Pain in the forearms: causes and diseases, their treatment

Pain in the forearms can be caused by ischemia, inflammation, compression, impaired innervation, traumatic exposure, etc. Particular concern should be caused by pain in the forearm of the left hand, since it may be associated with impaired blood supply to the heart muscle. A similar symptom often appears during an attack of unstable angina. In this case, a person has a pressing dull or sharp dagger pain in the sternum area. If such symptoms appear, it is necessary to call a cardiology ambulance team as soon as possible.

Sudden pain in the right forearm may be a sign of carpal tunnel syndrome or carpal valve syndrome. Cubital tunnel syndrome may also occur. When carrying out differential diagnosis, the possibility of a traumatic violation of the integrity of the tissues of the upper limb should be excluded. With a fracture or crack of the radius or ulna, acute pain syndrome also occurs. It can grow gradually, as blood accumulates inside the tissues or traumatic swelling increases due to disruption of the movement of lymphatic fluid.

Pain in the forearms of both hands is generalized. The cause of its appearance may be cervical osteochondrosis with radicular syndrome, stenosis of the spinal canal at the level of the cervical spine, plexitis or plexopathy of the brachial plexus, acute or chronic cardiovascular failure, impaired outflow of lymphatic fluid, infection or tumor (including in the structures of the brain). brain). Numbness and pain in the forearms of both hands is often associated with the development of systemic lupus erythematosus, Raynaud's syndrome, scleroderma, vasculitis, etc.

The forearm is an anatomical part of the upper limb, which is connected to the hand via the wrist joint and to the shoulder via the elbow joint. Anatomically, it is formed by two bones: the ulna and the radius. Large arteries and veins, the median, radial and ulnar nerves pass here.

The muscles located here are responsible for flexion, extension, pronation and rotation of the hand. The passing nerves are responsible for the innervation of the fingers, providing their fine motor skills and sensory function. Damage to the nerve fiber in the forearm, elbow and wrist joints is the most common cause of pain. In second place in terms of frequency of distribution is damage to soft tissues - cartilage, ligament, tendon and muscle. Developing tendinitis or tendovaginitis, myositis can cause severe pain and limited mobility. Pinched nerve fibers in the cubital, wrist or carpal tunnel lead to pain gradually being accompanied by a feeling of numbness, decreased muscle strength and loss of primary motor skills.

To diagnose the disease that provoked the appearance of pain in the forearm, you need to contact an orthopedist or neurologist. In Moscow, you can make a free appointment with these doctors at our manual therapy clinic. Here you will be given an accurate diagnosis and given recommendations for further examination (if necessary) or full treatment.

Reasons why your forearms hurt

Pain in the forearms can be caused by various causes, which can be divided into degenerative, inflammatory, trophic, traumatic and infectious. Let's look at each group of reasons why the forearms hurt in more detail.

Let's start with the most common - degenerative dystrophic, associated with increased physical activity or its complete absence. The following diseases are worth highlighting:

cervical osteochondrosis and its complications (radicular syndrome, displacement of vertebral bodies, protrusion, extrusion and intervertebral hernia);
spondylosis and spondyloarthritis, affecting the radicular nerves responsible for the innervation of the upper extremities;
degeneration of the brachial nerve plexus with the gradual death of one of the three branches (causes acute throbbing pain along the dying branch);
deforming osteoarthritis of the shoulder joint (cartilaginous synovial tissue is destroyed, exposed bone tissue becomes covered with cracks and osteophytes, they injure the nerve fibers passing through it);
deforming osteoarthritis of the elbow joint (pathological changes similar to those described above occur);
tendovaginitis and tendinosis of the ligamentous and tendon apparatus of the elbow, shoulder and wrist joints.

Degeneration and dystrophy can be triggered by both the same type of physical activity and their complete absence. With equal frequency, such diseases develop in a painter, who keeps his upper limbs under tension throughout the entire working day, and in an office worker, who practically does not put any physical stress on the muscles of the upper shoulder girdle.

In second place are compression causes of pain in the forearms of both hands:

proliferation of bone tissue in the area of large joints;
cicatricial deformation of ligaments and tendons after injuries (sprains and ruptures);
tunnel syndromes (carpal, carpal and cubital);
compression of the brachial nerve plexus by enlarged lymph nodes, hematomas, tumors, etc.;
incorrectly chosen position for night sleep or wearing tight, constricting clothing.

The third group of reasons why the forearms hurt is traumatic. It may be associated with a person’s active lifestyle and its increase in active sports. Also, in older people, injuries are often associated with hormonal changes and destruction of bone, ligament, muscle and cartilage tissue. Among the injuries, pain in the forearm is often caused by fractures and cracks of the humerus, ulna and radius, dislocations, sprains and ruptures of ligaments and tendons. If you suspect a traumatic impact, you should consult a traumatologist as soon as possible. This specialist will conduct a differential diagnosis and eliminate the possibility of a violation of the integrity of the bone tissue. For fractures and cracks, a plaster cast is required.

