Why does banging your Elbow give you an Electric Shock?

Why does banging your Elbow give you an Electric Shock?

The spot where it occurs is called the funny bone. The funny “bone” is actually a long vine of a nerve called the Ulnar Nerve.

Between the humerus and the forearm there exists a void, what is called the cubital tunnel, where the nerve is the most vulnerable as at the elbow the nerve is less protected by muscle, fat and skin and can be easily bumped.

When you hit your funny bone against something, the unprotected nerve is pressed against the bone. It is the squeezed or irritated ulnar nerve that spouts the waves of pain, emitting the “electric shock”. The waves terrorize the regions innervated by the nerve: the forearm, the pinkie and half of the ring finger.

A pinched nerve can start in several places throughout your body, but usually in the joints. When a pinched nerve is in your elbow, it can leave your arm and hand feeling sore, numb, or weak.

Pain and tingling sensations to shoot down your forearm. People often describe this sensation as an electric shock like pain typical of an irritated nerve. Usually, it quickly resolves, but it can also cause more persistent symptoms in some people.