Functions of the ulnar nerve. Damage to the ulnar nerve symptoms. Inflammation of articular cartilage and capsule

The elbow is compound joint, which is a combination of three bones. Because of this, and also because it is often subjected to a lot of stress, there are many diseases that affect it. Diseases elbow joint do not pose a danger to the life of the patient, but can cause him a lot of inconvenience and suffering.

What diseases affect the elbow

Many people are concerned about pain in the elbow joint. Some try to remove them with pills or folk remedies, believing that they just overworked. But there are diseases that proper treatment lead to serious complications. Therefore, it is advisable, if the elbow hurts, to consult a doctor for staging correct diagnosis. In this area, such diseases can be observed:

due to degenerative changes osteoarthritis, osteochondrosis, gout, chondrocalcinosis develop in cartilage and bone tissue;
inflammatory diseases (arthritis, tendinitis, bursitis, epicondylitis, fasciitis);
tunnel elbow syndrome, neuritis and damage to the nerve roots due to other diseases;
various injuries of the elbow joint.

What is epicondylitis

This is an inflammatory disease that occurs as a result of intense physical exertion. It occurs in athletes, in those who perform monotonous hard work. This disease occurs most often in people over 35 years old, but young people can also suffer from it, for example, after an injury. And the elderly and patients with osteoporosis are faced with epicondylitis even after small loads.

Inflammation and pain in the elbow can occur in representatives of such professions:

massage therapists;
carpenters;
tennis players, golfers, weightlifters and others;
artists and painters;
agricultural workers.

Inflammation and pain in the elbow can occur due to damage to the muscles and ligaments

Epicondylitis is characterized by damage to the muscles and ligaments, usually on one arm, which is subjected to heavy loads. Unlike other diseases of the elbow joint, it is characterized by the following features:

the elbow hurts only during exercise, the patient is not bothered by anything at rest;
mostly pain occurs when the joint is flexed or extended;
muscle tone decreases, the hand cannot hold some objects;
the appearance of the joint does not change;
Pain is rare at night.

Often the disease becomes chronic form, periodically escalating after exercise. It can give to the forearm and even the hand. If a long time the necessary treatment is not carried out, inflammation of the ligaments can spread to other tissues and cause, for example, bursitis.

Inflammatory diseases of the elbow joint

If inflammation develops in the joint itself or near it, this can be understood by the following symptoms:

swelling and redness of soft tissues;
strong It's a dull pain, independent of physical activity and often occurring at night;
limitation of hand movement.

Bursitis - inflammation of the olecranon, it can be recognized by the formation of bumps on the elbow

Depending on where the inflammation is localized, several diseases of the elbow joint can be distinguished.

Olecranon bursitis occurs most often on one arm. It can be caused by a traumatic effect on outer part joint. After bruises, constant pressure inflamed on the elbow synovial bursa joint. The disease can be recognized by education painful swelling in this place.
Arthritis most often affects both elbow joints. The disease usually occurs suddenly, swelling develops, pain appears. It gets worse in the morning. Most often, this place is affected by rheumatoid arthritis associated with a violation of the immune system. In this case, the disease develops gradually and becomes chronic.
Elbow tendonitis is an inflammation of the tendons. It often occurs as a complication of other diseases.

What is carpal tunnel syndrome

The main ulnar nerve passes through the joint cavity. Sometimes it is pinched between the tissues of the bones and ligaments. This occurs due to injury or after periodic compression of the nerve during exercise.

Most often the reasons tunnel syndrome are incorrect hand position when working at a computer, prolonged use of armrests when driving a car or working at a machine tool. Such neuropathy can occur with tissue swelling due to an inflammatory disease.

Symptoms of the disease are "shooting" pain, which often spreads to the entire forearm, numbness and tingling in the fingers. Often there is weakness or atrophy of the muscles of the hand. The patient cannot hold objects, clench his fingers into a fist. Numbness and paresis can affect almost half of the hand from the side of the little finger. In some cases, the hand resembles a clawed paw, because the fingers are forced to spread out.

It is difficult to treat the disease, and surgery is often required. Conservative therapy is possible on early stages when sensitivity is still intact. NSAIDs are used, drugs that relieve swelling, improve metabolism and blood circulation. An important component of the treatment is physiotherapy exercises, it is necessary to avoid excessive stress on the joint.

Often tunnel syndrome leads to a complete loss of working capacity of the hand. Therefore, it is important to observe measures to prevent pinching of the nerve: to prevent prolonged exposure of objects to the elbow area, to regularly perform exercises to strengthen the muscles.

Elbow pain can be caused by damage to the muscles, ligaments, or ulnar nerve

What other diseases affect the elbow joint

Very rarely, the elbow is affected by arthrosis, only if the degenerative processes in late stage affected all the joints of the body. This most often happens in old age. With arthrosis, the volume synovial fluid decreases, ligaments are affected and cartilage tissue. Therefore, during movement, pain, stiffness occurs, deformation is noticeable, a crunch is heard.
Chondrocalcinosis is characterized by the deposition of calcium salts in the joint. Conventional treatment with such a disease it is ineffective, it can only relieve symptoms. Crystals can be removed only by washing the joint cavity.
Gout rarely affects the elbows, but it does happen. It is a disease of salt deposition uric acid which cause severe pain, swelling and redness.
Pain in the joints of the hands can be caused by diseases and injuries of the spine, in which nerve fibers are damaged. It can be fractures, hernias, osteochondrosis. As a result of these diseases, the biceps muscle atrophies and mobility in the elbow joint is impaired.

