Anyone had similar outer elbow and forearm pain that will not ease?

[NorthernDaydreamer]

I’m suffering with this awful pain in my arm. It’s been a few weeks now. At first I thought it would ease off but there’s been no improvement.
As per the image, the pain is around my elbow and down just below the elbow on the outside and extends a little way down my arm too. It’s worse when lifting things , opening bottles with a twisting motion or anything that involves twisting my arm.
It also hurts when I have my arm just hanging by my side, feels like a tightness/pressure pain.
It hurts when bending my elbow too.
It’s a mix between burning, dragging, sharp and aching pain.
Oh and the arm is sore to the touch in certain areas where I have put crosses in the picture.

I went to the GP and I have a physio appointment next week.
I’ve noticed the shoulder/neck muscle on that side is also tight and sore.

Has anyone had similar? Even ibuprofen isn’t really touching it , I’ve also tried ibuprofen gel and ice. No real improvement.

Could be either Tennis Elbow or Golfers elbow? Your Physio appt will be able to tell you for sure.
Although you feel the pain in your elbow its actually a wrist problem.

You can Google some exercises to do that might help. I had tennis elbow for good few months but it did eventually resolve after doing some exercises.

I had tendonitis around that area, it was similar to tennis elbow, eventually got PRP injection and haven't had anything since. But i did have it for much longer and it got progressively worse, yours sounds more like a sudden injury.

i would ask for an injection from the GP

A family member had this - it was tennis elbow. Thr are exercises but his was severe and he needed an operation. It is important to get the right exercises or you strengthen the wrong muscles which makes it worse. Physio should be able to advise but if it doesn’t get better get a second opinion.

@Minasama who would I get a second opinion from?

It kind of hurts when I lean on my elbow too.

i would do some neck exercises, gentle ones

@HoraceCope what injection would I ask for?

local anaesthetic and hydrocortisone injection @NorthernDaydreamer

I've had this, been wearing an elbow support for the last 9 months and it's gradually healing. The more intense pain reduced after wearing it for a couple of weeks.

Tennis elbow. I get it often (have hypermobility). Only thing that helps and eventually gets rid is to wear a brace for a few weeks.

Yes, that's "tennis elbow". Try to work out what's causing it rather than just medicating for it.

Yep I’ve currently had this the last few months, I think it’s repetitive strain from holding my baby. I’ve not done much about it apart from some gentle exercises. It’s bloody annoying so I empathise with you

Tendonitis - it’s so horrible and affects your grip. Knocked me sick . Support bandage helps and I used to stick mine in a sling when resting It happened due to heavy lifting but also associated with peri menopause - same with plantar fasciitis 🦶 the change in hormones seems to cause so much inflammation.

Yes 'tennis' elbow but very rarely actually caused by tennis.

Had it for 8 months now.

Not much you can do other than physio strengthening exercises & avoid whatever was causing it - can be anything from typing, sport, manual work or even from holding & scrolling your phone.

Had some acupuncture through work which helped with pain but doesn't cure the underlying problem

Mine was caused by lifting heavy rubbish sacks with an outstretched arm. I saw a private physio who gave me stretching excersises which gradually strengthened and stretched the muscles. I occasionally get a twinge if I overdo things at the gym but it's much better. Steroid injections help in the short term but studies suggest in the longer term there's not much difference between that and physio.

Don't ask for an injection, that wasn't good advice. You need a diagnosis and then the appropriate treatment. Mention your neck too.

Another former tennis elbow sufferer here. The thing that worked best for mine was infrared therapy... 22 years ago, so I actually managed to get an nhs physio who was hands on, they tried ultrasound, massage, infrared. Infrared worked for me, 5 treatments over 3 weeks, along with a few exercises to strengthen the area. Worked really incredibly well and have had no issues since... had it at 40, now 62.
(If I were to have a recurrence I'd book a private physio locally, speed of treatment can affect speed of recovery and longer term outcomes)

I’m 37 so I don’t think perimenopause could be a factor but you never know.
I do have diagnosed AuDHD and I’ve often wondered if I’m hyper mobile to be honest.

I still swim and want to keep that up, so hope I can,

Are you an administrator and/or do you spend a lot of time on a laptop or desktop PC? If so, look at your workstation - my tennis elbow is caused by crappy hotdesk mice.

I had tennis elbow mainly from repeated manual handling - I got some good physio advice from the NHS and followed the exercises to the letter.

I was initially extremely sceptical but it's resolved completely with no repeats - so id say get a proper qualified physio to look at it before leaping to anything.

why ever not?
I mean I am sure the GP wont provide it willy nilly

It's a very common thing & not a symptom of hyper mobility so I wouldn't worry about that.
It's more common as you get older but no links to menopause.

It's a repetitive strain injury.

I got tennis elbow after a really long drive. I wasn’t able to lift my kettle or carry my lap top in a bag.

took weeks of resting it to sort itself out.