Pain guide · Elbow pain
The ulnar nerve runs through a tunnel on the inside of the elbow, where your "funny bone" is. It gives feeling to the little finger and half the ring finger and powers the small muscles of the hand. In cubital tunnel syndrome it is squeezed or irritated there, usually causing tingling or numbness in those fingers that comes and goes at first.
What helps most isn't an exercise: it's changing the positions that press on the nerve or keep the elbow bent. Most mild cases improve over months that way. The exercises below keep your arm strong without stirring the nerve up.
Exercise is for pain that has been checked or is clearly mild and settling.
Numbness or tingling of the little and ring fingers is usually the first symptom. It often comes and goes at first and may later become constant. In later stages the hand becomes weak or clumsy, and the muscle on the back of the hand between the thumb and first finger can visibly waste. Most cases have no obvious cause; arthritis or an old injury can narrow the tunnel. A Cochrane review calls it the second most common nerve entrapment after carpal tunnel syndrome.
It is often brought on by leaning on the inside of the elbow, or by holding the elbow bent, on the phone for example, and sleeping with the elbow bent can aggravate it. That is why the advice is all about pressure on the inner elbow and how long the elbow stays bent.
Ulnar nerve symptoms sit in the little finger and the little-finger half of the ring finger. Tingling in the thumb, index and middle fingers points away from the ulnar nerve, towards the wrist (carpal tunnel) or the neck (editorial). Pain spreading from the neck, changing when you move your head, points to the neck: see the pinched nerve in the neck guide. In climbers, ulnar nerve compression has been mistaken for elbow tendon pain, and a guideline lists nerve problems among the conditions that mimic tennis elbow.
In a trial of 70 people with mild or moderate symptoms, everyone was told about the cause and how to avoid the positions that bring it on, then given a night splint, nerve gliding exercises or nothing more. At 6 months, 51 of the 57 followed up (89.5%) had improved, with no difference between the groups: the splints and glides added nothing.
A 2025 Cochrane review (15 trials, 970 people, mostly about surgery) concluded that in mild cases, information on movements and positions to avoid may reduce discomfort, based on that small trial. A review of conservative care (19 studies, 844 people) found moderate evidence for education with activity changes or splinting in mild or moderate cases.
Avoid leaning on the inside of the elbow, or wear protective pads; use a headset for the phone; avoid repeated bending and keeping the elbow bent; and stop the elbow bending at night with a folded towel wrapped around it or a splint from a hand therapist. The British Society for Surgery of the Hand says these measures may be curative in early cases.
In the only trial, nerve gliding exercises added nothing to advice in mild to moderate cases. If a physiotherapist gives you a glide, keep it gentle and never push into strong tingling (editorial). The median nerve slider on this site is for arm symptoms coming from the neck, not for the ulnar nerve.
Pooled observational data found improvement in 89% of people who used a splint and 54% after a steroid injection, but the evidence is low quality, and a Cochrane review is very uncertain whether steroid injections help. In the trial above, night splints added nothing to advice in mild cases.
Surgery is for severe cases or those that don't respond. It often improves numbness, but its chief aim is to stop weakness and muscle wasting getting worse; strength recovers slowly and incompletely. Simply releasing the nerve and moving it to the front of the elbow give similar results. An NHS referral guide refers people whose pins and needles have lasted over 6 months despite care, and urgently those with permanent numbness or wasting.
With a nerve problem, tingling matters more than pain. No exercise in this plan should bring on tingling in the ring or little finger, and any tingling should settle quickly afterwards (editorial). The tendon rule below applies to the forearm exercises.
Some discomfort during forearm exercises is fine. Keep it mild: no more than about 3 to 4 out of 10. It should settle within an hour or so, and your elbow should be no worse the next morning. If it is worse, go lighter next time (a lighter weight, a bendier bar, fewer reps or a shorter hold), not nothing. When a set no longer causes any discomfort, it's time to progress.
Tingling is the exception: stop any exercise or position that brings on pins and needles or numbness in your hand, especially in the ring and little fingers, and avoid holding the elbow fully bent while it settles.
This is lower than the 5 out of 10 used on this site's back and shoulder pages, because most elbow trials used pain-free or nearly pain-free exercise. A UK consensus paper that reviewed the tennis elbow trials reports that all but one asked for pain-free exercise; the exception, as that paper describes it, allowed mild pain below 4 out of 10. The JOSPT guideline says the load should not make symptoms worse, and elbow specialists suggest doing the flexible-bar exercises with discomfort of about 3 to 4 out of 10.
Pushing harder backfires at the elbow. Still holds done above people's own pain threshold left more pain 30 minutes later, while holds below it did not, and in one trial most people gave up heavy loading, mainly because it aggravated their pain. In long-lasting muscle and joint pain generally, allowing some pain did no harm. The exact 3 to 4 out of 10 figure and the settling times are editorial. If pain climbs from week to week, or you notice a warning sign, stop and get it checked.
Start at the first stage. Each move opens a full guide with a 3D demo.
The first 2 weeks or so. The position changes on this page are the evidence-based core; these moves keep the arm moving without provoking the nerve. All doses are editorial.
3D demoWrist & forearm flowBeginner · No equipment10 slow reps each direction, 2 to 3 times a day
Harder: Wrist flexor stretch
3D demoElbow bend and straighten (elbow range of motion)Beginner · No equipment10 slow reps, 2 to 3 times a day · No holds at full bend
Harder: Dumbbell biceps curl
3D demoBand finger extensionBeginner · A band2 sets of 15 · Works the small hand muscles
Easier: Ball squeeze · Harder: Band overhead triceps extension
3D demoBall squeezeBeginner · Other / check instructions5 to 10 reps of 5 s squeezes
Harder: Band finger extension
Move on when: Tingling isn't building up during the day, and the moves don't bring it on.
