What’s Wrong With My Arm???
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August 10, 2006 at 9:07 am
Hello,
I’ve held back on posting this because so many of you suffer “PAIN” and I have a nagging ache, that makes me feel like I’m being a wimpy baby here on our forum.But, maybe some of you can relate or maybe some of you have suggestions on what this can be. My left arm started aching; like a tooth can ache; seven months ago and if anything it aches a little more. The more I try to use it the more it will ache, so it restricts me from doing housework, trying to exercise to rebuild muscle strength, and even using the computer.
I have excellent instincts and my gut feelings are that whatever is wrong with the arm is NOT syndrome related. I think I did something to the arm when I was working with a personal trainer at the gym because that’s when it started aching. But, what could I have done to it??? I had the arm checked by two doctors and they both told me they could find nothing wrong and x-rays weren’t necessary because they would show nothing. Is it worth it going to an ortho. doctor since I was told nothing is wrong? Should I consider having an EMG or NCV done just for an ache?? COULD EXTREME STRESS CAUSE ACHES? That’s another thought I’ve had. Stress can do alot to us.
I am in the process of changing family doctors and I don’t see this new one until mid Sept. I’m hoping she will know what could be wrong.
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August 10, 2006 at 10:04 am
Liz. Most of my motor muscles have ached for years, but I accept this as the price I have to pay for living anything resembling a “normal” life. This is obviously not the case with you Liz, and if you have had this problem for seven months it seems to me that the sooner you see your new doctor the better. Don’t expect the doctor to come up with a definitive answer though, post GBS is so individual and difficult to pin down to specifics. If the aching arm is your weaker arm Liz it may just be that you have overstrained it, and the continual use that you impose upon it in the normal course of living may keep aggravating the strain. I am not a medical person, but I have learnt that my stubbornness to try to lead a “normal” life continually aggravates my weakened muscles. I am sure I could stop the aching by lying down all day (which in 1990 is what my doctors forecast for me for the remainder of my life), but understandably this is the very thing I am trying to avoid.
Keep smiling Liz. -
August 10, 2006 at 10:09 am
Liz,
You could have a torn muscle or rotator cuff and I think an Ortho Doc should see you. He can order an MRI to see if any of the muscles are torn.
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August 10, 2006 at 12:59 pm
Hello,
I thought I’d add that the ache is just above and just below the elbow and sometimes it will shoot up to the shoulder. I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW I should have gone to an ortho doctor six months ago, I guess you hope it will just go away. I’m going to do that now ASAP. Even if he can find nothing, I’ll have the relief of knowing I did see one.It is my stronger (left) arm that aches and working out at the gym, I would have favored the weaker right and put more on the left.
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August 10, 2006 at 12:59 pm
Hi Liz. i have a similar problem with my right arm(dominate). it has been going on since last dec. i have also asked my 2 drs about it and they both don’t know what is the problem. i will go to an ortho if you will go to one!!!! i had a 3/4 relapse last weekend and my arm was soooo painful. i couldn’t even open up my wallet-which is fabric and has just a small piece of velcro holding it closed. i hurt my hand soo bad it made me cry–and i’m one who doesn’t cry easily. i still have very limited use in my hand and arm even now.
i hurt my arm at home just by getting out of a chair, using my arms as a lift as usual. i was going to pt and they told me back then i should let it rest as much as possible to let the muscle heal-they thought it was just strained abit. i heard a snap, kinda like a small rubberband hitting wood, so i think personally there is more going on then just a strain. my dr looked at it last month again and told me it could be a part of all my health issues at this time. he just doesn’t know exactly what that is at this time.
i am now ambidextris, i can know throw a ball farther with my left arm/hand, and do everything else with my lefthand except sew-that takes alot more control then i have yet.take care of your arm, and don’t over do it!!!! call an ortho today!!! let me know when you do it–and i’ll call mine!:)
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August 10, 2006 at 4:21 pm
Any thoughts that it may be tennis elbow or tendinitis?
“Tendinitis is inflammation or irritation of a tendon — any one of the thick fibrous cords that attach muscles to bone. The condition, which causes pain and tenderness just outside a joint, is most common around your shoulders, elbows and knees. But tendinitis can also occur in your hips, heels and wrists.
Some common names for tendinitis are tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, pitcher’s shoulder, swimmer’s shoulder and jumper’s knee.”
I got the information from the internet
Sue
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August 10, 2006 at 5:24 pm
Hello,
I have thought that my aching arm might be tennis elbow and since “tennis elbow” is a broad term and not just a tennis injury, I guess I could have hurt my arm at the gym. Then again I’m not sure, I read that tennis elbow hurts on the outside, I ache on the inside. I am right handed (the only one in the family who turned out right 🙂 , and my right arm still wants to dominate. But my right arm is the weaker arm (CIDP damage), so my left arm took over and became the one I use more when I need strength, so it makes sense to me that it would be the left I’d injure.CHERYL, WE’LL BOTH GO AND I’LL POST TOMORROW THAT I MADE AN APPT. WITH ORTHO DR.
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August 10, 2006 at 8:03 pm
Hello Liz,
You are correct on Tennis elbow, it is on the outside of the elbow. Golfers elbow is on the inside. Is it possible that you injured your ulnar nerve (commony called the funny bone) it would be directly in back of the elbow running up to your shoulder. Does Aleve help with the pain…of so it would be a probable tendonitis issue…if does not help you may have a nerve issue. When you hurt it, did you pull it and did you hear a popping noise?
Also have you tried ice to the are?
Rex
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August 11, 2006 at 10:16 am
OKAY CHERYL, IT’S YOUR TURN TO BE A GOOD ANGEL AND GO. I HAVE AN APPT. FOR AUG. 29TH.
I think Rex was right, indications are that I have “golfer’s elbow” and since it can came from over-use, I probably did hurt it at the gym. I’ve got to learn how to assert myself because I knew the personal trainer was expecting too much.
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August 11, 2006 at 2:09 pm
ok liz, i’ll call him on monday. his office is closed today. i’ve had tennis elbow, burrsitis and this isn’t like any of those, but i will keep an open mind.
i’m proud of you liz!:)aleve and ice don’t have any effect on my arm.:( even picking up a piece of paper is painful. but then again, i’ve had this since last dec, so i’m not doing myself any favors by putting off the inevitable–another dr visit.
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August 11, 2006 at 2:40 pm
Hi all, I woke up one morning about 3 months ago and my left arm I had been sleeping on hurt like hell and when I turned over it popped. In the meantime my other arm starting hurting, mostly from the elbow up. My doctor thought physical therapy would do the trick but that seemed to make it worse. My muscles hurt so bad, even to touch. When I told my neuro, he asked if I was on any new meds. I had been started on zocor about a month before the pain started for my cholesteral. He made me stop the zocor immediately because he thought it was causing muscle breakdown. Then I researched and found out nefazadone(a drug I had been on for years) when taken with zocor greatly increased the risk for muscle breakdown. My arms don’t hurt at rest anymore, just with activity. Don’t know if that will ever change. Just thought I would share this in case anyone else happens to be on statins….Vicki
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