Your arms are so much more than just the limbs that hang from your shoulders on your upper body; their functions are essential to your everyday life. The complex twin limbs are necessary for basic tasks such as lifting, waving, writing, typing, hugging, pushing, and many other things we do without even thinking.
All of this is done using 30 bones, three main joints, and the most flexible joint we have in our shoulders. And because we rely on them so much, it’s no surprise that over time, many activities can increase the risk of pain in different parts of your arms, including your elbow and forearm.
Dr. David Dickerson and our medical team at Performance Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine help the residents of Shrewsbury, Toms River, and Wall Township, New Jersey, with many musculoskeletal conditions, including arm pain.
Let’s review the common reasons for pain in those areas and how we can treat them.
Some frequent reasons we deal with pain in our arms are tied to overuse and the impact of injuries. This can lead to conditions like:
Other symptoms that can accompany pain in your forearm and elbow include redness, stiffness, and swelling, which may worsen over time if left untreated.
Pain in the elbow and forearm can be caused by numerous things that happen all the time:
Repetitive strain injuries happen a lot in your forearms and wrists, which can stem from normal actions done over and over again, like typing, curling, gripping, lifting, sports activities, and playing instruments.
Repetitive strain can similarly affect your elbows when you repeatedly use motions that twist your lower arm, including several of the activities mentioned above.
The impact of falls and other accidents that occur with both parts of the arms can also cause pain, especially since we often try to stop ourselves from getting injured using our arms.
To manage these pains and related symptoms, we offer a few different options:
Some changes in how you move your arms can help alleviate pain and reduce the risk of future pain.
This can help with activity modification, retraining these body parts after surgery, or simply improving flexibility, mobility, and overall function.
Steroid injections and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can help to reduce the irritation from inflamed elbows and wrist joints, which lowers the amount of pain you experience.
If your problems require keeping the arm in a fixed position while healing, a splint or brace can keep it immobile during this important step of recovery.
If the problems become severe enough that other options aren’t effective, we perform surgery on the affected parts of the arm to improve function and eliminate pain.
Actions we take for granted all the time can cause pain, but you don’t have to live with it or any other symptoms. Call 732-691-4898 to make an appointment with Dr. Dickerson and the Performance Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine team today to treat elbow and forearm pain.
