Ben Reihanian S2B2 - What is the Funny Bone?

 What is the Funny Bone?


We’ve all experienced that awful feeling when you hit that specific spot in the middle of your elbow by accident. Whether it be on the side of the table or against a wall, all of a sudden an odd, engulfing tingling sensation overcomes you making you cringe in pain and confusion. What is the funny bone, and what’s going on with your body?

In order to understand it, you need to know the basic anatomy of your arm. ​​There are three bones that make up the elbow joint. The ulnar, humerus, and radius (which radiates from your forearm).

When you hit your funny bone, you're actually hitting the medial epicondyle of the humerus, which is why it's called the funny bone. The ulnar nerve goes behind that and when the medial epicondyle gets hit, you're actually trapping that ulnar nerve between the skin and the bony structure around it, and that will cause tingling feelings to run down our arm. So the funny bone isn't really a bone. It's a nerve, actually. A nerve is a structure that allows information to pass from your body to your brain. The nervous system is protected in most parts of the body by your muscles and other tissues. Essentially, it's well-padded so that if you bump your leg or the side of your arm, it won't hurt too much. However, the ulnar nerve is not protected, that is why it hurts so much. The ulnar nerve extends from your neck to your shoulder and down to your hand. It then divides into two branches, one inside your pinky finger and the other inside your ring finger. When you bump your elbow, the nerve actually pushes up against your bone.

Why is it called the funny bone? People have two theories regarding how the name came to be. The first theory, slightly mentioned before, involves one of the bones in your arm near the nerve. This bone is known as the humerus, which bears some resemblance to humorous, which is another word for funny. The second premise is that when you hit your funny bone, it feels funny - not laughing funny, but odd, which is another way people use the word "funny."

Comments

  1. AnonymousFeb 3, 2022, 11:48:00 AM

    I really never thought about the reason behind the funny bone name or feeling you get when you hit it. I think that the science behind it is actually very interesting, and it is not really what I expected the reason behind the feeling to be. I think that the name probably came from a mixture of the two theories. It sounds like the name probably came from the bone near the nerve, but was remembered because of the funny feeling you get when you hit it.

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