What Causes Numbness In Little Finger? (and How to Fix It)

What Causes Numbness In Little Finger?

Your little finger and part of your ring finger are innervated by a nerve called the ulnar nerve.

The ulnar nerve starts out in the lower part of your neck.

Then it runs down through the shoulder region, and comes down the inner arm on the inside of the elbow.

Next it goes through the wrist and then into your little finger and part of your ring finger.

As you can probably tell, there are multiple different places where the ulnar nerve can get entrapped or irritated.

First, I'll go through where those various places.  Then I'll share some tips that you can use to take pressure off depending on where the nerve is entrapped.

Numbness in Little Finger Caused By Neck Problems

The ulnar nerve starts out in the neck primarily in the C8 and T1 nerve roots

The C8 nerve root is just below the C7 vertebrae and above the T1 vertebrae. Then T1 exits the spine between T1 and T2.

Numbness In Little Finger From Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

Those two nerves then form the lower trunk of the brachial plexus.

The brachial plexus is a big bundle of nerves that passes through the shoulder here, and it runs underneath your collarbone and over top of your first rib.

There are also some muscles that attach from your neck to your first rib called the scalene muscles.  These are another possible entrapment site of the brachial plexus.

Next, the brachial plexus runs underneath your pectoralis minor muscle before coming into the arm.

It then branches out into its branches, one of which is the ulnar nerve.

This area between the neck, collarbone, first rib, and pectoralis minor is known as the thoracic outlet. Entrapment in that area is known as thoracic outlet syndrome, which can cause numbness in the little finger and/or ring finger.

Numbness In Little Finger From Cubital Tunnel Syndrome

The next spot where the ulnar nerve can get entrapped is down at the elbow in a grove known as the cubital tunnel.

It's right between the bump on the tip of your elbow (olecranon process) and the bump on the inside of the elbow (medial epicondyle).

The nerve passes right through this soft spot and is colloquially known as your funny bone.

So when you hit your funny bone, you're really zinging your ulnar nerve.

Compression of the ulnar nerve at the cubital tunnel can cause tingling or numbness in the little finger.

Numbness In Little Finger From Guyan Canal Syndrome

Finally, the ulnar nerve runs down the inside of the forearm and through a little tunnel in your wrist called Guyon's canal.

The tunnel is made up of a little ligament from the hook of the hamate to your pisiform bone, which are two bones in your hand.

The ulnar nerve can get irritated in Guyon's canal from putting a lot of pressure on this area of your hand.

Examples include riding a bike for long distances, driving a car or truck, or prolonged use of a computer mouse.

This in turn can cause numbness in your little finger.

How To Get Rid Of Numbness In Little Finger

If your ulnar nerve is entrapped at Guyon's canal, the best way to relieve numbness in the little finger is just to avoid putting too much pressure on the outer palm of your hand.

However, let's start back up at the top because neck and then work back down from there.

Relieving Numbness In Little Finger From C8 Radiculopathy

As you age, you lose space between your vertebrae.

One of the most common reasons why people will pinch the C8 nerve in their neck is from having decreased space between their vertebrae from degenerative disc disease or spinal stenosis in the neck.

Additionally, sitting with a hunchback posture and forward head can also put pressure on the nerve roots in the lower neck.

Furthermore, tipping your head to the affected side further narrows the spaces where the nerves come out of your neck.

Strategies to relieve numbness in the little finger from neck problems include:

1. Avoiding holding your phone between your ear and your shoulder.
2. Sleeping positions that keep your neck in a midline, making sure to use a proper pillow height.
3. Neck stretches tipping your head away from the side of the pinched nerve.

First Rib Mobilization Exercise

This exercise to help with numbness from compression of the brachial plexus between the collar bone and first rib can be easily done at home.

You'll need a long belt, dog leash, or a stretching strap.

Sit on one end of it, and put the other end of it over your shoulder. You want it to hit as close to your neck as possible so that it is over your first rib but not touching the collar bone

Pull down on the strap and then gently tip  your head away from the affected side.

You should a gentle stretch in your neck above the strap.

Repeat this for 10-15 repetitions, holding about 1 second each time.

Arm Elevation Exercise

Additionally, I mentioned that if your collarbone is pulled down, that can also put some pressure on your brachial plexus and contribute to little finger numbness.

It's a good idea to get proper arm support sitting with armrests if you're working at a desk or sitting on a couch to prevent your collar bone from being pulled down.

However, you may also want to stretch your arm in an upward direction.

To do this, reach your arm up in the air toward the ceiling.

Then lean slightly to the opposite side.

This helps elevate the shoulder blade and the collarbone while sidebending your trunk away from the affected side.

Chest Stretch

The next place that the nerves that make up your ulnar nerve can get pinched is as the brachial plexus passes underneath your pectoralis minor.

It runs from your ribs and sternum to the front of your shoulder blade. If you sit with rounded shoulder posture during the day, it tightens your chest muscles.

Therefore, paying attention to sitting with your shoulders up and slightly pulled backwards can help to stretch out the pectoralis minor during the day.

However, you can also do stretches for your chest muscles.

One stretch is sitting or standing with your arms up with a goalpost.

It helps to have back support from either a chair, or leaning with your back against a wall.

Thing about rotating your hands backward toward the wall.  Your head and elbows don't necessarily have to touch the wall.

Hold for 30-60 seconds, unless your fingers start to go numb before then.

This does put you in an ulnar tension position, so make sure not to flare up your symptoms while doing the stretch.

How To Relieve Numbness In Little Finger From Cubital Tunnel Syndrome

You can irritate the ulnar nerve at the cubital tunnel by bumping your elbow like hitting your funny bone.

However, you can also irritate it if you have repeated or sustained positions of end-range elbow flexion. That position tensions the ulnar nerve across the cubital tunnel.

The best tip for that is just to avoid those end-range elbow positions, trying to keep your elbow straight to midrange. Throughout the day.

However, you can learn more cubital tunnel syndrome exercises in this post.

Ulnar Nerve Glide Exercise

After you've stretched out all the areas where the ulnar nerve can possibly be pinched or compressed, it's time to start moving the nerve.

To do this you can use an ulnar nerve glide exercise.

Start in a position like you're carrying a tray above your head.  This would be the tension position of the ulnar nerve.

Then straighten your elbow to take tension off of the nerve.

Return to the starting position and repeat for 10-15 repetitions.

Only move through the range of motion that you can comfortably.  You should NOT increase your little finger numbness while doing this exercise.

As your nerves get less irritable, you'll be able to go farther and farther into the tension position. But again, don't push through pain when doing nerve glides.

Conclusion

Hopefully this post helped to make the numbness in your little finger a little less confusing.

As you can tell, there are a lot of different causes of little finger numbness, and trying to figure it all out on your own can be overwhelming.

As such, it's a good idea to seek out help from a healthcare professional who understands how joints, nerves, and muscles work together.  They can help you figure out the cause of your little finger numbness and the best treatments to relieve it.

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