About weeks 2 to 12. Doses are editorial.
3D demoBand rowBeginner · A band + An anchor point2 to 3 sets of 12 to 15
3D demoStanding band external rotationBeginner · A band + An anchor point2 to 3 sets of 12 to 15
Harder: Side-lying external rotation
3D demoReverse wrist curlBeginner · A dumbbell + A bench or box2 sets of 12 to 15
Easier: Wrist-extensor eccentrics · Harder: Seated One-Arm Dumbbell Palms-Down Wrist Curl
3D demoWrist curlsBeginner · A dumbbell2 sets of 12 to 15
Easier: Wrist-extensor eccentrics · Harder: Seated One-Arm Dumbbell Palms-Down Wrist Curl
3D demoDumbbell forearm rotationBeginner · A dumbbell + A bench or box2 sets of 10
Easier: Wrist-extensor eccentrics · Harder: Dumbbell reverse curl
3D demoFarmer's carryBeginner · A dumbbell + A kettlebell3 walks of 20 m, light · Elbows straight
Harder: Suitcase carry
Move on when: Each set leaves the fingers no more tingly than before you started.
From about 6 to 12 weeks. Doses are editorial.
3D demoTriceps pushdownBeginner · A cable machine3 sets of 10 to 12 · Mid-range: let the bar rise only to chest height
3D demoDumbbell triceps kickbackBeginner · A dumbbell3 sets of 10 to 12 · The home option; the elbow straightens rather than bends
3D demoHammer curlBeginner · A dumbbell3 sets of 8 to 12 · No squeeze at the top
Easier: Seated dumbbell curl · Harder: Alternating hammer curl
3D demoFarmer's carryBeginner · A dumbbell + A kettlebell3 walks of 20 to 30 m
Harder: Suitcase carry
3D demoStraight-arm plank (high plank)Intermediate · No equipment3 holds of 20 to 30 s · Instead of forearm planks, if those bring on tingling
Easier: Knee hover (Pilates tabletop hover) · Harder: Leg pull front (Pilates leg pull down)
Move on when: Add load one change at a time. Constant numbness, weakness or wasting at any stage means seeing a doctor, not pushing on.
| Habit or position | Why it matters | Instead |
|---|---|---|
| Leaning on your elbows (a desk, an armrest, a car window) | Presses on the nerve in its tunnel. | Protective pads; rest on your forearm rather than the inner elbow (editorial); avoid resting the arm on armchair arms. |
| Holding a phone to your ear | Keeps the elbow bent for a long time. | A headset or the speaker. |
| Sleeping with the arm tucked up | Bending at night aggravates it. | A towel wrapped around the elbow, or a splint. |
| Repeated bending at work | Brings symptoms on. | Change the task or posture, and take breaks (editorial). |
| Overhead triceps stretch | Holds the elbow fully bent, which squeezes and stretches the nerve (editorial, from how the nerve is irritated). | Skip it, or shorten it if it brings on tingling. |
| Skull crushers and overhead triceps extensions | Deep elbow bending under load (editorial). | Triceps pushdowns or kickbacks. |
| Elbow circles with the hands on the shoulders | The elbows stay fully bent (editorial). | Leave it out while the nerve is irritable. |
| Forearm planks on a hard floor | Pressure plus bending, if they bring on tingling (editorial). | Straight-arm planks, or padding under the elbows. |
| A long squeeze at the top of a curl | Full bend under load (editorial). | Curls without the top squeeze. |
It is the ulnar nerve, where it runs close to the surface on the inside of the elbow. Knocking it sends tingling into the ring and little fingers, the same fingers affected in cubital tunnel syndrome.
In the only trial, nerve glides added nothing to an explanation and avoiding the positions that bring symptoms on. If a physiotherapist gives you one, keep it gentle and never push into strong tingling.
At night, stopping the elbow bending fully is the standard advice: a towel wrapped around the elbow or a splint from a hand therapist. In the one trial, night splints added nothing to advice in mild cases, so start with the towel.
Most mild cases improve over months with position changes: in the trial, about 9 in 10 people had improved at 6 months. If pins and needles last more than 6 months despite these measures, or numbness becomes constant, see a GP.
Tingling in the little and ring fingers points to the nerve. An ache over the inner bump, worse gripping, without tingling, points to golfer's elbow. They sit close together, and you can have both.
That points away from the ulnar nerve. Tingling in the thumb, index and middle fingers is more often the wrist (carpal tunnel) or the neck; with neck pain, or if it changes when you move your head, see the pinched nerve in the neck guide. Tingling that keeps coming back needs a GP.
Only a minority do. Surgery is for severe cases or those that don't settle, and its main aim is to stop weakness and wasting getting worse; strength recovers slowly. Constant numbness, a weak hand or visible wasting are the signs to see a doctor about.
Anything that holds the elbow fully bent, especially under load: overhead triceps stretches and extensions, skull crushers, a long squeeze at the top of a curl, and forearm planks if they bring on tingling. Use elbow-straight or mid-range versions instead.
Exercise education, not a diagnosis or treatment plan. It is written from the guidelines and studies listed above; review by a clinician is pending. If your pain follows an injury, is severe, is getting worse, or comes with any warning sign listed on this page, get it assessed. Health disclaimer.
