Why does it feel so strange when you hit your elbow?

Question: Why does it feel so strange when you hit your elbow?
- Keywords:
  elbow
Asked by niko to David, Helen, Ian, rhysphillips, Sarah on 24 Jun 2011.
- Ian van der Linde answered on 16 Jun 2011:
  
  Probably because it’s quite a delicate little joint and you’re body is warning you to take good care of it. Pain is there to encourage us to go easy on ourselves so that we don’t break something!
- Rhys Phillips answered on 16 Jun 2011:
  
  It’s a joke – it’s called the “funny bone” and so evolution came up with a funny feeling to go with the name!
- David Corne answered on 16 Jun 2011:
  
  See the ulnar nerve, left middle in this figure, going right into the elbow:
  
  That’s the thing that you hit! The nerves are the main channels for sending signals to the brain,and ulnar is one of the big ones. When you hit it, you feel it loud and clear, and other things that connect with it feel echoes of the hit, like the hand and fingers.
- Helen Fletcher answered on 24 Jun 2011:
  
  It is because the nerve that allows you to feel in your little finger and the one next to it (the ulnar nerve) runs very close to the surface of the skin so you can hit it when you hit your elbow. If you bend your elbow and feel in the groove you can sometimes make it twinge.

Question: Why does it feel so strange when you hit your elbow?