Elbow problems

[Ali13]

Help! Have doen something to elbow and have searched but dont know what it is. All of a sudden my elbow got really sore when I was picking my sister up from school today. That was at quarter past three, and now I still can't straighten it out. It huuuurts. Is this normal with HMS? (Has never happened to me before) And if so, how do I fix it? Or is it likely to be a random, unrelated injury?

Owww

[ombili]

Hi Ali, I'm sorry that no one ever was able to answer your question, and I certainly hope that by now your elbow doesn't hurt as much!

I have an elbow question too. I am pretty sure that I have damaged my elbow - based on the descriptions people give, I'm thinking maybe golfer's elbow. At first I thought it was my hand/wrist that were giving me trouble but now I've discovered a very tender, sensitive spot on the inner elbow that gives me horrible pains if I rotate the arm. The pains go all the way down into the wrist/hand area, so that's why I thought that was the problem at first.

Now here's the question part - This pain started on Wednesday, either before or after I came back from the gym. I blamed house painting (too much gripping) combined with too much gripping of weights at the gym. But by that night and yesterday it felt fine. Today I woke up and it was screaming at me again. So now I am wondering, could it be something else I'm doing? Maybe it's related to how I sleep at night? And how can something alternate between screaming at me and making me want to not move my hand or arm at all and being totally fine?

[ombili]

Okay, I have to add to my previous post, because since then I have asked my OH to look at the elbow and see if it looks normal to him, and he says it doesn't. If you look at my arms with the palms facing you, the affected one has a lump sticking out right above where the crease is on the inside of the elbow. It's not a huge lump but it's noticeably different from the other arm. So now I have another thought: could it be subluxed or dislocated? If it is, do you think I should just leave it alone and wait for it to go back in on its own, or should I call my doctor who is 90 miles away? Or should I call my rheumy? And anyway, if it is, could it be going in and out, and that's why it sometimes feels ok for a while, like it did yesterday?

I also had another thought about why this might have happened; in pilates this past weekend and also on Tuesday, the instructor asked us to do a full plank (with arms extended all the way rather than on the forearms.) I usually don't do that because in the past couple of years my elbows have started to seem unstable, but I did it. Maybe that's what I did that did it.

[paw]

Golfer's elbow is damage to the tendons in that area, and you could very well have bursitis too. When it gets so "angry" (my word, not sure if there is a better one) the littlest things make it worse. You might have moved the wrong way when you were sleeping and not known about it till you woke up.

Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation are a good place to start. You might want some type of splint that does not let you bend the elbow when you are sleeping. You might want an antiinflammatory medicine too. You could see either your Rheumy or an orthopedist.

You have been painting your new room and other things to get it ready, you could have overused the arm and injured it. If your gym exercises stress that area, you should stop those for a while and do exercises that don't strain the arms. I have a very tender area there right now, but not a full blown flare. I have had those a few times.

[millie]

ah HA I've been looking at the wrong posts and found elbow talk at last here. ! I am having severe problems with my elbows they are extremely hypermobile and I injure tendons etc on a regular basis du to hyperextending etc. This is different now as it feels uncomfortable straight and I also have the locking thing going on and a nasty click crunch when it repositions . What kind of support would help this ?? Surely I'm not needing another splint !. Awaiting thumb splints also to add to my collection at this rate I'll have to buy a new chest of drawers to accomodate . Any advice please as to what else to do. Feels like things are slipping somewhere out of alignment is that even possible ?

[jax]

Hiya,

Elbow issues run in my family ie. my pops has golfers elbow (and yes, he has played
golf all his life) and I have tennis elbow except no tennis playing went on. I did do alot of stick
filipino stick fighting when I was younger though

I noticed about a year ago I had a small purple looking patch on my elbow. I put diprobase on it
and it got better but still looks a bit purplish but I'm not sure if that's just because I
keep leaning on it all the time! Doc said to put steroid cream on it but didn't get it that day
as wasn't problem I went in with - ie. only sore elbow - not a blue one. Must put
on my to do list! Anyways the elbow has given me lots of trouble last
year. Physio thinks could be related to weak shoulder and therefore overuse of
the elbow. It has actually got better lately and no longer hurts picking up kettles
etc.
I used that Elastoplast support from Boots on aggravating days when it was getting really sore
which helped. I also put hot water bottle on it at night. Also been doing plank type exercises (Hey Ombili) side-plank
but it did take along time before I could do these!

[WinonaLemonade]

i have mild tennis elbow with no tennis playing aswell and we had tennis in pe; it shoulodn't be that hard explaining that you can't play tennis because you have tennis elbow .

[jax]

that's a situation where it should make sense WL
Not sure what I can call this blister on my finger from using
cutters today - I dunno banjo finger?

[WinonaLemonade]

(sorry i can't find elbows thread - moved)
my elbows used to be very hypermobile and i've always had trouble stopping them from over extending when i'm doing stuff which makes them sore. they've got really stiff recently and they lock every now and again, they also noticibly don't bend back as far but my physio says just to strengthen my arms which doesn't do anything and my gp and ot say to ask the physio about it

[elliejay]

Hello
I am not a general user of supports. Unfortunately my main problem is knees and every support I have been given has caused too much swelling
My immediate problem is one elbow, it's not swollen but is very painful probably pulled tendon or ligament
Can anyone recommend a general support that would help for driving
Ellie
modnote: merged into existing elbow thread

[bree]

HI elle

i will type this quickly, as my elbows are in agony at moment. tennis elbow, as a result of too much typing for study, i think. anyway boots neoprene or muller elbow supports very good, look at amazon for cheap stock. and be careful when sleeping not too keep arms bent too sharply.

good luck

anybody have any tips on typying. sorry for awful spelling... going for ice pad

breda

[mcbeauty]

I get a weird thing (how many posts in this forum start with those words!) with my right elbow. If I'm doing something vigorous with my arm bent, like whisking something or scrubbing the oven, after a while my elbow starts to hurt. If you picture where the bump on your right elbow is when holding your arm down by your side it's just to the left of that. To handle it I have to straighten my arm as much as I possibly can, really extend it fully and sometimes hold the stretch for a moment and something in it makes a snapping sound and then it's fine. If I carry on with the scrubbing or whatever I will usually have to do it again a few minutes later.

It feels like it's a ligament or tendon or something that's got caught on the wrong side of the bone or something and when I striaghten it it snaps back to where it should be. I've had that happen for some years but in the last year or so straightening out the arm fully doesn't always handle it anymore and it doesn't always snap back into place anymore and I just have to put up with the pain, stop what I'm doing or switch to the other arm (I'm right-handed so left side not as strong so a bit annoying not to be able to use right). It seems to me like whatever it is that goes out of place has stretched now and so won't snap back but stays where it has got stuck for a while. My elbows are not hypermobile by the way, but perhaps some of the ligaments or tendons there are too stretchy.

Does anyone know what I'm on about or is it just me?

[GreenLantern]

I've got bad elbows, I can hardly move the left one without it hurting, I can't put my palm facing upwards and straighten my left arm, I broke my arm when i was a kid (8-9) and my dad seems to think it's something to do with that but I dunno, it just seems to be getting worse.

[trekster]

Hello

(Couldn't find a subject specifically for elbows or arms so started a new one).

When I turn my palms upwards so I can wash my hands, my right elbow has a sharp pain. It is sore to touch on the left hand side.
Any idea what can be done to help? Whether to avoid my stretches as so far they don't exacerbate my injury?

[sheppeyescapee]

Maybe it is an overuse injury? You been pushing a lot lately?