weird elbow/forearm pain?? someone help!

**pelly789** · 03-28-2006, 05:00 PM

alright i started to get this really bad pain on the inside of my bottom left forearm, its right near my elbow, let me take you through the last 24 hours to let you know what i did as that may help in figuring out what this is....

monday morning woke up fine every thing was good i had a great day went to school, work then to the gym as usual and put in a heavy chest/tri workout felt even better after that ate a big meal watched some tv and went to sleep, this morning i wake up, and then i started sneezing like crazy because i have a viral infection in my throat or so my ENT tells me(glad its not strep throat) anyway i was sneezing and for some reason after the 3rd or 4th sneeze my elbow shot some serious sharp pain but it was localized it didnt go anywhere but my arm kind of tingled very slightly..since then whenever i put my arm say in like the finished position of a power clean i keep getting that sharp pain other wise its fine for the most part except for some random movements like when you arm wrestle, that makes it hurt too...im kinda stumped on what this can be im not sure if its like a pinched nerve or something since it feels 100% normal other than in certian positions that i stated above. does anyone have any input or advice on whats going on here, im kinda pissed off cuz i dont wanna workout and risk hurting it more, not sure what to do so im just going to take the rest of the week off and see how i feel...not sure what else to do...thanks ahead of time

**barbndr** · 03-28-2006, 05:41 PM

Difficult to assess, mainly due to the sneeze (I personally don't think it's related to the sneeze but that just happens to be when your elbow shot into one of the "bad" positions). The pain your describing seems positional and localized. This probably rules out something in your neck, especially since you can reproduce your pain with arm movement and it is not constant. I would guess either you have a touch of medial epicondylitis which is basically tendonitis of the wrist flexor muscles at their insertion near the elbow (put simply) and is consistant with what you describe. Or, you may have irritated the ulnar nerve, which travels right along there and can get tweaked at some point during your workout. If you're not getting much tingling or numbness then its probably tendonitis...so rest, ice, massage to the area, NSAIDS etc...should fix it up fairly quick.

**pelly789** · 03-28-2006, 05:52 PM

cool thanks for the help barbndr you sound like you know your stuff i know its probaly not from the sneeze either but you never know its weird that i would have this pain because it felt perfectly fine after my workout all the way up until i went to bed..who knows ill use a little tlc and hope it goes away quick thanks agian bro

**pelly789** · 03-28-2006, 05:55 PM

also im not sure if it would affect anything but i was doing chest flyes yesterday and that motion hurts me now could that be the problem maybe a strain or something?

**barbndr** · 03-28-2006, 10:27 PM

Hard to say...but the fact that it took a while to actually start bothering you is more indicative of a tendonitis. Doc.Sust has some detailed info on the top of the board you may want to read. As far as the pec flyes...it would fit in the pattern of movement of the muscles across the elbow but the bottom line is just what you said...some TLC is in order for a while.

**pelly789** · 03-29-2006, 05:59 AM

things get even weirder i woke up this morning and so far i have absolutely no pain in my elbow even in the positions that it hurt in yesterday? this really doesnt make sense but im not complaining if its better

**needmorestrength** · 03-29-2006, 09:35 PM

I agree, very possibly the ulna nerve, which runs from the neck to your wrist, and can cause pain and numbness.. keep us up dated.. glad to hear its better!

**pelly789** · 03-29-2006, 09:52 PM

yea i was thinking the same thing it doesnt hurt barley at all but i can still feel it very slightly if its in the right position so i dont think this could be tendonitis or anything seems like a nerve to me but who knows ill let you guys know if it comes back or not

**barbndr** · 03-29-2006, 10:41 PM

I guess the bottom line is that you are feeling better. Take it easy for a workout or 2 just in case.

***Doc.Sust*** · 03-30-2006, 12:46 PM

this can be a herbniated disc in your neck, believe it or not, people can getv herniated discs by doing as little as sneezing. it has happened before, as lonf as you are feeling better, i wouldnt worry, but if it starts up again, Pm me

**pelly789** · 03-30-2006, 04:45 PM

still...so far so good its been 2 days since i had any pain but do you really think it would just cause pain in my elbow i havent had any neck pain at all and feel fine otherwise besides my shoulders a little sore but thats unrelated as i have horrible rotator cuffs actually i think im going to go re-read your thread on shoulders right now thanks for the help sust

**barbndr** · 03-30-2006, 06:18 PM

A herniated disc, spinal stenosis (narrowing of the space that the nerve exits the vertebrae) or any type of irritation to a nerve in your spinal column could all cause peripheral symtoms without causing any pain at all in the neck or back. If you have the right irritation to your nerve root in your neck, you could have symptoms present in throughout the arm, but have no neck pain.

A bit off topic but just to show the wonderful world of the nervous system, consider Brown-Sequard syndrome. Basically you have your spinal cord hemisected (picture a knife stabbing in the mid-right half of the spinal column. This will leave you with one weak leg that has normal sensation, and one strong leg that can't feel pain or temperature (you could literally step on a burning fire and not feel it). You probably won't have back pain after the knife wound heals however this is the source of the injury.

