Strange arm pain

Al_wat

This is kind of weirding me out. It started about 3 days ago.

I first noticed pain in the bicep of my left arm. It was kind of in the middle, feels like a pulled muscle or maybe even a bruise. It is most noticeable when I extend my arm (ie lock my elbow). The thing is, I didn't hit it against anything that I remember, and I haven't done any strenuous activity like lifting or working out. It doesn't hurt when I flex my arm either, only when I stretch it out like I am reaching for something. It seems to have just... appeared. At this point there was no marking, no bruising or anything.

Over the next couple of days it seems to be progressing, it is actually moving down my arm. The original location (middle of bicep) doesn't even really hurt anymore, now the pain is more towards the inside of my left elbow. Same pain when I extend my arm. There is actually a little bit of reddening now, very faint. Its like a 1cm thick line starting near my arm pit, twisting over the top of my bicep over to the inside of my elbow - the spot where the pain currently is. Actually when I move my hand over that spot, the pain is all concentrated on this reddened line.

It doesn't hurt to move my fingers, there is no numbness or anything. I just had my mom look at it, she is an ICU nurse, she said it doesn't look like a burst/damaged blood vessel or anything. It isn't hot, doesn't look like an infection, and she felt for swollen lymph nodes in my armpit but there weren't any. Her recommendation was to just wait and observe it. She said the red mark appeared superficial, meaning only on the skin really.

Its racking my brain because I can't figure out what could have caused this and it doesn't seem to be going away. I can easily go to a doctor if I need to but if this just breaks down to a classic case of a pulled muscle I really would rather not. Anyways, my main question is just this: Has anyone experienced or heard of something like this? Maybe not even in their arm but like in a leg or something? Does this sound like a pulled muscle?

I feel kinda ridiculous even making a thread about it, but what the fuck why not.

ceres

Have you tried icing it?

Al_wat

no

that sounds like a good idea though, I'll give it a shot

Dhalphir

Do you do any work with computers that could be considered repetitive or harmful? If, for example, you work with a computer all day then come home and game on a computer as well, if you have any sort of bad posture or bad desk/chair setup, the first things to feel the brunt of that will be your wrists and elbows.

Mad Jazz

Icing is a good plan, and you can take some NSAIDs like tylenol or ibuprofen (I recommend the ibuprofen, that's always worked best for me for stuff like this). Honestly, just listen to your mom. In my experience, ICU nurses are on top of their shit, and since she's the only one who can actually see this thing, if she's ok with it, I'm inclined to be ok with it.

Al_wat

I think it might be my tendons or a tendon. Sometimes the pain goes up my forearm as far as my wrist.

I hope this doesnt turn into a chronic thing

ceres

Rest it. Things that hurt? Don't do those things until it goes away. IF IF IF that's what it is, your best shot at keeping it from becoming a thing is not to upset it before it goes away.

BUT, go to a doctor if you can. For all we know it's a blood clot (okay that's pretty worst-case), and if that's the case it could be very dangerous. It's weird because you say it's moved, is all, and something tendon-related would stay with the tendon.

Donovan Puppyfucker

I think there's some sort of parasitic alien organism living in your artery. Go see a doctor, they'll know how to destroy it.

Darkewolfe

If you have good insurance, go see a doctor. If you don't, rest it as much as you can. If you're using a computer, try to take breaks every 15 minutes to stretch your arm. If you've been working out in a new way, take a break.

Basketballs

It sounds like minor nerve impingement. The median nerve runs with the brachial artery in the arm. The brachial artery comes out from under the biceps about halfway to your elbow. The nerve will be slightly stretched when you extend your elbow, this is because it runs on front facing area of your arm. When you flex the arm it gets slack. There doesn't have to necessarily be any sensory loss in your fingers, but it can happen.

If it gets worse I would definitely see a doctor. If you've had any spinal problems definitely see a doctor also. Otherwise you can probably just wait for your body to correct itself.

Amigu

Sounds to me like it could be a mild tennis elbow. Got one from a mix of holding my arm ins lightly odd angles (due to an earlier break) and repetitive movements from judo. Basically that tenderness doesn't go away until you give the arm a rest. You can get similar stuff from using controllers and computers in weird ways. If it's what I think it is, te good news is it doesn't really get much worse but te bad news is it doesn't go away until you give it a rest. Ice packs can help too (what the doc recommended to me). Good luck!

Amigu

Oh and also just move menial tasks like carrying bags, clicking with the mouse, opening doors etc. to your other arm for a while

arnie9742

Hi. Did you find out what it was in the end? I have exactly the same symptoms and, same as you, didn't want to go to the doctor to find out it was nothing. I do, however, find it concerning as I'm a personal trainer.