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Rubbish arm injury (Read 1471 times)

Three Nine

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Rubbish arm injury
January 25, 2011, 01:31:55 pm
hi all,

my left arm started hurting lots on sunday, no discrete event i can remember, but really sore on the back (opposite bicep) side. had to abandon this morning's board session as excruciating. I'm no stranger to elbow injuries, but this is above the elbow and on the back side of my arm. hurts to poke it atm.

any ideas what the score is with this? rehab? is it that bad etc..

any help appreciated, cheers

fried

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#1 Re: Rubbish arm injury
January 25, 2011, 02:04:33 pm
Would this be about halfway between your shoulder and elbow. A dull ache which get worse until you can't even lift a bouldering mat, and last about an hour after exercise?

Three Nine

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#2 Re: Rubbish arm injury
January 25, 2011, 03:02:55 pm
that sort of thing, yeah. really quite sore

fried

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#3 Re: Rubbish arm injury
January 25, 2011, 05:32:25 pm
The reason I ask is that I've had the same kind of dull ache in the upper arms which is too diffuse to work out exactly what is causing the problem since I started bouldering. This week I have exactly the same pain at the back of the upper arm and I'm trying to work out if there is a connection or that's it that I changed some of my antagonistic exercises and is just an extra 'normal' muscle ache.

The Sausage

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#4 Re: Rubbish arm injury
January 25, 2011, 06:14:14 pm
My GUESS is that it is likely related to the radial nerve. It winds round the back of the humerus, and goes through one of the triceps on its way down the arm. Any strain to the triceps could easily have a knock on effect on the radial nerve.

The other aspect is the phenomenom of the 'double crush' injury - this is where a nerve becomes more susceptible to reacting to compression/stretch if it is compromised somewhere else along it's length. The radial nerve is particularly vulnerable in climbers, mainly due to our neck postures (poking chin/tight curve in the mid-cervical region), and in the forearm - the radial nerve passes through some very tight spaces as it passes into the forearm. Again, any slight inflammation there will impact on the radial nerve.

you probably need to give it a few days to settle, and perhaps avoid anything too strenuous for a week or so.

Incidently, do you still do the shoulder stability exercises I showed you years back? Triceps will work hard to stabilise the shoulder if the other stabilisers aren't working too well, particularly if the arm is above the head.

Anyway, this is all just supposition...

 

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