Its not a bone and it sure ain't funny!

@ElicBxn (63594)
United States
January 18, 2009 7:19am CST
I started a discussion about how I banged my elbow and now I have a bruise on it. My friends keep talking about the "funny bone" but actually that's not what I hurt. The funny bone isn't a bone, its the ulnar nerve, and I learned back in high school when I dislocated my wrist and pinched the ulnar nerve, that its a rather important part of the hand function! It controls the 4th and 5th fingers and some of the hand movement on the outside of the hand. Since I dislocated my wrist, I've had trouble with pinching it since then, down in the wrist area - and it doesn't give the "funny" feeling that banging up by the elbow does, it just causes the outside edge of my hand to feel odd. Quite a few years ago, the roomie's cat attacked her and bit and scratched her arm bad enough she had to go to the doctor. One of the things he did was nail her ulnar nerve between her elbow and wrist and she's had a mild loss of feeling on the outside of her hand ever since. Here's a link to a discription of the "funny bone." http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/funny_bone.html
4 people like this
15 responses
@nanajanet (4436)
• United States
18 Jan 09
I know that it is a nerve but as a kid I wondered why they said, "Funny Bone" as there was nothing funny about it!! LOL That is a cute and informative article.
4 people like this
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
18 Jan 09
That's what I always said! "Its not funny! It hurts!"
3 people like this
• Philippines
18 Jan 09
yes, it really hurts so much. so much so that one who is suffering from it could no longer perform some tasks at home which used to be easy ones to handle. handling cold materials is exceedingly difficult for me now. also when i reach out and accidentally use my last fingers in doing so, it sends extreme pain up through the elbow.
2 people like this
@gbeast95 (505)
• United States
18 Jan 09
they call it the "funny bone" because the scientific name for it is "humorous" and humor means funny
3 people like this
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
18 Jan 09
and for the funny feeling ya get when you bang that darn nerve!
2 people like this
@BarBaraPrz (47332)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
18 Jan 09
Actually, it's humerus.
2 people like this
@gbeast95 (505)
• United States
19 Jan 09
humerous? hmmm oh well, i was never a good speller...lol
2 people like this
@riyasam (16556)
• India
18 Jan 09
i didnot know about it.i used to get a electric current,sometimes,when i umped my elbow.i knew it had to do something with ulnar nerve but i didnot exactly know its cause.
3 people like this
@slickcut (8141)
• United States
18 Jan 09
I went and read that and i always thought it was a bone too..I have hit mine before but its been a long time..I liked the site you sent & glad to know its not a bone ..Its always interesting to learn something new.Thanks for sharing...
3 people like this
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
18 Jan 09
I remember being told it was a nerve when I was a kid, but learned when I dislocated my wrist what nerve it was. (still acts up after 40 years!)
2 people like this
@raydene (9871)
• United States
18 Jan 09
Hi Doll I agree with you...it's not funny but does give a strange sensation if you hit it just right..or just wrong..lol Nice link will send it on to the grandkids xoxooxoxo
3 people like this
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
18 Jan 09
I thought it was a nice link, all the other funny bone links were to comedy sites!
2 people like this
@camomom (7535)
• United States
18 Jan 09
Thank you for the very interesting information. I never knew that.
2 people like this
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
18 Jan 09
When ya stop learning, ya start dying.
1 person likes this
@camomom (7535)
• United States
19 Jan 09
That's a scary thought.
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
18 Jan 09
thanks for the info on the funny bone, I hope the pain goes away for you soon.
2 people like this
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
18 Jan 09
Thanks. It barely hurts when I'm not touching it, so I forget to look at it in the mirror to see if the bruise is worse.
1 person likes this
@k1tten (2318)
• United States
18 Jan 09
I have hit that nerve several times in my left elbow, always by accident. I had surgery on that arm years ago when I was younger because I broke a smaller piece of bone off. I have to be careful though even accidently hitting it too because it's become more sensitive since the surgery. I know sometimes too when I hit my elbow on something that part of my hand does go a bit numb for a little while. Sometimes up to 15 minutes.
