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Back of elbow pain (Read 3391 times)

Richie Crouch

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Back of elbow pain
November 28, 2015, 07:21:23 am
I've had a bit of a pain for the last week after climbing twice indoors where my left elbow has become inflamed and hard to fully straighten (this hurts the most) or bend to a full lock. It feels bruised on the elbow tip/bone and up behind into the tricep area. The whole area is quite warm and uncomfortable.

I've definitely not bashed it and it feels like a fluid build up rather than a bruise.

Could it have anything to do with bursitis or more likely some form of tendinitis from locking a lot and not warming up sufficiently?

I'm guessing full rest until it calms down then slowly getting back into things is the likely answer but some tips from anyone with experience of these symptoms would be great.

TobyD

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#1 Re: Back of elbow pain
November 29, 2015, 10:23:31 am
When you say 'inflamed' if you mean that it looks visibly swollen, its probably bursitis. If so, a bit of rest and ice and it should be fine in a week or so. If you have a tendon problem which causes these symptoms on the other hand, you need to go see someone soon. My guess is that this is pretty unlikely, and deep locks could irritate bursa. Internet based worthless advice, obviously; if you are unsure get it physically looked at!

Richie Crouch

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#2 Re: Back of elbow pain
November 29, 2015, 02:31:15 pm
Definitely swelled up with some fluid around the elbow.

I had a dr look at it and she said it may be an infection if I had recently re-opened a cut on my elbow as there is an old scab on there and I did recently scrape the arm open a bit below but there is no sign of redness/warmth tracking up to the elbow from the graze.

She has drawn a line around the area of redness (which is quite warm still) and said to keep a close eye on it spreading any further, in which case go get it sorted.

I'll try and upload an image.





« Last Edit: November 29, 2015, 02:58:53 pm by Richie Crouch »

tomtom

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#3 Re: Back of elbow pain
November 29, 2015, 03:04:12 pm
Any pain in your armpit? Swollen glands often sign of an infection on a limb..

Fultonius

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#4 Re: Back of elbow pain
November 29, 2015, 05:44:02 pm
This happened to me in font one year. Tiny scratch on elbow turned into a massive swellbow. I could press dents into the flesh and they would stay there for 5 minutes. One night I started having weird dreams and hallucinations so our on trip doctor sent me to the hospital where they prescribed me 3g/day amoxycillin!! Keep and eye on it and don't do too much,  go to docs if it gets worse.

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lagerstarfish

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#5 Re: Back of elbow pain
November 29, 2015, 07:48:38 pm
plenty of rest and curry

avoid alcohol and cocaine

that middle pic looks like a leg/knee!

TobyD

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#6 Re: Back of elbow pain
November 29, 2015, 09:18:32 pm
Richie, this looks almost exactly like what happened to my knee about 6 years ago: septic bursitis. Not the end of the world but a bit nasty for a week or two (my leg had gone a deeper red and pretty swollen - GP thought maybe DVT and I got rushed off to A&E...) anyway properly rest it and if you start feeling feverish go straight to a doctor. IIRC a good whack of antibiotics sorted me out.  They are usually not as problematic as mine was though. Hope that helps. T

Richie Crouch

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#7 Re: Back of elbow pain
November 29, 2015, 10:18:08 pm
Cheers for all of the replies and apologies for the grim elbow pics!

I noticed that the redness had spread beyond the pen circle today, so queued for several hours in Bangor A&E and was prescribed a 5 day course of antibiotics for it. I'm usually averse to taking anything if not 100% necessary as I'm led to believe it negates the effectiveness of further antibiotics later down the line in fighting off more serious infections?...but it's probably worthwhile in this instance. No other symptoms so far and glands seem ok too.

TobyD

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#8 Re: Back of elbow pain
November 29, 2015, 11:07:47 pm
Cheers for all of the replies and apologies for the grim elbow pics!

I noticed that the redness had spread beyond the pen circle today, so queued for several hours in Bangor A&E and was prescribed a 5 day course of antibiotics for it. I'm usually averse to taking anything if not 100% necessary as I'm led to believe it negates the effectiveness of further antibiotics later down the line in fighting off more serious infections?...but it's probably worthwhile in this instance. No other symptoms so far and glands seem ok too.

Get them down you! Or the 'more serious infections' could potentially  be happening rather soon...

 

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