Since the image processing is done in 99% on GPU the program runs very fast and all the parameters can be changed in real time. Additional features like material textures or grunge maps are available.
So next time you accidentally whack your elbow on the arm of your chair, a car door, or anything else, take heart: it could be much, much worse.AwesomeBump is a free and open source program written using Qt library designed to generate normal, height, specular or ambient occlusion, metallic, roughness textures from a single image. Even in 2014, researchers were still conducting studies comparing surgical alternatives, and earlier this year surgeons Prasad Sawardeker, Katie E Kindt, and Mark E Baratz of Pittsburgh’s Allegheny General Hospital wrote, “no standard exists for the surgical treatment of cubital tunnel… the available evidence at this point is insufficient to identify the best treatment technique”. More than 25 years later, little has changed. In it, Baltimore physician A Lee Dellon lamented that “the philosophy of treatment has vacillated from the time when surgeons believed that virtually every case of ulnar nerve compression at the elbow should be operated on because there appeared to be no instances of spontaneous recovery, to the recent realisation that nonoperative management can result in recovery in selected patients.” The problem is, there’s little consensus as to which form is the best method.Ī 1989 study reviewed a century’s worth of published case reports and studies, a dataset representing more than 2000 patients whose suffering from cubital tunnel syndrome required surgery. This can involve relocating the nerve to the front of the elbow, or shaving or removing part of a bone to ease pressure on the nerve. These are small, easy tweaks to basic everyday activities that, for sufferers of more mild forms of cubital tunnel syndrome, can still bring incredible relief.īut as the American Society for Surgery of the Hand explains, sometimes surgery has to be considered. Those who feel discomfort from holding their phone up can opt for a hands-free alternative. If someone has a habit of keeping their arms bent while they sleep, they can put on a splint before bed, or wrap a pillow or towel around their elbow to keep their arm more relaxed. The most obvious prescription is to avoid actions that cause the symptoms of cubital tunnel syndrome. Most doctors would first opt for a non-surgical attempt to alleviate the problem before trying surgery.
The syndrome can develop, for example, if the ulnar nerve snaps back and forth across the medial epicondyle (a raised area of the humerus) as your elbow is bent and straightened over and over again, or it can happen if you hold your elbow in a bent position for too long, such as when you sleep or hold a phone to your face for a long period of time. Whether the ulnar nerve gets pinched for a long period of time or repeatedly rather than with a quick strike is the basic difference between hitting your funny bone and a diagnosis of cubital tunnel syndrome. It’s the second most common affliction of its type, after carpal tunnel syndrome. It may not be as common as the similar carpal tunnel syndrome in the hands, but cubital tunnel syndrome can actually involve a great deal of pain and discomfort, and in its most extreme cases can even impair a patient’s use of their hand. Imagine that as you went about your day you were followed around by someone constantly striking a small mallet into your elbow, hitting your funny bone over and over and over again, and that is what it feels like to have cubital tunnel syndrome.
After you rub your elbow for a few minutes, the feeling usually passes.
And because it’s the ulnar nerve responsible for the pain, not the humerus bone itself, that feeling shoots down the rest of your arm and ends in the little and ring fingers.īut as bad as that sounds, for most people the funny feeling they get from striking the ulnar nerve is but a fleeting sensation. And when that happens, you get that familiar sensation of hitting your funny bone that odd mix of numbness and tingling. So when you hit your arm at just the right angle, what you’re doing is squashing the nerve against the medial epicondyle.