DR MARTIN SCURR: The surprising causes of pins and needles in your hands - and what to do about them By Dr Martin Scurr Published: 11:56 BST, 1 July 2024 | Updated: 11:56 BST, 1 July 2024 e-mail View comments I’ve recently been getting pins and needles in my left hand. Often my fingers are so numb I can press them together and not feel anything. I also get elbow pain at the same time.
What might this be? I am 66. Michael O’Donnell, by email The fact that the tingling and numbness in your fingers coincides with elbow pain suggests the cause is a problem with the ulnar nerve. This nerve, which travels in a groove close to the elbow, helps you to move your forearm, hand and certain fingers (the little and ring finger primarily, but also the middle).
It also sends information about touch, temperature and pain to your brain. When people ‘bang their funny bone’, which can be both excruciating and strangely numb, they’ve actually knocked the ulnar nerve in its channel at that site. A typical cause of tingling and numbness in your little and ring fingers is prolonged elbow flexion.
Sometimes I see this in patients who sleep on one side with the elbow flexed. However, this is usually quickly relieved within minutes by straightening the arm. Tingling and numbness in your fingers can be as a result of knocking the sensitive ulnar nerve out of its groove along the arm Another — though much less likely — cause is arthritis of the elbow, which is rare and, in any ev.