Violation of forearm tissue trophism may be associated with diabetic angiopathy, atherosclerosis, chronic cardiovascular failure or obstruction of a large blood vessel. Accompanied by pallor of the skin, dryness, scratches that do not heal for a long time, suppuration, etc.

Infectious and aseptic inflammatory processes can be localized both in the area of the spinal column and large joints of the upper limb, and in individual areas of soft tissue. For example, pain in the forearms can be associated with the development of tuberculosis or polio of the spinal cord, or can be triggered by the development of a subcutaneous boil in any part of the arm. Aseptic inflammation in most cases develops against the background of deforming osteoarthritis of the shoulder, elbow or wrist joint, cervical osteochondrosis with radicular syndrome.

Pain in the arms from the shoulders to the elbow - causes

Pain in the shoulder muscles occurs due to inflammation of the bone tissue and joints, pathology of the periarticular structures - muscles, ligaments, tendons. Pain syndrome may be a concomitant background symptom of an underlying disease that is not directly related to the musculoskeletal system. That is why doctors at the Yusupov Hospital determine the cause of the pain before starting treatment.

Periarticular pain in the shoulder is most often provoked by instability of the joint, which can be caused by the following factors:

overexertion, sprain of the shoulder girdle during intense strength training;
damage, inflammation of the joint capsule;
stretching of the muscles located near the joint capsule;
damage to the cartilage of the glenoid cavity, lack of support for the biceps muscle.

Tendonitis is inflammation of the tendons that surround the shoulder joint. Damage to the tendon inevitably leads to pain in the shoulder muscles. The rotator cuff, biceps, infraspinatus, and subscapularis muscles are affected. Pain may occur in the infraspinatus shoulder muscle. The cause of pain is often calcific tendonitis, in which calcifications accumulate in the tendon tissue. Pain in the muscles of the arm on the inside may occur due to inflammation of the tendon of the inner shoulder.

Bursitis is an inflammation of the joint, closely associated with overexertion and sports injuries. In addition to pain in the shoulder, swelling occurs in the area of the joint capsule. Often the pain radiates to the arm, limiting range of motion.

Frozen shoulder syndrome or retractile capsulitis is a sign of reflex dystrophic damage to the shoulder joint capsule with parallel damage to bone structures in the form of osteoporosis. A symptom of the disease is pain in the shoulder muscles.

With glenohumeral periarthrosis, the nature of the pain syndrome can vary from acute, intensifying pain to aching, constant pain. It does not subside with rest, may be accompanied by insomnia, and noticeably limits movements of the upper limb.

Myofascial pain syndrome is a typical disease of muscle tissue in various areas of the body, but its favorite location is the shoulder girdle and lower back. Muscle pain that accompanies tense muscles develops in clearly defined places - trigger points. The cause of pain in the shoulder muscles can be osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, when a secondary complication develops - radiculopathy.

Pain in the shoulder muscles can be caused by the following diseases:

impingement syndrome;
polymyalgia rheumatica;
neuralgic amyotrophy, myelopathy;
herniated disc of the cervical or thoracic spine.

Pain in the shoulder muscles can be a reflected symptom of diseases of the respiratory system, diaphragm, heart, and liver.

How to relieve shoulder muscle pain? After identifying the cause of pain in the shoulder muscles, doctors at the Yusupov Hospital neutralize all factors that provoke pain - they immobilize the arm and shoulder, and often recommend complete rest. Complex therapy is prescribed, which includes:

non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in tablets, injections and in the form of ointments, gels;
compresses with a 30% dimexide solution, local anesthetics and anti-inflammatory drugs.

Doctors give corticosteroid injections for arm muscle pain. Homeopathic medicines – traumeel, zell – are injected around the joint. With the help of physiotherapeutic procedures, nutrition of the periarticular zone is improved and metabolic processes are activated. A complex containing B vitamins and microelements is prescribed.

At the rehabilitation clinic, specialists perform muscle massage, including joint development. Therapy for mild muscle pain that develops as a result of muscle strain lasts no more than 3-5 days. Adjusting training exercises, rest and a gentle, warming massage helps relieve pain in the arm muscles.

In other cases, contact the Yusupov Hospital. Doctors will conduct a comprehensive diagnosis, dynamic examination (monitoring the condition of the shoulder girdle in motion) and prescribe a course of medications that reduce the perception of pain, improve the trophism of muscle fibers, and neutralize inflammation.

Why does my forearm hurt when I raise my arm?