***Doc.Sust*** · 03-30-2006, 07:50 PM

Originally Posted by barbndr

A herniated disc, spinal stenosis (narrowing of the space that the nerve exits the vertebrae) or any type of irritation to a nerve in your spinal column could all cause peripheral symtoms without causing any pain at all in the neck or back. If you have the right irritation to your nerve root in your neck, you could have symptoms present in throughout the arm, but have no neck pain.

A bit off topic but just to show the wonderful world of the nervous system, consider Brown-Sequard syndrome. Basically you have your spinal cord hemisected (picture a knife stabbing in the mid-right half of the spinal column. This will leave you with one weak leg that has normal sensation, and one strong leg that can't feel pain or temperature (you could literally step on a burning fire and not feel it). You probably won't have back pain after the knife wound heals however this is the source of the injury.

good post, i havent read anything on brown-sequard syndrome since i was in school, do you have a background in health care? if so, what profession? keep up the good post, help in this forum is much appreciated

**barbndr** · 03-30-2006, 08:28 PM

Thanks Doc. I'm a PT. Have been for 10 years. Hospital and out pt based initially, now living the easy life in home health. Great injury posts btw Doc. Very informative. Most of the questions could be answered by starting there first.

***Doc.Sust*** · 03-31-2006, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by barbndr

Thanks Doc. I'm a PT. Have been for 10 years. Hospital and out pt based initially, now living the easy life in home health. Great injury posts btw Doc. Very informative. Most of the questions could be answered by starting there first.

please. please please. help me out and answer some questions here !!!!!! i can use the help especially from a great source like yourself. glad to have you aboard,dont be a stranger in this forum,please come by the forum often!!!

***Doc.Sust*** · 03-30-2006, 07:48 PM

Originally Posted by pelly789

still...so far so good its been 2 days since i had any pain but do you really think it would just cause pain in my elbow i havent had any neck pain at all and feel fine otherwise besides my shoulders a little sore but thats unrelated as i have horrible rotator cuffs actually i think im going to go re-read your thread on shoulders right now thanks for the help sust

barbdnr is dead on. herniated discs dont always present with neck pain.

**smeyers** · 05-14-2006, 09:35 PM

Just curious if anyone's thinking muscle imbalance here. A simple manual muscle test could detect that, (Barbndr, ...I'm not sure, but is there a ratio of strength btwn wrist flexors and extensors that could give a similar indication as well?) .

Usually what I commonly see in gyms is a muscle imbalance between wrist flexors and extensors, not too mention poor flexibility in the wrist flexors, as well as the caveman rounded shoulder look,......from tightness at the pec minor, (also usually accompanied by underdevloped scapula retractors),........which could maybe exaserbate the situation via ischemia.

So I'm going to venture some guesses here and you guys can tell me what you think. I'm thinking stretching for the wrist flexors and distal biceps, (simple stretch but not sure how to explain it in words),......along with a heating pad if possible, (to get that permanant collagen deformation,... its easy with that body part to use an ace wrap to help keep it on while stretching), doorway stretch for the pec minor, high rep endurance work for the wrist extensors, possible A.R.T. or myofacial releaase,.....something more than fluff and buff massage to work with out the adhesions.

And there was a really good article on ********,....about rehabing overuse injuries using eccentric exc. alone. It talks about a study done focusing on using soley eccentric exercise to rehab chronic achilies tendonitis, ...very promising results, but obvsiouly it was just one study........really interesting and quick article,..... when I find it I'll post the link

***Doc.Sust*** · 05-15-2006, 02:53 PM

Originally Posted by smeyers

Just curious if anyone's thinking muscle imbalance here. A simple manual muscle test could detect that, (Barbndr, ...I'm not sure, but is there a ratio of strength btwn wrist flexors and extensors that could give a similar indication as well?) .

Usually what I commonly see in gyms is a muscle imbalance between wrist flexors and extensors, not too mention poor flexibility in the wrist flexors, as well as the caveman rounded shoulder look,......from tightness at the pec minor, (also usually accompanied by underdevloped scapula retractors),........which could maybe exaserbate the situation via ischemia.

So I'm going to venture some guesses here and you guys can tell me what you think. I'm thinking stretching for the wrist flexors and distal biceps, (simple stretch but not sure how to explain it in words),......along with a heating pad if possible, (to get that permanant collagen deformation,... its easy with that body part to use an ace wrap to help keep it on while stretching), doorway stretch for the pec minor, high rep endurance work for the wrist extensors, possible A.R.T. or myofacial releaase,.....something more than fluff and buff massage to work with out the adhesions.

And there was a really good article on ********,....about rehabing overuse injuries using eccentric exc. alone. It talks about a study done focusing on using soley eccentric exercise to rehab chronic achilies tendonitis, ...very promising results, but obvsiouly it was just one study........really interesting and quick article,..... when I find it I'll post the link

this post has been dead for some time, but besides that, you also make alot of good points, but i dont think with this particular problem it is an imbalance, but without evaluating and doing ortho's on the pt it is impossible to tell for sure

**UpstateNY** · 05-23-2006, 12:38 PM

I'd have to say that you guys are dead on! I have herniated discs in my neck and back and even before I felt pain as you'd expect to find, I had pain in my right elbow that came and went. It got worse at times and cetain motions had a very negative effect on the pain level. Too many disc injuries go undiagnosed unitl they become severe. I wish I'd gotten this advice before my spine deteriorated to where it's at now!! Thanks for posting guys!!!!!