Joint injuries

These are the most severe lesions of the elbow. They are often accompanied by damage to the nerves and blood vessels. These can be bruises, dislocations of the elbow joint, fractures of the bones that make it up, rupture or stretching of the tendons and muscles. All diseases associated with injuries cause severe pain, especially when moving, often there are joint deformities, tissue swelling, hematoma.

Even after ordinary bruises of the elbow, complications are possible. Fluid can accumulate in the joint, arthrosis develops. Sometimes the function of muscles and ligaments is disrupted, and it is very difficult to restore them completely.

According to statistics, the most frequent injury upper extremities is a dislocation of the elbow joint. It happens due to the fact that this is the most complex connection formed by three bones. They are all quite thin, so a dislocation is always accompanied by a fracture of one of them. This often damages ligaments, muscles and nerves.

Elbow injuries cause severe pain, swelling, and bruising

Treatment

Common symptoms of all diseases of the elbow joint are pain, stiffness in movement, and sometimes swelling. Therefore, the treatment is basically the same. It should be aimed at reducing inflammation and pain, restoring mobility and regenerating damaged tissues. You can treat diseases of the elbow joint in the following ways:

A cold compress or ice will help relieve pain and swelling. You need to apply it for no more than 30 minutes.
Ensuring the immobility of the joint. If this is difficult to do, you need to use an elastic bandage or a special orthosis.
The use of ointments and creams with anti-inflammatory and chondroprotective effects. It can be "Nise", "Voltaren", "Diclofenac", "Nimesulide". NSAIDs can also be taken orally.
In many diseases, drugs are prescribed that improve blood circulation, restore bone tissue that normalize metabolism. Injections of B vitamins are made, preparations containing calcium are taken.
Physical therapy is also effective. Ultrasound, Bernard currents, phonophoresis, UHF, paraffin applications, massage, exercise therapy. Usually a course of 10 procedures is prescribed, in difficult cases an individual treatment program is drawn up.

In addition to these methods of therapy, it is necessary to carry out special treatment elbow disease that was diagnosed in the patient. With injuries, this is immobilization, with inflammation - NSAIDs, antibiotics, and other drugs are also prescribed. Treatment is selected individually, depending on the characteristics of the patient's condition.

Anti-inflammatory ointment will help relieve pain in the elbow joint

Folk methods of treatment

You can relieve joint pain with folk recipes. But they can only be used in addition to the main treatment prescribed by the doctor. What methods are the most effective:

baths can be taken sea salt or coniferous decoction;
rub the joint with tinctures of propolis, Kalanchoe or elecampane;
make compresses with blue clay;
rub the elbow with a mixture of honey and apple cider vinegar;
apply applications with celandine juice;
take inside decoctions of dandelion, calendula, cinquefoil, St. John's wort, chamomile;
well relieves pain compress of grated potatoes.

Diseases of the elbow joint cause serious inconvenience, as they hinder movement and cause pain. To avoid this, you need to eat right, protect your elbow from injuries and treat inflammation in time.

13. Damage to the ulnar nerve

The defeat of the ulnar nerve ranks second in frequency among the lesions of all nerves that make up the brachial plexus.

In most cases, the cause of neuropathy of the ulnar nerve is its compression in the area of the elbow joint. This pathology can be observed in people when working with elbows on a machine, desk, etc. Most often this occurs in emaciated people. The nerve may be compressed at the level of the wrist.

In addition to compression, ulnar nerve neuropathy can be caused by a fracture of the medial condyle of the shoulder or supracondylar fractures. In more rare cases, ulnar neuritis occurs with a variety of infections, such as typhus, typhoid fever, etc. The function of the ulnar nerve is mixed.

The motor fibers that make up the nerve innervate the ulnar flexor of the wrist, the deep flexor of the finger, and the adductor thumb muscle. The ulnar flexor of the wrist during contraction produces flexion of the hand, as well as its abduction to the ulnar side. The deep flexor of the finger flexes the IV and V fingers of the hand.

In addition, this nerve innervates the muscles that adduct and spread the fingers. Also, the ulnar nerve innervates the vermiform muscles, which extend the middle and distal phalanges of the fingers. Thus, the ulnar nerve performs the following movements: flexion and extension of the middle and distal phalanges of the IV and V fingers, dilution and adduction of all fingers except for I, adduction of the thumb.

In addition to the above motor acts, the ulnar nerve, together with the median nerve, performs flexion of the hand at the radiocarpal joint, as well as flexion of all fingers of the hand, except for I, in the main phalanges.

The composition of the ulnar nerve includes sensory fibers that innervate the skin on the ulnar surface of the hand, as well as the skin of V and part IV of the fingers.

Damage to the ulnar nerve leads to the impossibility of palmar flexion of the hand. The possibility of bending the IV and V fingers is lost, the patient cannot reduce and spread the fingers of the hand, and also carry out the adduction of the first finger of the hand.

At objective examination there is atrophy of the small muscles of the hand, hyperextension of the fingers in the region of their main phalanges due to the preservation of the function of the radial nerve. The middle and distal phalanges of the fingers are in the flexion position. Outwardly, the brush of the affected limb takes the form of a clawed paw. The patient is unable to flex