Some patients experience pain in the forearm when raising their arms, but there is no discomfort at rest. There may be two main reasons for this. The first is associated with vascular disorders. When lifting the upper limb, a sufficient amount of blood stops flowing into the tissue and aching discomfort occurs. The second potential cause is a violation of the integrity of the tissues in the shoulder and elbow joints. This could be injury, arthrosis, arthritis, or manifestations of the articular form of ankylosing spondylitis.

If your forearm hurts when you raise your arm, you should first take an x-ray of the large joints of the upper limb. If no visible pathology is detected on them, it is recommended to urgently visit a neurologist. This may be a sign of innervation disturbance at different levels. You should not try to independently determine why your forearm hurts when you raise your arm, since even an experienced doctor will need to conduct a number of functional studies to make an accurate diagnosis. At home, it is quite difficult to say why this unpleasant symptom appeared, even for an experienced specialist. Therefore, do not hesitate to visit the doctor. Book your free initial appointment with a chiropractor or osteopath right now. Call the administrator of our clinic and agree on a time convenient for your visit.

In a situation where the forearm hurts and you cannot raise your arm, serious damage to the nerve fiber can be diagnosed. In some cases, this condition is caused by an advanced case of cervical osteochondrosis with pronounced protrusion or extrusion of the intervertebral cartilaginous disc. In approximately 30% of patients with a similar complaint, displacement of the vertebral bodies at the level of the cervical spine is diagnosed. They often have unpleasant sensations in their hands associated with frequent headaches, dizziness, decreased mental performance, etc.

Diagnostics

To determine the reasons why the arm does not rise up, various diagnostic methods are used. Diagnosis begins with examination of the patient, palpation of the painful area and collection of anamnesis. Based on the data obtained about the nature of the pain, clinical picture, lifestyle and concomitant diseases of the patient, the doctor makes a preliminary diagnosis. During further examinations, this diagnosis is clarified or refuted. The full range of diagnostic measures includes:

Laboratory diagnostics - blood tests (biochemical, general, C-reactive protein). With their help, it is possible to identify the presence of inflammation, autoimmune reactions, and metabolic disorders.
X-ray, which gives an idea of the condition of bones and cartilage. The degree of cartilage wear is assessed by the size of the gaps between the heads of the mating bones.
Ultrasound is an ultrasound examination that allows you to identify excess synovial fluid in the joint cavity, foci of inflammatory processes, neoplasms and abscesses.
Computed tomography (CT), which allows you to assess the condition of cartilage and bone tissue in osteoarthritis, osteochondrosis, injuries of bones and joints.
MRI is magnetic resonance imaging, which makes it possible to visualize the condition of osseous, cartilage and soft tissues by layer-by-layer scanning.
Puncture of the shoulder joint to take synovial fluid for analysis.
Arthroscopy, which involves introducing a miniature video camera into the joint cavity through a tiny incision.

The use of these methods provides comprehensive information about the reasons why the shoulder hurts when raising the arm. Depending on the identified diseases, the patient is treated by specialized specialists: traumatologists, orthopedists, rheumatologists, neurologists.

Forearm pain and hand numbness

Constant pain in the forearm and numbness of the hand is a clinical symptom characteristic of carpal tunnel syndrome. When the nerve in the carpal tunnel is damaged, pain in the hand in the forearm area is accompanied by numbness of the thumb, index, middle and half of the ring finger.

With carpal tunnel syndrome, not only does the arm hurt in the forearm, but the little finger and half of the ring finger also go numb. The motor skills of the hand are not impaired, but muscle weakness does not allow full movement. These two syndromes most often occur on the right limb (in right-handed people). They are occupational diseases of pianists, hairdressers, painters, programmers, office managers, etc.

With cubital tunnel syndrome, the forearm hurts from the elbow, and the discomfort is localized to a greater extent along the lower projection (from the elbow to the little finger). This disease is associated with the habit of resting the elbow on a hard surface when the arm is bent.

How does pain manifest when the arm is abducted?

Pain when abducting the arm often becomes an attribute of many serious pathologies of the musculo-ligamentous apparatus of the shoulder joint. Therefore, this symptom, to one degree or another, may be accompanied by:

defeat from the working hand;
painful sensations on palpation;
localization of pain along the anterolateral humeral surface;
increased pain at night;

Often pain when abducting the arm is characterized as:

strong;
aching (pulling character);
spicy.

Forearms hurt when exercising

Pain that appears in the muscles of the forearm when performing various movements can be associated with both impaired innervation and vascular pathologies. Insufficient blood supply leads to ischemic necrotic changes in the area of some myocytes. This causes acute pain.

