Never had it, but damn, when it rains it pours. So sorry about your "exceptional ism" but you are special. Hope it goes away on its own kiddo. Trish

For several months before my RA diagnosis I was diagnosed with cubital tunnel syndrome. It became so bad in my left arm that we had gotten to the final step before surgery - a hard cast to keep from doing any movement or bumping the joint to see if rest couldn't alleviate the issue.

Even after six weeks it was still an issue and they pretty much were ready to go in and "surgically fix it". Thankfully I got my RA diagnosis two weeks before the surgery was to occur and thankfully with prednisone and then a DMARD I have not had any symptoms of cubital tunnel syndrome since.

I would say on normal people braces don't help. LOL I would say on those with RA it wasn't much help either, however, I would have to have some very convincing images showing the reason for compression and not be in a flare before I would start looking at surgery. That's just me though and as we have seen on this site - every journey is radically different even though we are on the same road.

I have pain from ulnar nerve entrapment when my elbows flare up, but for me it has gone away once my flare lets up. I also found braces to help, but not in the usual way. I was waking up with my hands numb every day, and my physical therapist suggested wearing knee braces backwards on my arms, so I would not be able to bend my arms in my sleep (which makes less room for the nerve). If your symptoms are worse in the morning, this might help. Might also be worth considering a cortisone shot to your inner elbow, to see if tamping down the inflammation would help. Good luck!
Caren

Thanx y'all Many of you know I have been off enbrel for at least a month now awaiting surgery. But even on enbrel it wasn't working. I gave it 3 months so I've actually been in varying degrees of flare ups for all this time. But I'm still on prednisone and actually have been uped to 40 mg. also got a shot for a boost but so far no good. Except to leave me sleepless. Mayb things will get much better after I can start meds again.

I've had problems with the right arm.
For me it was the combo of RA & cervical problems.
I'm sorry I know it's painful.
The best of luck.
Sammy

Ask your doctor to give you a cortisone shot in that elbow. It will probably do the trick. (for awhile. :) )

If the shot works right, your inflammation will disappear in that elbow and allow the nerve to move freely.

My saga began with problems with the ulnar nerve in the left wrist. A wrist brace helped a little. I wore a cast for about three weeks and that helped a little bit. But once the cast was off I was back to where I started.

Then the pain moved to another part of my hand. That time it looked like carpal tunnel syndrome. Later all of the pain, swelling, discomfort was duplicated in my right hand.

While I may in fact have carpal tunnel syndrome and or ulnar entrapment, I really will do my best to avoid any surgical correction. I am hoping that once the inflammation in my hands goes down that the nerve problems will all disappear. This may be wishful thinking, but I really, really don't want to have hand or elbow surgery.

I had ulnar nerve and carpal tunnel surgery on both hands my first year of teaching. Pain, numbness, tingling, dropping things, weakness. The EMG nerve conduction tests showed damage and impingement. Thankfully the surgeries helped.
Now with RA, I do notice some similar symptoms at times, especially when in a flare. Once things calm down, the symptoms disappear.