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Elbow positions and hand exercises

Shoulder & elbow · Pinched nerve at the elbow (cubital tunnel)

How to use this sheet. Most of the treatment is how you hold the elbow: keeping it bent for a long time stretches and squeezes the nerve. Keep the elbow straighter, by day and at night. Avoid: holding the phone to your ear for long calls (use the speaker, earphones or the other hand), sleeping with the arm folded under the pillow or your head, and leaning on the inner elbow — on a desk, a window ledge or a two-wheeler handle. Do not let anyone, including a bone setter, massage or press hard on the inner elbow: the nerve lies just under the skin there. If the fingers are numb, take care with a hot tawa, hot vessels and knives, because numb skin does not feel a burn or a cut. Do the exercises gently; tingling that an exercise brings on should settle soon after you stop.

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Keeping the elbow straight at night

At bedtime, wrap a small folded towel loosely round the affected elbow, with the thick part over the front of the elbow, so the elbow cannot fold while you sleep. Hold it with tape or a loose cloth band, never tight. If we gave you a night splint, wear that instead.

At bedtime
Every day

Should feel: Waking with less tingling in the fingers Should not feel: The wrap pressing tight, or the hand swelling

Rest the forearm, not the elbow

At a table or desk, do not prop yourself on the bent elbow (first picture). Rest the whole forearm flat on the table with the elbow more open (second picture), so no weight sits on the inner elbow.

All day
Every day

Should feel: No pressure on the inner elbow Should not feel: Tingling in the ring and little fingers

Ulnar nerve glide

Start with the arm in front of you, palm up. Make an "OK" circle with the thumb and first finger, then bring the hand up so the circle sits over the eye like a mask, elbow pointing out. Go only until you feel a light pull, then return.

10 times
Once a day

Should feel: A light pulling Should not feel: Lasting tingling

Finger spread on the table

Rest the hand flat on a table. Slide the fingers apart as wide as they go, hold, then bring them back together.

Hold 5 seconds
10 times

Should feel: The small muscles of the hand working Should not feel: Cramp or pain in the hand

Card squeeze between the fingers

Rest the affected hand flat, palm down. Hold a playing card or a folded piece of paper between two straight fingers and squeeze it while the other hand pulls on it gently. Do this between each pair of fingers in turn.

Hold 5 seconds
10 times

Should feel: The fingers gripping the card Should not feel: Cramp or pain in the hand

Finger to thumb touches

Touch each fingertip to the thumb.

10 rounds
Daily

Should feel: Control Should not feel: Pinching pain

Stop and telephone us if

The hand is getting weaker or clumsier, you start dropping things, or the ring and little fingers begin to curl and will not straighten — come the same day
The hand looks thinner, with a hollow between the thumb and index finger on the back of the hand
The numbness spreads, or stays all the time instead of coming and going
An exercise brings on tingling that does not settle soon after you stop

Guides for you

In your language, free to download. Each one is a short PDF you can keep on your phone or print.

Nerve Pain Tablets English हिंदी मराठी

Posture at Work — Desk, Computer and Phone English हिंदी मराठी

Braces, Splints and Slings English हिंदी मराठी

Starting to Exercise Safely English हिंदी मराठी

Read about Cubital tunnel syndrome

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Nallasopara West Virar East