Weakness in arm, dull pain constantly in elbow. Tennis elbow? Advice please!

[Elbowpain]

About 2 months ago I played tennis after many, many years of no arm exercise. A one off with a friend for some fun.

Since then I have had a constant pain in my right arm and a loss of strength. It was all the way up the arm, but now goes from my fingers, into my wrist, and to my elbow and seems to have concentrated into my elbow. A dull pain all the time, and sometimes shooting pains.

Painkillers dont help, and I cant take too much ibuprofen as it upsets my stomach. Have tried 5% ibuprofen cream, not effect whatsoever. I have a wrist brace, but I teach online so cant wear that much as i need the flexibility in my wrist to type.

I have looked up tennis elbow and I reckon this is what it is. Should I bother the doctor in case it is something more like nerve damage? Has anyone found anything that helped tennis elbow?

Thank you

From memory when I had tennis elbow as advised by doc - the pain was in my most used arm - it was pain on movement and lifting stuff. Being careful etc, the pain gradually went away after a few months (this was about 25 years ago, I was in my late 30's at the time

I strongly recommend you see your GP for advice/etc!!

Good luck!!

Doctors used to do a steroid injection for tennis elbow , but they are now reluctant to do them as they have a high failure rate . For example my last one provided relief from pain for 10 months and is now back worse than before . Also in turn they weaken the tendons so can’t be constantly repeated , my doctor will do a maximum of two , some won’t do any .

So by all means book an appointment to have it confirmed, but expect to be sent away with exercises to do for a few months , which you can google yourself . Surgery is available as a last resort , but waiting list here is 2 years and most cases self heal if you complete the exercises daily I’m told .

Also if it’s tennis elbow ( caused by many things not just tennis ) you need a elbow support or tennis elbow band rather than a wrist support.

Tennis elbow is really nasty. I think you can get physio for it?
Or there is that pain killer gel you can rub on.
I had it last year, it did go by itself, I just had to back off doing anything like tennis

I had it at the same time as my husband.

I rested mine and it has completely gone away.

He went to the gp who sent him for physio. He ended up going to a specialist who gave him scans and all sorts, then a steroid injection. It has been fine for a while but he said yesterday that he feels like it is coming back.

Maybe check with the gp that it is not something else and then think about what to do next.

Does it hurt more if you hold your hand out flat and wiggle just the middle finger? That's what my physio said was the classic way to diagnose!

A physio is your best bet or look online for videos, some are really useful and effectively "free" physio. A colleague had similar and refused to look online as said he wanted to see a GP..who weeks later referred him to a Physio who gave him exercises (that were the same as online physio)

Thank you everyone, really appreciate all the help and advice. I will google physio tips, anything to get some relief!

I will pop to the chemist tomorrow and see what the highest ibuprofen cream I can get.

@motherofawhirlwind Thanks, I have just tried that and yes it does hurt more doing that.

Just the weakness and ache is not getting any better, and it is impossible to rest it as I am typing and using screens all day

I'd definitely see a physio - I also couldn't really rest but some acupuncture and exercises helped alot.

And massage!

Also if you are using a keyboard and mouse, consider getting an upright mouse? Made loads of difference to me, might help it ease quicker as a normal mouse is probably aggravating it daily?

Ice packs help deal with the inflammation. I had acupuncture for mine and it mostly worked. The pain was 70 percent gone after one session, and further sessions didn't really help any more, was definitely worth it though.

Definitely thinking of having a massage on it @motherofawhirlwind ! A great excuse for one 😁

@Yddraigoldragon - I haven't heard of an upright mouse, thank you

I have looked at some physio options on the NHS website. Been trying it today. My thumb has started to tingle a bit, pins and needles. Think it it Doc time though am tempted to try the acupuncture route @fuzzwuss

The massage the physio did was not pleasant but worked. At times I couldn't speak as she hit the worst bits! She also doesn't mind if you swear But the acupuncture was fine and helped alot.

I had tennis elbow (from karate not tennis!) and this support really helped. You put it either above or below your elbow and it takes the strain off. You should be able to type with it on too.

Self refer to physio. Takes a while for the symptoms to settle. Some people do find elbow supports comfortable, some don’t. See what works for you

Thanks again for the help and advice! Much appreciated

@Scootergrrrl - did your hand feel really cold with tennis elbow? My thumb got pins n needlery yesterday, but my hand has felt cold for at least 4/5 weeks

I was searching for TENNIS ELBOW vs RADIAL TUNNEL SYNDROME and came across your post.

It’s been almost a year, have your condition resolved?

I’ve recently been having pain in forearm and elbow which twisting motion aggregates the symptoms, wakes me up at night especially when I move my arm lifting the duvet..
any twisting motion like washing up, holding a cup, brushing teeth, picking up anything, typing, etc.

as I also have the pain in my elbow area, I initially thought it was tennis elbow.
and I used a tennis elbow brace on my forearm, it didn’t work but made it worse.

tingles,
pins and needles,
shooting pain,
heat and cold sensation inside of neck, upper arm, forearm,
aching pain in my shoulder, arm, wrist and hand, any of the symptoms come and go as it seems to be affected by twisting motion, lifting and even typing.

Painkillers generally don’t work as it seems to be the nerve.

I have researched and read several informations and Radial Tunnel Syndrome explains similar to what I have.

it is often misdiagnosed as tennis elbow as it mimics the symptoms.

However, how to treat it is completely different.
IF you have Radial tunnel syndrome, exercise for tennis elbow could aggravate the symptoms.

In my case, shoulder bag on my bad side also make the symptom worse even if not heavy, I slept with not moving my wrist last night and I had no pain this morning till I picked up my phone from a desk.
hmm wrong angle
I think I’m gonna buy a wrist brace to restrict the movement till it heals…