What An Ulnar Nerve Injury Is Like

It's possible that Denard has had some weakness in his right hand that he hasn't even been aware of (I'm not saying that this would be the primary reason for his interceptions).  The ulnar nerve in my right arm was pinched a few years ago, and I didn't realize how much weaker it was relative to my left arm until my doctor tested it.   Denard may find himself feeling better than he thought possible once this is fully treated after the season is over. 

For plunking MSU players in the back.

Re  "days where after 9 pitches against MSU I hit two guys in the back because I suddenly had no ability to control the ball"

Denard had an elbow injury to his thowing arm in 2011.  I am certain of it as I recall it was mid season and was labelled "a boo boo" at the time.  Whether this is related to that injury is not known, or is not being disclosed... however there was a similar injury last year which was documented in the press and on this website in some form or another.

None of us know but we did sleep at a Holiday Inn so let's all speculate Oliver Stone style.  Earlier in the week when we were talking inverted veer and horrid offense I was linked to a 2010 Offenses every snap video.  From there I watched those 2010 clips and was sad.   The Iowa clip was interesting as if you remember Denard came out of the game after being hit right above the elbow on an innocent enough looking play. I wonder if that was the start of the trouble?   I don't think it has anything to do with bad passes, but that could have been the beginning of his troubles with that arm.   Starts at about the 7:20 mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5EWTnzimOg&feature=relmfu 

I have herniated discs in my back and neck and have experienced the "shock" the poster speaks of. It was in my shoulder, and completely freaked me out. Like being struck by lightning. Very, very painful. 

I suffered an ulnar nerve contusion when I got beaned on the funny bone playing baseball. My lower arm went numb instantly and my hand locked up. I stayed in the game but after realizing that I wasn't regaining enough movement in my arm I came out. As the hours passed I was gaining more strength/grip. I was completely fine after a couple days other than the annoying soreness when gripping things. The nerve was sensitive for a few weeks and the slightest bump would aggravate that funny bone feeling, although only briefly.

So I would guess that Denard will be able to play without the injury hampering him too much, although he will probably have to play through some slight discomfort. However, any hit on his elbow could take him out of the game briefly or permanently.

First, THANK YOU for a front page mention! Im so excited.



I am not sure Denard would have had a translation surgery even if his injury is exactly like mine. This injury, and proper treatment, can be a blindspot to many doctors Denard is likely in contact with. My experience with a B1G training room is that all of the orthopods there are primarily "football docs" which means they are highly qualified at assessing the structural components of knees and shoulders for tears to muscles, ligaments, and tendons.



In my experience, they are specialized in these areas to the exclusion of understanding the smaller parts of the elbow, the nerves, bloood vessels, etc. Our entire staff did not have one elbow/hand specialist. I do not know if M does or not. For me it was simply a case of the the surgeons looking at my ulnar collateral ligament, seeing no tears in it, and send me back to the athletic trainers for rest/ice/heat/stim/ultrasound/stretch/strengthening programs for several years until they couldnt think of anything else to try.

Denard did have an elbow injury last year. I believe he had an infection but it may have been in the same region and potentially led to some scar tissue or fibrosis in the region, possibly predisposing him to further injury of the elbow.

Secondly, it's possible he had this injury last year but it calmed down in the off season thus no surgery. It then could have flared up and the only treatment is more rest, which he won't get until the off season. We won't know. However, if it's lingered since last season, he should have had a pad for it.

Is this similar to sneezing and your arm going numb?

I injured my ulnar nerve in a freak accident. I had immediate and excruciating pain that felt like my whole arm was on fire especially my hand. A few seconds later half my hand was numb. After an hour or so I regained feeling everywhere except my ring and pinky finger. The numbness at the tip of my fingers lasted a week or so but I would have been able to throw a football. I imagine it would have been easy to aggravate though so it might by worth holding Denard out since we're playing a weak opponent.

... has been becoming more common among major league baseball players - primarily pitchers, as you'd expect - over the last ten years.  My subjective impression is diagnosis of this problem has become more prevalent as more and more pitchers routinely have their arms/elbows imaged and their motions analyzed for more efficient biometrics.

I would imagine that some of that knowledge is making its way into other sports and down to the college levels, possibly slower than we'd like.  (Which is not to say that Denard was improperly diagnosed or that the surgery was appropriate for him in the offseason - it is entirely possible that he's only started experiencing this problem this year, or this week.)

I'm sure that Denard will get plenty of attention from a hand surgeon at U of M. I know some of the orthopedic surgeons who treat the football team (hell, one was my anatomy partner 14 years ago at Mich) and they would likely get him into see the right guy (Chung is a hand guru and holds office hours at University Hospital). We r very lucky to have the docs we have at Michigan. Absolutely top of the line! The interesting part will be how or if they are able to protect Denards elbow on Saturday

I somehow lucked into having two parents who have ulnar nerve issues, and if I just lean my elbows on a table for about five minutes I lose all feeling to my pinky and ring finger, and have limited strength in the rest of my hand.  It can last for days.  Obviously Denard doesn't have it that bad (or, I assume not) but it can recur very easily.  Also, cold weather makes it worse, at least for me, so the weather last week could have played a part.  He shakes his hand a lot, as if he can't get complete control of it, and I wouldn't be surprised if he has some chronic issue.  When I saw him go down this last game, I knew it was his ulnar nerve, but it also made me wonder if this was part of what had been going on dating back to last year.

Also, you can get it corrected with surgery, but at least as of a decade ago a doctor told me the problem would likely come back after 5-10 years, so why bother.  Of course, that could have just been for me, and medicine has improved in the past decade, but that could account for why this wouldn't have been treated surgically in the past.  Regardless, I don't think this is the first time this has occurred, since the reaction seemed to be one of frustration and not fear, which is what you would expect if someone all of a sudden lost feeling in his hand and had no clue why.