I was strength training with a trainer twice a week for over a year and I may have overdid triceps one day as I was on a long phone call that evening holding the phone to my ear with my left arm for over an hour and when the call was over...I tried to extend my left arm and was subjected to some of the most incredibly excruciating pain I have ever felt and it took a couple of hours to subside after hot/cold treatment and ibuprofen. That was 3 months ago...since that day - I am in pain everyday whenever I use my left arm to lift or do anything, I have lost strength in that arm as well. I have tried hot cold methods etc and i was hoping it would heal by now...it has not - any advice would greatly be appreciated; I have been pondering the idea of seeing an orthopedic surgeon. I can't figure out exactly which tendon it is - I'm guessing maybe the brachioradialis...when I try to lift anything or use my arm...it feels like a bruised bone kind of pain. The location is on the inside of my left arm just below the crook toward the left outside looking down at my left arm. Thanks again for your help...
Mike
Written by
MikeMcCormack
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Hi Mike, I am not a doctor and I may be wrong, if you hold your arm out palm facing up and press your middle finger and thumb from your other hand either side of of where your arm bends, if it is really painful where you press with your thumb it could be what is called golfers elbow and if the pain is where you are pressing with your finger it could be tennis elbow. I have had both (I don't play golf or tennis) I still have the golfers elbow.It is probably worth a trip to the doctor, you may need something stronger than Ibuprofen to help reduce any inflamation. Maybe google golfers elbow etc... Like I said I am not a doctor but how you described your problem it sounded familiar. Hope you get to the bottom of what is causing the pain.
I also suffer tennis/golfers elbow . All my Dr said was rest. However I found a strap on Amazon which u place on your arm just below the elbow . This is then tightened & keeps the tendons in the right place. This reduced the pain but in the end rest was/is the cure. However as I understand from my Dr once u have it it does reoccur
Mike my sister had similar pain in her left arm could not identify the cause it, hurt even when changing gears when driving, she wore tubigrip for support used ralgex gel which her husband applied for her, I said I would massage her arm but she declined no improvement, after almost a m8nth of suffering I offered a massage again saying nothing ventured nothing gained, so this time she accepted & had a big improvement after only one massage, its still not right but getting better every day, sorry for the story the result is get someone to massage fir you! Hope it works for you, good luck
Hi Mike, I get this with overuse of any muscles and I do think it's related to FM. When I say overuse I mean that normal people can do it but not us.
I had to strap an arm to my body once and type and drive one handed, another time it was bed for a week with my hip. As someone said a trip to the doctor might be worth it, maybe a cortisone injection as your injury is dragging on a long time.
I have both golfers and tennis elbows bi laterally and also tendonitis badly in left wrist with trigger thumb would suggest seeing a go first and try a steroid injection it can make it worse for a few days steroid flare up but should help after that
Hi Mike and others. I read your post and the subsequent replies and have a couple of comments.
While NSAIDS, heat ,cold and bracing can provide some temporary relief the problem with tendonitis' of the elbow is more often a result of problems at the base of the neck.
The nerves that supply the arm exit from the spine in this region and have to travel past many muscles and other tissues. If there problems with the spinal joints or muscles/ other tissues it can interfere with these nerves and directly or indirectly cause tendonitis symptoms.
Rather than get a corticosteroid injection(which is horrible for the health of your elbow) or resolve to wait it out try consulting a chiropractor or alternately a physiotherapist.
Once you deal with the root cause the tendonitis goes away.
Thanks for the advice...but I'm not so sure this is Tennis Elbow...it must be tendonitis, but I may have thrown the wrong tendon name out there - fact is...I don't know which one it is. I do agree with you though...alternate medicine is probably a better choice.
Sometimes you can get a shot and it hurts more for a few days then starts feeling better. I'd see your doctor first. See what the problem is and go from there. Hope it's not as bad as it feels sweetheart!!! xxx Mitzi
I am so sorry to read that you are suffering this way, and I genuinely hope that you can find some resolution and relief to this issue. I think that you have been given loads of great advice, so I will just wish you the best of luck.
I would say visit the doctor and if you work you may need some occupational health support. For any muscle/tendon problems I swear by Weleda Arnica massage oil with Rosemary, available from health food shops. I've had tendonitis because of RSI its painful and seems to take ages to heal but I got there in the end. Good luck
Mike, you are probably quite right in assuming "brachioradialis"
This belly of muscle is one of the tender points, I suffered for a very long time with the same pain you describe at present.
Anti-inflamitorys had very little to no effect,,, a bit of heat helped calm it.
It was not until I started Amitriptyline that I really got relief and I had listened to all the tendonitis opinions and persisted with the treatment for it!
Still I cannot hold a phone up for any length of time and have to be careful with any (sustained use of this muscle) lifting my arms to this day as this muscle tires very quickly now!
If you are not already on Amitriptyline ask your Dr if you can try a little bit of it to see if it helps.
I do weight lifting classes for fitness, not huge weights but manageable, its a ladies class. I have done this for years and find it helps with balance and core strength as we age. So when I started with terrible pains in my elbow which extended later down into my fingers and got no relief from the prescribed strongest pain killers, and no sign of it getting better either. ( could not even lift a pan of water off the stove with one hand ) I asked my doctor for blood tests. Turned out I had a very underactive thyroid. It was the last thing I would have suspected as I thought I would have been lethargic and lacked in energy, but this was not the case however, and if I had,nt been diagnosed at this point I would have eventually gone down hill had I been left any longer without medication. Strange things start to happen to the body if Thyroid is left untreated, ie oversensitive nerves and pains in most of the joints. These all vanished and never came back when I started on Levo., I was first diagnosed with Tennis Elbow, very easy mistake considering I lift weights, but when I started to get pains in other unrelated joints I knew it was something a bit more sinister than that, so I am so glad that the doctor listened to me and did those tests. Worth a check you know.
hi i have had severe pain in my left upper arm and shoulder its agony i cant lift my arm higher then my chest had an ex ray dotor todl me osteo arthrutus but it got worse went to see a specialist had an ultra sound scan on the 9th my doctor called me today he sait that the tendons in my shoulder had thickened and were worn badly he said to use ice packs and have warm baths for now sleeping try to sleep on your back ot in a siting position i have to seee a specialist on the 9th of feb they can give injections for pain they give you a general anesthetic for that so your asleep as its painfull i might have to have an operation i willl know more after the 9th go se your doctor beleive me i know how painfull it can be get an ex ray good luck ,
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Painful left shoulder
does anyone on here stumble to left or right at times?
Chonic tendonitis for a year
A little help and advice needed x
My husband has left me
