# My left hand is messed up. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 9, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-left-hand-is-messed-up/630993 "2012-08-09T19:42:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-left-hand-is-messed-up/630993/1 "2012-08-09T19:42:41Z")
I’m seeing the doctor next week, but until then I thought somebody might have an idea what’s going on. A couple months ago my little finger got tingly numb. Annoying but not too bad. Then it spread to the side of the next finger. Now that part of my palm and the back of my hand are numbish, too. Little finger and ring finger are kind of curling under making my hand almost useless. The whole hand seems to be weak, too, but I’m not sure. Maybe a person needs those last two fingers more than I knew. Typing is interesting. Anyway, anybody familiar with this? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-left-hand-is-messed-up/630993/2 "2012-08-09T20:04:18Z")
No answer, but I feel for you. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-left-hand-is-messed-up/630993/3 "2012-08-09T20:05:20Z")
I had this happened to me. Does it get worse when you position your head in certain ways? In other words, do some neck exercises (touch chin to left shoulder, touch chin to right shoulder, look straight up, look straight up and try to touch your ear to your shoulder, etc.) and see if any of the movements make it worse. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-left-hand-is-messed-up/630993/4 "2012-08-09T20:41:40Z")
Nope. Just tried those things and doesn’t seem to affect it. It’s been a gradual thing. The curling just started 2 or 3 days ago. 😕 What did you do for it? ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-left-hand-is-messed-up/630993/5 "2012-08-09T20:52:25Z")
Thank you **bup.** ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-left-hand-is-messed-up/630993/6 "2012-08-09T20:54:40Z")
You have described the distribution of the [ulnar nerve](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulnar_nerve). Sounds like [it is getting compressed somewhere](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulnar_nerve_entrapment). That can happen at the wrist, elbow, brachial plexus, or the neck. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-left-hand-is-messed-up/630993/7 "2012-08-09T21:04:31Z")
**Iggy** , Aha! Is this something that can gradually fix itself, like it came on? (ty BTW) ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-left-hand-is-messed-up/630993/8 "2012-08-09T21:17:02Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > Nope. Just tried those things and doesn’t seem to affect it. It’s been a gradual thing. The curling just started 2 or 3 days ago. 😕 What did you do for it? In my case it was a pinched nerve in the neck. I tried [neck exercises](http://www.amazon.com/Treat-Your-Neck-Robin-McKenzie/dp/0473002094), but they didn’t do much good. So I hit the gym and started lift weights, with emphasis on upper body muscles. This included lots of military presses. At first the numbness got _worse_. ☹ But I kept lifting anyway. And then it went away. I believe my weight-lifting regime is what fixed the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-left-hand-is-messed-up/630993/9 "2012-08-09T21:22:22Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > **Iggy** , Aha! Is this something that can gradually fix itself, like it came on? (ty BTW) I am not a doctor, not do I play one on TV. Which means I am not qualified to offer treatment options for you. All I can say is that, if my arm or fingers go numb, I would first adopt a weight-lifting & stretching regime designed to strengthen and improve flexibility in my arms, shoulders, and upper back. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-left-hand-is-messed-up/630993/10 "2012-08-09T21:30:00Z")
Thanks **Crafter-Man.** I’ve now read up on it a liitle bit. Sounds like I should have brought it up to the doc a couple months ago when it first started, now that I have “the Claw.” Bwwaaahaaaa. Oh well…live and get dumber. Hopefully there’ll be something I can do. I have some one or two pound weights I could start playing around with.