Poor posture for one...

Change your posture, excersise regularly.

Something that tests the nerves in the limb.
It takes about 10 minutes.
You get a couple small electric shocks, and a couple pin {*filter*}s.

CTS causes symptoms in the thumb, pointer and middle finger.
Ulnar nerve problems affect the little finger and the one next to it.

car.
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About 3% of the population have all the fingers ennervated by the
medial nerve which runs through the carpal tunnel. Since ulnar nerve
problems are much rarer than medial nerve ones, the chances of having CTS
cause little finger problems are roughly the same as the chances of
having ulnar nerve problems. (My neurologist actually guessed I was
having ulnar nerve problems first, but it turns out my ulnar nerve
doesn't go much of anywhere and I have good ol' CTS. He didn't find
this particularly shocking.)

        Elizabeth D. Zwicky

Many things.  One think is entrapment or traumatic damage at the elbow.

Surgical release.  Elbow pads (maybe).  

They stimulate the nerve at various sites and record from others
to see how it is working.  They stick tiny needle electrodes into
muscles to see if the nerve is still reaching them properly.  It
hurts some, but even little children seem to be able to take it.
Without it, it may be impossible to know what to do for you and
the problem may become more severe.

Weakness, numbness, tingling, pain.

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Gordon Banks  N3JXP      | "Skepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and

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Huh?  What do you mean?  Posture has nothing to do with ulnar
nerve palsy.  You've been listening to chiropractors too much.
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Gordon Banks  N3JXP      | "Skepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and

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: My rheumatologist suspects that I either have CTS or ulnar nerve
: damage.  He has ordered an EMG for my wrist and elbow.  
:
: 1.  What causes ulnar nerve damage?
: 2.  What can be done about it?
: 3.  What's an EMG?  How long does it take?  Is it painful?
: 4.  What are the symptoms of each of these?

IMHO, proper typing posture would eliminate this pseudo-problem.
Remember how your typing teacher told you to hold your wrists still
and let your fingers do the work.  Keep your wrists well above
the keyboard and OFF THE TABLE.

I would try that before sucking up to sugery.

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"The computer can't tell you the emotional story.  It can give you the exact
mathematical design, but what's missing is the eyebrows." -- Frank Zappa

: My rheumatologist suspects that I either have CTS or ulnar nerve
: damage.  He has ordered an EMG for my wrist and elbow.  
:
: 1.  What causes ulnar nerve damage?
: 2.  What can be done about it?
: 3.  What's an EMG?  How long does it take?  Is it painful?
: 4.  What are the symptoms of each of these?

The ulnar nerve can be damaged by a variety of conditions including trauma, peripheral neuropathy, metabolic disorders such as diabetes, and diseases like arthritis and vasculitis.  Some types of tumor can arise from the nerve.

Treatment is determined by the cause.

An EMG (Electromyography) measures the elecrical activity of the muscles supplied by a particular nerve.  It can give indirect information about the state of the nerve.  A Nerve Conduction Test is frequently done also.

The symptoms are in the areas of the hand supplied by the nerve.  They may include numbness, tingling, pain, weakness and wasting of the muscles.  The last two fingers are mostly supplied by the ulnar nerve, and the others by the median nerve (responsible for the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome).

Goodluck

Different syndrome than ulnar palsy.  You should have said so in
the first place.  Thoracic outlet is a bit more problematical
to treat.  Sometimes a cervical rib can cause it.  If so, the
rib may have to be removed.  Sometimes one of the scalenus muscles
can cause the problem and can be severed to relieve the compression.
You need a real good electrodiagnostic study if you haven't had it.
--
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Gordon Banks  N3JXP      | "Skepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and

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There's a physiatrist at the U. of Minn who is doing botulinum toxin
injections into the scalenes with great results.  One of those "now, why
didn't I think of that" ideas.

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This is patently absurd; but whoever wishes to become a philosopher
must learn not to be frightened by absurdities. -- Bertrand Russell

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