Non-surgical Treatment Options
Keep the elbow as straight as possible. A straight elbow puts less pressure on the ulnar nerve.
Avoid crossing your arms across your chest.
If you frequently use the telephone, consider using a headset or cradle attachment, so you don’t have to hold the telephone to your ear with a bent elbow.
Adjust your workspace so that you don’t have to bend your elbow more than 30 degrees and you can keep your wrist in a neutral position.
Consider wearing a splint at night. Something as simple as a towel wrapped around the elbow can help keep it straight.
Use elbow protectors if you play sports to avoid bumping the elbow.
If muscle atrophy and numbness continues, corticosteroids may be used to reduce swelling and pressure.
Rehabilitation exercises
The exercises below increase the strength of the forearm muscles. They should be performed to the point of initial pain only. You may increase resistance only when the exercise can be performed with no pain, for the designated number of repetitions.
Wrist extensor
Sit next to a table with the injured forearm on the table surface with the wrist at the end of the table and the palm down. Hold a two- or three-pound dumbbell in the injured-side hand and raise it as high as pain permits or until the back of the hand is level with the table top. Hold this position for 5 seconds. Relax the arm and hand for 10 seconds. Perform this sequence 10 times, 3 times daily. Increase the range of the exercise motion as pain permits until the back of the hand is level with the table top at each repetition. When this is possible, increase the amount of resistance by one-half pound.
Wrist flexor
Sit next to a table with the injured forearm on the table surface with the wrist at the end of the table and the palm up. Hold a two- or three-pound dumbbell in the hand and raise it as high as pain permits or until the weight is level with the tabletop. Hold this position for 5 seconds. Relax the arm and hand for 10 seconds. Perform this sequence 10 times, 3 times daily. Increase the range of motion as pain permits until the weight is level with the tabletop at each repetition. When this is possible, increase the amount of resistance by one-half pound.
Wrist extensor
Assume a hands-and-knees position, with the back of the hands on the floor and fingers pointed toward the knees. Slowly rock forward, placing weight on the hands and wrists to the onset of pain. Hold this position for 5 seconds. Rock backward, relieving the wrists and hands of the body weight, and relax for 10 seconds. Perform this sequence 10 times, 3 times daily. As pain permits, increase the amount of weight transferred to the hands and wrists.
Wrist flexor
Assume a hands-and-knees posture, with palms on the floor and fingers pointing forward. Slowly rock forward, placing weight on the hands and wrists until the onset of pain. Hold this position for 5 seconds. Rock backward, relieving the wrists and hands of the body weight, and relax for 10 seconds. Perform this sequence 10 times, 3 times daily. As pain permits, increase the amount of weight transferred to the hands and wrists.
Alternative exercises
During the period when normal training should be avoided, alternative exercises may be used. These activities should not require any actions that create or intensify pain at the site of injury. They include:
swimming
jogging
stationary bicycle (without pressure on the handlebars, if pain permits)
How long will the effects of the injury last?
Recovery time from ulnar nerve entrapment varies. Usually, return to full activity depends on how long it takes for the inflammation of the ulnar nerve to remit. In most cases, with appropriate treatment and avoidance of the activity that caused the condition, inflammation and pain disappear within two to four weeks. However, some severe cases may last eight weeks and longer.
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