Is forearm pain holding you back?

Pain in your elbow and forearm can be very debilitating, as your arms are something you use all day long, for most activities. There are many components to your elbow which can all be the source of your pain. Muscles, tendons, ligaments, bursa, joint capsule and so on. The most important part of forearm and elbow pain is finding what activity causes your pain and avoiding it or altering it as much as you can. For example computer typing. Whilst giving up your job probably is not on the cards, look at how your work station is set up. Are your forearms gently rested on the desk? Are your shoulders relaxed? Are your wrists flat and level vs bent up? 

Causes:

- Injury

- Overuse

- Arthritis
- Entrapped nerve 

- Underlying condition

The most common cause is the extensor common tendon, which is the attachment for one side of your forearm muscles. This attaches to the outside of your elbow and most commonly is referred to as 'tennis elbow', yet more often than not it is not caused by tennis. Causes might be repetitive tasks like hammering, typing, lifting, gardening and so on. As mentioned, some of these tasks are not preventable, especially if it is lifting a child or typing at work. Look at how you are doing these tasks and how you can change your position to avoid the strain on your forearm. 

Exercises & stretches

Wrist stretches: Gently bend your wrist and fingers up towards the ceiling, your other hand to guide the movement. Then bend your wrist and fingers down towards the ground.

Forearm muscle stretch: Place one arm out straight in front of you, bend your wrist away from your body, with opposite arm reach over the top of the straight arm and interlace your fingers, then pull your bend hands upwards

Osteopathy & forearm pain

For osteopaths the main aims of treatment are to relieve your pain, but more importantly to find what is causing your pain and how best to alter or remove that cause. Treatment is aimed at improving the muscle flexibility, increasing blood flow to the local area to improve drainage of inflammation and address the mechanics of the entire upper limb, neck and upper back. By looking at the neck, upper back and entire arm, osteopathic treatment is able to address all the areas contributing to your pain. For example if your neck and shoulder and tight + restricted the nerves and blood supply to your entire arm become compromised making it harder for your body to heal the area of pain. Sometimes you can get referred pain, where you experience the pain in your elbow but it is coming from somewhere else e.g. your neck, shoulder or upper back. 

Osteopaths are ACC registered, with no referral required

Book online or email us to make an appointment to resolve your pain