Pain in the forearm when moving the arm, associated with impaired innervation, is also accompanied by severe muscle weakness. These patients often develop seizures and involuntary movements. For example, the hand can completely spontaneously unclench and something that was held there (mug, spoon, comb, etc.) falls out of it.

If your forearms hurt during exercise, then you need to check not only the large joints of the upper extremities, but also the main blood vessels. Angiography and duplex scanning will help identify a number of pathologies in the early stages. The most important thing is to seek medical help in time and not wait for everything to go away on its own. Remember that pain is not a disease, but only its clinical sign. For treatment, it is important to establish an accurate diagnosis and eliminate the cause of the disease.

Treatment

In a condition where the arm hurts when raising the arm, treatment is prescribed in accordance with the diagnosis. If it is discovered that this symptom indicates diseases of the internal organs, then treatment of the underlying disease is carried out. Rheumatoid arthritis is treated by a rheumatologist. In case of injuries, the joint is immobilized using special devices to ensure tissue regeneration, or surgery is performed. In the acute phase of diseases of the musculoskeletal system, drug therapy is carried out:

To relieve inflammation and pain, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used in various forms: injection solutions, capsules, tablets, ointments.
Glucocorticosteroids are used to relieve autoimmune inflammation and prevent joint destruction. They can be inserted directly into the joint cavity.
To eliminate muscle spasms, muscle relaxants are prescribed.
To activate blood circulation in the affected shoulder joint, warming ointments are used.

If the inflammatory disease is caused by an infection, the patient is prescribed antibiotics. For osteoarthritis, the doctor prescribes chondroprotectors; for neurological diseases, B vitamins are used.

After the inflammatory process has been relieved, massage and various physiotherapeutic procedures are added to the treatment: electrophoresis, magnetic therapy, electrical myostimulation, etc. During the period of remission, so that the shoulder no longer hurts when raising the arm, it is recommended to regularly perform a set of physical exercises.

If it is impossible to solve problems with the shoulder joint with therapeutic methods, surgical treatment is indicated. It can be prescribed to restore the integrity of ligaments and bones after injuries, remove pathological fluids by puncture, replace the affected joint with an endoprosthesis, etc. The most modern and effective joint treatment can be performed in our clinic.

Why can't you ignore pain when abducting your arm?

Prolonged ignoring of this symptom and lack of proper treatment can lead to the transition of the inflammatory process into the shoulder joint. This is fraught with loss of joint mobility (the so-called “frozen joint” condition) due to deformation of the internal articular surface. Further, the process of muscle atrophy may begin in the sore arm, which leads to disability. In advanced cases, conservative treatment will be futile; the patient can only be shown endoprosthetics to restore shoulder mobility.

Severe pain in the shoulder joint

Severe pain in the shoulder joint
If it occurs against the background of an injury, then measures must be taken to reduce the mobility of the shoulder (immobilization with a splint or applying a tight bandage to the shoulder) and reduce the severity of tissue swelling, which increases pain. This is done by applying local cold in the form of an ice pack or wetting the injury area with cold water.

Significant intense pain that is not relieved by conventional means requires the use of narcotic painkillers.

Pain in the shoulder joint - treatment

Treatment of a disease accompanied by pain of varying degrees of severity and nature in the shoulder area is necessarily comprehensive. It includes several main areas:

Etiotropic therapy is a set of measures aimed at eliminating the influence of the main causative factor. It can be conservative or include various surgical techniques.
Pathogenetic therapy - with the help of drugs, the main pathogenetic mechanisms of the formation of pain syndrome are influenced.
Symptomatic therapy is treatment aimed at reducing the severity of clinical manifestations of the pathological process that worsen the patient’s quality of life.

General directions of therapeutic activities usually complement each other and can be intertwined. Often, one pharmacological group of drugs is used for symptomatic and pathogenetic therapy - non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The choice of a set of therapeutic measures is made by the doctor based on clinical symptoms, as well as the results of additional diagnostic tests.

Pain in the shoulder joint of the right arm - treatment

Pain in the right shoulder is often of traumatic origin. After diagnosing the nature and localization of the violation of anatomical integrity, complex conservative and surgical treatment can be prescribed, aimed at restoring tissues and structures, as well as their functional state.

After preoperative preparation (including the prescription of various medications that improve the general condition of the patient’s body, as well as drugs to prevent postoperative complications, in particular bleeding and secondary bacterial infection), open access surgery or arthroscopic surgery is performed. It is less traumatic.

In the case of inflammatory origin of pain, conservative drug therapy is predominantly used, as well as physiotherapeutic procedures (magnetic therapy, ozokerite, mud baths, electrophoresis with anti-inflammatory medications). They help reduce pain in the right shoulder joint.

Treatment may vary in duration, depending on the severity of the traumatic or pathological injury, as well as the surgical technique performed.