The Difference Between Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Cubital Tunnel Syndrome
When experiencing a mixture of pain and numbness in your fingers, the first reaction may be to assume that you have carpal tunnel syndrome. But there is another condition, called cubital tunnel syndrome, that could also be the source of these symptoms.
Carpal tunnel syndrome and cubital tunnel syndrome both share similar symptoms and are a result of nerve compression. However, they are distinct conditions that affect different nerves in the elbow and the wrist.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome is much more common in patients than cubital tunnel syndrome. One of the main distinctions about carpal tunnel syndrome is that it is a result of a pinched median nerve in the wrist. Numbness and pain are most typically felt in the thumb, middle finger, and index finger. This pain, in atypical instances, can also even radiate up to the forearm and elbow.
Carpal tunnel syndrome has been known to affect workers who spend a lot of time on the computer. However, any repetitive finger or hand motion can be a contributing factor of carpal tunnel.
The motor part of the median nerve supports the small muscles of the thumb, so muscle wasting from nerve damage can cause weakness of the pinch grip (which affects holding a key or pen) and may result in dropping objects out of the affected hand.
Cubital Tunnel Syndrome
Unlike carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel syndrome affects mainly the forearm and elbow. Cubital tunnel syndrome is the condition where the ulnar nerve gets compressed at the back of the inside of the elbow (at the “funny bone”). This nerve compression can be constant or intermittent, due to the position of the elbow or because of direct pressure on the elbow.
The most common symptom of cubital tunnel syndrome is the sensation of pins and needles in the pinky and ring fingers. In some instances, patients can feel a shooting pain from the elbow down to the fingers as well.
Early on, cubital tunnel symptoms are intermittent and often depend on the position of the elbow. Having the elbow bent for long periods of time, such as when sleeping, can result in symptoms that often wake patients at night and cause discomfort. Intermittent symptoms can arise when leaning on the elbow or having the elbow bent while talking on the phone.
Can You Have Both at the Same Time?
It is not uncommon for patients to have both cubital tunnel syndrome and carpal tunnel syndrome at the same time. In fact, it is also common for the two conditions to be present in both arms. When patients have numbness in all fingers of the hand they should be examined and tested for both cubital and carpal tunnel syndromes by their doctor.
The Lonnie Brace was invented to help treat mild cases of cubital tunnel syndrome. The Lonnie Brace can be worn at any time, day or night, to cushion the elbow and decompress the ulnar nerve. It has a rigid hinge attachment for extra relief during sleep if needed. Our goal is to treat elbow pain quickly and effectively and protect from reinjury to properly allow the ulnar nerve to heal. This allows for a faster recovery and avoidance of potentially unnecessary surgery.