pinky and ring finger feel weak, can't make a fist?

Question

this isn't the first time this has happened.

i just got back from renting some movies. while in the movie store my arm felt really weak all the way up to my ring finger. I don't wear a ring there. My entire arm feels weak and I can't clench my fist hard at all. I can barely clench a fist on that arm.

What could the problem be? I'm healthy from what I know and I'm 17 years old.

Answer 1

No definitive answer, but could be ulnar nerve compression/impingement. It's the nerve that runs just near the surface between the union of the two bones at your elbow. Compressing this nerve bundle can cause problems like what you describe.

Are you leaning on the elbow heavily, especially on a hard, non-padded surface? This can cause compression on the nerve. Have you been working it out especially hard - overworking and over devloping the surrounding muscles can also put the squeeze on the nerve bundle.

Also look at resources that describe carpal tunnel syndrome. This is nerve compression that occurs in the wrist, especially prominent in repetitive stressing of the wrist. Again, this is mechanical compression of the nerve caused by surrounding bone.