Muscles
Flexor Carpi Ulnaris Trigger Points
Symptom Area: Forearm and Hand
Flexor Carpi Ulnaris Trigger Points are explored here through their location and referred pain pattern. Muscle knots is an everyday term used for tender muscular spots; myofascial pain describes pain involving muscle and its surrounding connective tissue. Ulnar wrist flexor; trigger points cause pain at the ulnar side of the palmar wrist, sometimes mimicking ulnar nerve symptoms.
Where you feel it
When the Flexor Carpi Ulnaris holds active trigger points, you usually notice it as volar wrist & palmar pain. Where the pain spreads: Pain on the ulnar side of the palmar wrist, occasionally spreading up the medial forearm. What often sets it off: Sustained gripping, repetitive wrist flexion, cycling with weight on the hands, throwing sports, heavy manual work.
Overview
Flexor carpi ulnaris runs from the medial epicondyle and olecranon to the pisiform and fifth metacarpal, flexing and ulnarly deviating the wrist. The ulnar nerve passes between its two heads at the elbow, so tension here can accompany ulnar nerve irritation.
Trigger point locations
A point in the muscle belly along the ulnar border of the anterior forearm, in the proximal third.
Referred pain pattern
Pain on the ulnar side of the palmar wrist, occasionally spreading up the medial forearm.
Palpation & testing
With the forearm supinated, palpate along the ulnar border; resisted wrist flexion with ulnar deviation brings the taut band under the fingers.
Common causes
Sustained gripping, repetitive wrist flexion, cycling with weight on the hands, throwing sports, heavy manual work.
Self-care & clinical treatment
Wrist flexor stretching and graded loading, forearm self-massage, handlebar and grip ergonomics. Clinically: manual release and needling with ulnar nerve screening at the cubital tunnel.
Treatment protocol
For Flexor Carpi Ulnaris, the general protocol applies: sustained pressure release on the taut band, then stretch and active movement in the newly gained range.
Position and palpation: With the forearm supinated, palpate along the ulnar border; resisted wrist flexion with ulnar deviation brings the taut band under the fingers.
Regional precaution for clinicians: In the forearm and hand the median nerve at the pronator teres, the ulnar nerve at the cubital tunnel and Guyon's canal, the radial nerve in the supinator arcade and the radial artery at the wrist are all superficial and must be avoided; needles are short and angled away from the neurovascular bundles.
Secondary Symptoms
Related muscles in this region
References
- • triggerpoints.net — reference
Medically reviewed by: Marco Aruffo — physiotherapist since 2006, specialised in myofascial pain · Last reviewed:
