I saw a man at the Hollywood Roosevelt with a
numb arm. That’s an odd complaint but unlikely to represent something serious
in a 26 year-old.
He had fallen asleep on the plane, resting his
head on his palm with an elbow on the arm rest. On awakening he felt numbness
down his forearm. This was easy.
The ulnar nerve that supplies the hand passes
under your medial epicondyle, the knob you can feel inside your elbow. It’s a
poor design because the nerve is exposed. Hitting it produces tingling down
your arm to the little finger. It’s the “funny bone.”
Cab drivers who spend the day with one arm
resting on the door often suffer the same symptom. Once they change position,
the discomfort disappears in a few days.
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