When you hit your elbow too hard it can lead to bruising of your elbow, possible swelling and sometime nerve damage.
Most times hitting your elbow does not cause serious issues but it can.
When we hit what is known as our funny bone we actually have hit and compressed a nerve called the ulnar nerve which causes the tingling down to our fingers.
To get rid of elbow pain after hitting it you can apply an ice pack, take some pain medicine such as Tylenol, Ibuprofen etc or massage the elbow.
You can also use a heating pad on your hurt elbow to help relieve the elbow pain.
When you hit your elbow the elbow pain should go away within a few hours.
From my experience of hitting my elbow pretty hard it was most painful for at least 40 minutes and then after 40 minutes the elbow pain started going away.
It took around 2 hours before the pain fully went away after hitting my elbow.
However there have been a few times I've hit my elbow even harder than before and it tool around 10 hours for the pain to fully go away.
So it can depend on how bad you hit your elbow but the elbow pain should go away within 24 hours but if not or you notice any swelling then you should go to urgent care to get checked out.
It typically takes two to four weeks for a bruised elbow to completely heal (and that can depend on how much stress you put on the elbow during the recovery period).
If the pain doesn't go away in a few days, check with your doctor, who might want to take an X-ray to see if there's evidence of a fracture.
If you've ever hit your elbow, or “funny bone,” hard and felt a tingling down to your fingers, you've compressed your ulnar nerve.
Leaning on your elbow for a long time can also irritate the nerve.
Whenever you bend your elbow, you're forcing the nerve to stretch around the bones in the joint.
Some ways to help the elbow pain after hitting it include.
Protect. Keep the area from getting further injury.
Rest. Avoid the activity that caused your injury.
Ice. Place an ice pack on the sore area for 15 to 20 minutes three times a day.
Compression. Use a compression bandage to reduce swelling.
Elevation.
Some signs that your elbow pain can be serious include.
The pain is severe or continues to occur even when you aren't using your arm.
You have swelling around the elbow joint.
There is redness or bruising around the elbow that doesn't go away.
You have limited mobility in the elbow or forearm.