Ulnar Nerve Irritation? Where's it coming from?

Pain & Rehab Forum [Moderated]
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Hi all,

Getting back into electric guitar playing and am having some ulnar nerve irritation. Haven’t been playing like crazy (~30-45min 2-3x a week) but have noticed an increase in irritation, oddly not always in the fingers (often in the elbow).

Background: first noticed pain in my left elbow while drawing my 56lb longbow cold after somewhat of a hiatus, probably about…7 years ago. Typical “twinge” sort of injury. Was annoying and caused some issues but I don’t recall particularly long-term repercussions. Had to be careful to warm up with my bow but continued shooting long past that. Secondly: I don’t recall exactly when this started or if it coincided at all, but I randomly developed an issue where I couldn’t lie on my left side or lie on my back/left side (slightly canted) for extended periods of time without feeling nerve irritation all the way down my left arm. No numbness or tingling specifically, just irritation. I still have that issue, on and off but it feels relatively consistent. This started during my time in university which required extended hours of sitting in front of computers writing papers and the like, and I had perpetual, overly tight pecs, such that I couldn’t do overhead press at all without what felt like shoulder impingement (no longer an issue, I OHP all the time now). I no longer lean on this elbow and it seems like ensuring I sleep with my arms straight makes a bit of a difference. I’ve felt it during bench/pushups when doing them cold, but that hasn’t bothered it lately and I’m doing the same amount of push work as before.

TL;DR: Ulnar nerve irritation, cause seems to be difficult to pin down, but it seems to be a combination of pinky use, long-held computer postures and how tight my neck/back/pec is. Sometimes it shows up after playing, sometimes it spontaneously goes away. When it’s around, it’s made worse by lying on my left side at all, and oddly it shows up quite prominently if I even sit with a cushion end against my back even pushing gently just beyond my left scap. What’s the general approach for this sort of issue? Is there merit to trying to treat/relieve tension in the neck/shoulders/etc?
“Thoracic outlet syndrome” was something I’ve seen thrown around, but I don’t know whether it’s specifically diagnosable or if it’s even useful to go down a diagnostic road in the first place.

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I definitely would not go down the thoracic outlet syndrome road. More often than not, these “nerve irritations” are time x position dependent so individuals who stay in one position for an extended time can get symptoms. One of the ways you can go about addressing this is by working on some habituation/nerve flossing type movements. The goal being to get into a position where you feel symptoms a little bit, then keep slowly working farther into position. This is listed as a median nerve glide, but it works for ulnar as well if you are looking for a place to start.

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Thanks Derek. So more likely that not, given the weird irritation that comes from leaning on my left-side back, arm, etc, it’s more than likely a postural/muscular/positional thing than a wrist/elbow/overuse issue? Would make sense since I’m randomly getting sensitivity in my right elbow as well.
(Note: I understand and am on board with the idea that posture isn’t a “single best” position ordeal as much as “you’re staying in a position too long”).