We have all experienced the pain of banging our funny bone against furniture, and it is the farthest thing from funny. It sends a numbing pain through our whole arm that is certainly not pleasant. So why is it called our funny bone then and why does it hurt so much?
There are a couple of theories for why it is called our funny bone. The first is that the name derived from a play on words. Our upper arm bone between the elbow and shoulder is called the humerus, which sounds like humorous. Makes sense. The other claim is that the tingling sensation sent through your arm is like an odd, “funny” feeling. I am curious as to who came up with that one. Who would hit their funny bone, experience that numbing pain, and say “hey this is kind of funny” so they called it the funny bone. But that’s beside the point. Now, why does it hurt so badly?
The funny bone is not actually a bone but rather a nerve. It is called the ulnar nerve, which runs from our neck all the way down to our hand. This nerve, like most in our body, is mostly protected by bones. Except when it gets to the elbow, it passes through something called the cubital tunnel where it is only skin and fat that protects the nerve. This makes it much more vulnerable to bumping it. When people bump their funny bone, they are actually hitting their nerve and compressing it against the bone. This shoots a weird tingling pain down your whole arm and into your fingers. It numbs your arm and hand for a few seconds and our first reaction is to shake it off or rub it (in addition to yelling in pain) which seems to get rid of the pain, While this sensation may not be funny and hurts at the time, things could actually be worse.
People suffer from something called cubital tunnel syndrome. This is when the ulnar nerve gets irritated and on its trip through the elbow, it gets obstructed and pinched against your bone. People can suffer from this by constantly hitting their funny bone where it keeps irritating that nerve. As you may imagine, this pain is not pleasant. It is as if you were being constantly hit with a tiny mallet on your elbow, bumping your funny one over and over again. In extreme cases, this syndrome impairs people’s usage of their hands. So next time you hit your funny bone, it may hurt at first, but be thankful you do not have to deal with the pain experienced during cubital tunnel syndrome. That certainly is not funny.
Sources:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/21474/what-funny-bone-and-why-does-hitting-it-hurt-so-much
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150827-why-does-it-hurt-so-much-to-hit-your-funny-bone
Ive always wondered what was really going on when I hit my funny bone. I never knew it was a nerve I always thought it was a bone just like many others believed too I’m sure. Just to be clear, someone can get cubital tunnel syndrome just by banging their funny bone too many times? Also something I wasn’t aware of.
As I was scrolling down the site looking for articles to comment on, I hit my funny bone and when the numbness stopped, your article came next so I had to stop and comment. I looked into the name and found another reason it could be called the funny bone. The weird sensation can make you laugh and cry at the same time. Its amazing how just hitting this nerve could cause such dramatic reactions in split seconds, and end as quickly as they came.
Interesting blog post, but I was wondering if there is a cure to cubital tunnel syndrome. While there is no magic cure, one can do physical therapy, wear a elbow pad/protector, or even a splint to sleep in. If none of these methods work, surgery can be done to relocate the nerve to the front of the elbow and protect it with a layer of fat. http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/cubital-radial-tunnel-syndrome