Posted: 4/5/2007 5:24:03 PM EDT
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My elbow hurts pretty bad. Whenever it's bent and pressure is applied to it, it feels as if I am being shocked (nerve damage, I presume.) It started hurtng Sunday afternoon and it has gotten worse. The only thing I can link it to is me driving my tiller steared outboard motor over some rocks Saturday (the prop struck a couple of rocks real hard.) I'm 33 years old, lift weights regularly, swim and am in pretty good physical shape. I played football in highschool and have never felt a shooting pain like this. As I've said, it's a shooting pain that stops as soon as the pressure is removed. The pain radiates in two directions from the source of contact. I've "stayed off of it" for almost a week now. No lifting, no straining. I've taken Alieve with little relief. Advil may work better, I'm not sure. I don't believe going to the doctor will resolve this anytime soon, assuming it is nerve damage. Thoughts? |
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you were obviosly bitten by a tunnel-web-elbow spider... it will only get worse.. eventually your arm will fall off.. if lucky at the elbow, if not so lucky at the shoulder.. be glad though.. if you was bitten by an australian funnel web spider, your head would explode and you'd die. |
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Call the doctor for advice pending your visit. Sooner rather than later. It may be a little late for ice, but immobilizing it probably works better than 'staying off it', no matter how careful you are. Going to the Dr. now is not a waste even if your self diagnosis it correct. You might receive treatment that would prevent further damage. OTOH, how do you know it's not a tendon impinging on a nerve? |
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If it has been hurting like that for a week...you need to get it x-rayed, and have a MS/NS workup done on it. Inflammation within a joint is not a good thing. It can make it hospitable for a little bacterial fiesta, and hopefully not from MRSE or GC, as well as another dozen little bad critters. |
That's what I suspected. |
I'm to busy to call the Doc if it will heal on its own. |
No constant pain. It just hurts when given a specif pressure point (which I seem to find while sleeping.) |
My wife just looked at it compared to my other elow and said its swollen. I thought both arms were big! 
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That's what I thought. I live a pretty rough life and have never been injured like this before, but I could chalk it up to aging. I hit a solid rock with a 20hp outboard motor while drinking. It was bumping like hell and knocked a chunck out of the aluminum prop. It didn't hurt at the moment but it's the only impact that arm was subjected to all week. Edited to add: My arm was in a "dip" type position when I hit the rock. A lot of leverage was working agianst my arm. |
Whacking doesn't hurt it.... ....wait, I mean, I don't think it would hurt to whack. ETA: All my page 2s belong to me! (I don't see this thread going much further.) |
| The ulnar nerve runs in a groove around the elbow and can easily become inflamed for a variety of reasons. While it's not an emergency, I'd get it checked out. You probably only need a little physical therapy and time. The physical therapist can also fit you with a pad that will keep you from bending the elbow while you're asleep so you don't keep waking yourself up with it. Good luck. |
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The diagnosis to your problem cannot easily be determined with the limited information provided. It would help to know more specifically about how and where the pain is radiating from and to. In addition, is there any trauma to the area tha could precievably have resulted in nerve damage. Other than lifting weights, is there any other repetitive motions that you do with that elbow. Either way, definitely see a doctor, preferably an orthopoedist. Any other doctor will likely not provide you with the best treatment based on what you have discussed here. |
Thank you for the info. |
I can't think of any repetitve motions that would have contributed to this pain. I'm going to keep it on icy hot for another 5 days or so and then consider seeing a doctor. Unless, of course, it gets worse. This pain has come from nowhere minus the prop eating the rock incident. But like I said earlier, the prop eating the rock did not result in immediate pain |
Thanks for the info! I'll give it a try. |