Arm pain

Pain in the arm can be caused by various reasons, so it can manifest itself in different forms. The entire arm or a certain part of it can hurt. The pain can appear spontaneously or develop gradually, be sharp or dull, burning or numbing, shooting or piercing, constant or paroxysmal.

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What causes arm pain?

Pain in the arm is often the result of injuries such as sprains or ligament ruptures, bone fractures, bruises or other types of damage. In addition, the cause may be muscle strain, which occurs due to excessive physical exertion, prolonged work in an uncomfortable position. In this case, the injured arm needs to be provided with as much rest as possible. In certain situations, arm pain is one of the signs of diseases of the nerve trunks, musculoskeletal system, cardiovascular system. In this regard, if discomfort in the arm does not go away over a long period of time or periodically resumes without apparent reason, you should immediately consult a doctor.

If there is a suspicion of dislocation or fracture, it is necessary to do an X-ray examination, if there are no visible external injuries, it is necessary to check the cervical spine, because the cause of pain may be a protrusion or herniated disc. If pain in the arm appears and disappears in a calm state without any external cause, the possibility of inflammation or arthritis cannot be ruled out. It should not be forgotten that a bone fracture is not always obvious. In many cases, it appears as a result of a blow and can remain unnoticed, manifesting itself only during serious physical exertion, since discomfort is perceived as a sign of a common bruise.

It should be noted that hand pain is not always felt directly at the site of injury, for example, if the wrist is affected, it often spreads to the entire forearm. This usually happens under the condition of constant high load on the joint, which is caused by the nuances of professional activity. At the same time, the hand does not have enough time to recover, and this leads to increased pain. Despite the fact that the muscles on the upper arm are quite well developed in many people, their injury can also be the cause of significant discomfort. This also includes the inflammatory process in the biceps tendon, as well as its friction against the bone or rupture.

Sometimes pain in the upper arm appears due to lifting heavy objects, which can cause inflammation in the tendons of the shoulder muscles. It is accompanied by tingling and burning, which often bother a person at night. In addition, discomfort can be caused by fluid accumulation in the tissues. After sleep, a person shakes his hand, as a result of which microcirculation improves and relief comes. But swelling in the hands can also appear against the background of, for example, pregnancy, therefore, pathology can only be detected with the help of special diagnostic studies.

Often a person may experience pain that radiates to one of the arms. If it is the left arm, then we are dealing with classic symptoms of a heart attack or myocardial infarction. In this case, pain in the arm and behind the breastbone is usually accompanied by shortness of breath, pallor, nausea, cold sweat, and an inexplicable feeling of fear. In such a situation, you need to call emergency medical care.

Diseases that cause pain in the arm

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Brachial plexitis

Damage to the brachial plexus is usually caused by mechanical reasons: trauma, dislocation of the humeral head, narrowing of the costoclavicular space due to a fracture of the clavicle. A rare variant of brachial plexopathy is Pancoast syndrome, which is expressed in a tumor of the upper lung that grows into the brachial plexus. In such cases, pain in the arm accompanies the development of Horner's syndrome (enophthalmos, miosis, ptosis ) due to damage to the sympathetic fibers. X-ray signs of a tumor of the upper lung and destruction of the upper ribs can confirm the diagnosis.

Neuralgic amyotrophy

This disease manifests itself as an unusually strong pain in the arm and shoulder girdle, which is combined with a sharply expressed atrophy of the muscles of the proximal part of the arm, often with paralysis of the anterior serratus muscle, which provokes the departure of the medial edge of the scapula, becoming the cause of its almost perpendicular position in relation to the chest. The subacute variant of the development of these atrophies distinguishes this type of plexopathies from radiculopathies and other lesions of the brachial plexus.

Periarthritis of the shoulder

This disease is usually one of the neurodystrophic syndromes of such an ailment as cervical osteochondrosis, or an independent disease or a consequence of injury. There is pain in the arm of varying intensity, which resembles radiculopathy or plexalgia. Its peculiarity is that the arm moves freely in the sagittal plane, but the abduction of the arm to the side is limited due to muscle contracture, it is accompanied by intense pain - the "frozen arm" syndrome appears.

Shoulder-hand syndrome

It is characterized by a combination of symptoms that are inherent in scapulohumeral pariarthrosis, with swelling and other vegetative changes in the wrist and hand. The disease has a long-term nature.

Carpal tunnel syndrome

It appears due to compression of the median nerve located in the osteofibrous canal, in diseases such as arthritis of the wrist joints, tendovaginitis of the flexors of the fingers, often against the background of changes in the endocrine system - menopause, pregnancy, diabetes mellitus, etc. Paresthesia and pain in I-III or in all fingers of the hand are noted. Pain in the arm increases during palpation of the transverse ligament, with passive extension and flexion of the wrist joint, when placing the tonometer cuff on the shoulder, when raising the arms in a lying position.

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Anterior scalene syndrome

A characteristic symptom is pain in the arm, which intensifies at night, during deep inhalation, tilting the head to the healthy side, and abducting the arm. Weakness of the hand muscles is noted. The hand is pale, cyanotic, and swollen.

Pain in the hand caused by prolonged work at the computer is called "tunnel syndrome". This is a professional ailment of most computer specialists and a common disease of all those who spend a lot of time at the computer. As a rule, the cause of pain is a pinched nerve of the carpal tunnel (this is caused by constant static load on the same muscles, as well as an uncomfortable position of the hands when working with a mouse or keyboard) or a lack of interarticular fluid. It is better to prevent this problem in advance than to treat it. There are special mouse pads equipped with rubber rollers for the hand. They help to comfortably arrange the hand and relieve the load from it. If pain in the hand has already arisen, and it is quite strong, you need to tighten the wrist with an elastic bandage, but do not overdo it - poor blood circulation will only worsen the situation. Nettle and rosemary decoctions are good for joint pain. In addition, you can make applications from them: brew the herb, apply the still warm gruel from it to your hand, wrap it in polyethylene, and on top - something warm, for example, a scarf or shawl. However, if the pain in the hand lasts more than a week, you need to visit a neurologist.

Who should you contact if you have pain in your arm?

The reason to see a doctor should be pain in the arm that lasts more than 2 days, increases with physical activity or occurs against the background of limited nerve sensitivity. An alarm signal is a change in the shape of the arm, the occurrence of swelling and stiffness of the joints. A traumatologist and neurologist will help diagnose, establish the cause and prescribe the correct treatment for pain in the arm.