrist level. He's heard of clients who've had severe symptoms and the test showed normal. Others have had little symptoms, test showed severe compression.

The burning pain is increasing. I have noticed the past few days I get burning pain between the elbow and wrist,ulnar side of the arm. It's not consistently this way but I have noticed it flares off and on.

I have tried conservative treatments on my own since the injury- not leaning on it, wrapping a towel around it at night, not helping so far.

So if the NC test showed normal does it mean that maybe my nerve is bruised, scar tissue hasn't developed or nerve was injured in a different way?

I should mention that after my Sept/2007 surgery my symptoms such as mild burning, numbness slowly started to improved compared to before surgery. It was after the injury in November that all these symptoms, problems appeared.

Thanks for your help!
3 Responses
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619343 tn?1221359507
Hi Toban,

How are you doing now?  How is your nerve pain and numbness?  
Thank you for sharing your experience.  I find it very interesting.  I might be getting a neuroma in my left anterior tibia bone beneath the pes anserus.  This will be my third surgery in this area, and I am extremely hesitant.  

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Update..

I ended up having surgery again. My ulnar nerve was crushed under heavy scar tissue and apparently also curling up. The burning pain is relieved but I still have soreness, regular pain around the elbow incision area. My surgery was at the end of April.
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Avatar universal
Anyone??

I have noticed now for the past few weeks my burning pain is increasing a lot in the palm of my hand. It becomes worse if I bend my fingers or try to make a fist. I go to physiotherapy and I can't even hold a light weight in that hand, gripping is too painful.

My elbow, where I had the surgery is also painful. This is new. Not so much a burning pain, more of a regular pain. It hurts at rest or when moving it.

In my original post I mentioned about the neuroma that was in the thumb side of my wrist. After the injury the area hurt a little bit but now for the past few weeks things have flared all of the sudden. My thumb (palm side) I have noticed muscle spasms? I can see something jumping up and down. Other times my thumb twitches. I get burning pain on top of my thumb etc. This is all new.

The physiotherapist said something must be going on and he figures I will need another elbow surgery.

I am unable to see the surgeon earlier because she is away. My next appt with her is in a few weeks time so I suppose I can hold off.
Helpful - 0
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