Little finger numbness
Around three weeks ago I started to experience numbness in the little finger and also the ring finger, although not as bad as the pinky of my left hand. I spend a lot of time using a keyboard and also play guitar. Now my left hand feels very weak and I struggle to perfom actions such as opening a jar or putting a key in the door. The worst part is that there are many guitar chords that I cannot manage as I am unable to press down properly on the strings, and also the pinky and ring fingers do not want to come together to form the correct positioning for the chords, as well as my finger coordination has gone completely out of sync. I have no pain whatsoever, just a constant numbness. I am really appreciative that I have found this site as someone can hopefully give me some much needed advice. :-) Looks like the 'X Factor' will have to be put on ice for a while:-) Thanks for reading Mike
Thanks for your input Jeremy. Another thing that I forgot to mention is that before the numbness started the palm towards the little finger side of my left hand was itching terribly. Not a normal kind of itch, it was like I wanted to scrape a chunk of my palm away to get rid of it.
I have an appointment to see my GP on Thursday.
Cheers
Mike
I guess the itch would fit in as part of the same problem - it is the right distribution for the ulnar nerve if a slightly unusual description of symptoms. Let me know what your GP thinks please - I an curious about how accurately one can make neurological diagnoses without seeing the patient. I took the liberty of editing the topc title too JB
Hi there again Jeremy
My GP referred me to a neurological physiologist who I went to see yesterday. On completion of the tests that were performed it was concluded that the nerve (ulnar, as far as I recall) is trapped at the back of my elbow, and that is was more than likely caused by the position in which I had been sleeping. I have an appointment with my GP next week to arrange surgery.
Since I last posted the problem was slowly getting worse and included my wrist starting to ache a lot, so it will be great to get it sorted, especially as I am at present unable to play a lot of guitar chords because the two small fingers of my left hand refuse to sit next to one another on the neck of the instrument: Will have to postpone the X Factor audition for now :-)
Thanks for the feedback - nice to know that your medics agreed with my initial guess. Out of curiosity have they told you much about the success rates of surgery for this problem and did the neurophysiologist give you any idea of how bad the nerve measurements were? One of my other interests is how well informed patients are when they receive medical attention. JB
That sounds like a problem with the ulnar nerve, probably at the elbow, rather than carpal tunnel syndrome. The ulnar nerve problem is sometimes called 'cubital tunnel syndrome'. This nerve is very vulnerable to pressure as it runs round the elbow and is also stretched every time you bend the elbow - you may find that the symptoms worsen if you keep the elbow flexed for a while - so try to keep the arm straight and absolutely no leaning on it . Try not to sleep wih the elbow flexed and hand by your head for example. This too can be tested with neurophysiological tests and imaged with high resolution ultrasound but you would generally not test it until the symptoms have been present for at least a few weeks and were not improving. Take a look at the backs of your hands. If you can see more 'guttering' between the bones that make up the main part of the hand - and especially thinning of the muscle between the thumb and the side of the hand compared to the other side then you should take this more seriously. In any case I would advise seeing your GP if it has already been present for a few weeks and symptoms are there all the time. Other diagnoses are possible but the above is by far the commonest explanation for those symptoms. JB