2 people like this
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
18 Jan 09
Never had my hand go numb, but boy it sure does hurt!
1 person likes this
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
19 Jan 09
Wow. That is something knew that I learned today. Thanks for sharing this with all of us. I sure hope that you heal soon. I bet that did hurt quite a bit.
2 people like this
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
19 Jan 09
I think my wrist will never heal, after all it is 40 yrs old. but my elbow is just sore, has nothing to do with the nerve.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
18 Jan 09
when a situation like this takes place, elicbxn, what is the best remedy so as to get the functions of fingers normal again? at the moment i am having this problem involving my fingers. somebody advised me to dip my hand in a container of hot water with some salt added therein. it has eased out the pain but it is still there.
• Philippines
13 Jun 09
thanks for the best response mark.
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
18 Jan 09
If you've just bumped it, it should pass pretty quick. If you have pinched it some how, you probably ought to see a doctor. If its pinched in the wrist, a brace is probably your best course of action, and anti-inflamatories like Naproxen Sodium or even asprin (Tylanol isn't an anti-inflamatory.) If it is your nerve then soaking the hand is useless, because the problem is further up the arm.
2 people like this
@lilybug (21107)
• United States
18 Jan 09
I knew that the funny bone was not a bone, but I did not know any details about it. Interesting to know. That is scary to think that a cat scratch could do what it did to you friend.
2 people like this
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
18 Jan 09
Oh, it was WAY more than a scratch, Lilybug! He bit her really bad on the outside of her arm, just went nutz on her arm. Its why we first declawed, then pulled his top fangs, because he kept sending us to the hospital when he went nutz! (well, that, and the 2nd $300 vet bill on the cat he kept attacking!) Even, "disarmed" the other cats are afraid of him. But it has made him much less aggresive.
1 person likes this
• Australia
14 Feb 09
It isn't funny when you pinch the ulnar nerve. I wonder if we could sue the person who came up with that saying for emotional distress? I have a pinched nerve in my wrist that often makes life hard. Due to my self defence training, I ended up with a tiny chip of bone breaking of the tip of the wrist and as it is right near the nerves, they can't fix it without damaging my hand further. It is very annoying when it decides to play up and there have been weeks and even months where I can't use the hand at all. Interestingly enough, typing seems to control many nerve problems in the arms and hands due to the fact that you have to stretch your fingers out more which exercises the muscles and generally strengthens the limb. Writing by pen actually can do more harm than good because the muscles are still kept all cramped up.
1 person likes this
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
14 Feb 09
guess its a good thing I type more than I write these days - now if I could just give up crafting...
1 person likes this
@ladym33 (10979)
• United States
18 Jan 09
I didn't know that, that area was so important to the funcion of the arm and the wrist area. I really hate when I whack my arm there. It sends that wierd sensation through the whole body, it is both painful and really wierd all at the same time. Thank you so much for the very interesting information
2 people like this
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
18 Jan 09
thank ya, thank ya **bowing** always willing to serve!
1 person likes this
• India
19 Jan 09
i think its really the worst period in ur life to face such a self damage. it may be ease for the people to make fun of that bone. but actually when they come across such a situation they feel for the mistakes. but being bold enough to face such comments is the first and the most powerful strength in you.
2 people like this
@GreenMoo (11834)
22 Jan 09
The ulnar nerve is a really painful one to injure. Just knocking it gives you that painful 'funny' feeling we put down to the 'funny bone', but like you I have hit it hard before and it really wasn't funny. My whole forearm and the outer part of my hand went numb and stayed that way for some time and I wasn't able to grip very well. Interestingly, I'm told that funny bone in Dutch translates as 'telephone bone' because it feels like it 'rings' when you hit it.
1 person likes this
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
22 Jan 09
Now, that's different. Telephone bone, cool!