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.

I saw someone regarding something else and he also diagnosed me Tennis Elbow.
He gave me an exercise to do and told me the only time I should see the back of my hand is during this exercise, otherwise always keep arm palm up, ie when carrying things etc.

I saw a private physio for tennis albow. She did the electric wave treatment on it and a bit of massage. Think it took about 4 visits before it cleared up.

I’ve just a very similar thing. Pain in the places you mention and it feels like a blood pressure cuff around my arm. My shoulder and neck were sore as well. I saw a physio and she manipulated my shoulder and arm and the weeks of pain have all but gone. The root cause was how I was sitting at my desk using the mouse and over extending my shoulder.

I had similar. Went through a whole raft of tests and scans (bupa so dealt with quickly). Initially they scanned my neck and shoulder to rule our arthritis and trapped nerves, then scanned my elbow. It was actually linked to a shoulder problem. The muscle around the scapula on one side was much weaker than the other. That meant other muscles around my shoulder were having to work harder and developed knots which then impacted the nerves that travelled down my arm. Lots of physio, and painful massage, then given lots of exercises to develop that muscle more but now completely fixed. I was very sceptical when I was told it was my shoulder when the pain was around my elbow!

If it is tennis elbow or rsi - I have had both- then acupuncture would help, maybe with infra red as well.

Could be Frozen Shoulder. I had that a year or two ago. Seemed to be made worse by using my mouse. My forearm needed more support so I have a wrist rest now. I did the exercise demonstrated in a short video on You Tube by “epmanualphysicaltherapy” on “Shoulder Impingement” and it relieved the pain in a day. That combined with the wrist rest and a couple of NSAIDs at the time, and it’s been ok ever since.

I had this, caused by pulling out a mighty bramble bush from the roots, .
I didn't seek help or diagnosis because it was 2020 etc, anyway it got better on its own very slowly. About 18 months to complete recovery. Sorry to say.

Physio here - pain in this area can be referred from the neck or shoulder but what you describe sounds most likely to be tennis elbow. It can be resistant to anti inflammatories and other common treatments and can be difficult to resolve. Even if it is purely tennis elbow, there can be secondary symptoms in your neck, shoulder or wrist caused by muscle trigger points and/or postural changes / using your arm differently to try and avoid the pain ( but the problem does not originate from the wrist ).Your physio will have a range of treatment options and there are some very specific exercises which resolve the problem in the vast majority of cases but it can take months to resolve completely in some cases.

I got my tennis elbow in my left arm. I am right-handed. I was told by my chiropractor that your non-dominant arm is less used to doing small exertions so it gets strained more. I know the lifting movements I was doing with my left arm would have been the cause. I had a few visits to see the chiropractor. She did hand massage, ultrasound massage and some dry needling. The needles felt nice and tingly. It did resolve it but I also stopped over-straining the arm.

For a similar injury, I had a cortisone infiltration performed by an orthopedic surgeon during a simple consultation. Instant relief.

I had tennis elbow (ulnar nerve compression ) and it was so painful.

I had it and was diagnosed as tendonitis and a quick steroid injection sorted it and it's never come back.

Another one saying tennis/golfer’s elbow. I think it’s golfer’s when it’s on the outside.

There are some simple exercises that really help. Your physio will be able to show you. Don’t panic it is curable, but it’s not quick (although I found the pain reduced significantly after a week or 2 of exercising). Consistency is the key. And a vertical mouse!

Because what's the point in asking for something if it might not be the appropriate treatment? The most important thing of all is to get the correct diagnosis first, then discuss treatment options for whatever condition it is.

For example, I had intractable arm pain and it turned out to be prolapsed cervical disc. Another time, a GP quickly diagnosed me, gave me an injection into the hip joint which did nothing as he'd misdiagnosed my hip pain and the issue was in the sacro-iliac joint.