[mctrials23]

Right guys, I am really hoping that one of you can shed a little light on what is ailing me because I am on the edge of getting annoyed by it.

For about the last 3 months I have had a problem in the top of my forearm. It has never been too painful to climb on and after about an hour and half of climbing the issue is pretty much non existent.

If i put my forearm palm down on a table, the problem is pretty much at the top of the forearm in the centre. Its about 2 inches away from the elbow crease. It just feels like there is tension in there a lot of the time and when I climb on it there is a lot of pressure in there and it gets pumped really quickly and doesn't go away properly till about an hour and a half into climbing.

I have tried massaging it, icing it, stretching it, and all sorts of dumbell and elastic band based exercises to help it but nothing really works.

I can not climb on it for a week and the dull pressure feeling goes away a bit but then it comes back without provocation. Its usually when I am not at work that this happens as I am a lot more active then so my arm is not by a keyboard all day, it is by my side or moving a lot more.

Any ideas on what this could be or any tests I can do to help you advise me. Anything like brushing my teeth sets it off. It doesn't hurt it, it just feels like the pressure in there builds up and the whole forearm aches / gets pumped. Needless to say this is playing havoc with wanking so I would love to get it fixed or at least have an idea about what it is.

None of the classic tennis elbow aggravating actions cause any pain at all and I would have said its too far from the elbow to be that anyway. Please help.

[mrjonathanr]

You're describing soreness in brachioradialis, not the elbow conditions like golfer's or tennis elbow, so any stretches need to be for that. I'm not aware of any dumbell eccentrics for this muscle...have you seen a physio? It sounds like you would benefit from expert advice, not least to rule out compartment syndrome.

Why not post here?

[mctrials23]

Not going to lie, I saw that thread a while back but couldn't find it again for the life of me and I convinced myself it wasn't on these forums. I have been googling like a muvverbitch on this issue so its all blurred into one.

Cheers for that link.

[sidewinder]

Given the length you have been suffering, would echo what jonathonr said, especially regarding getting compartment syndrome ruled out.

[mctrials23]

Cheers sidewinder, I kind of ruled that out because I thought it would get worse if compartment syndrome was the issue and I didn't think that it would stop hurting / causing problems after a good climbing session but as you say I should get it checked out. I also didn't want it to be CS as that sounds rather serious in almost all cases. I understand how sill that is as ignoring it won't make it any better or fix it.

[SA Chris]

You're describing soreness in brachioradialis, not the elbow conditions like golfer's or tennis elbow, so any stretches need to be for that. I'm not aware of any dumbell eccentrics for this muscle...have you seen a physio?

http://www.athlon.com.au/articles/r&i_dodgyelbow.pdf

this article mentions brachioradialis pain , and suggested eccentric dumbell exercices. I've had this in the past, not least in my right wrist which I broke age 6 or so and never healed 100% correctly. The stretch described has benefitted me greatly too.

Should it go into the wiki? I've posted it enough times!

[slackline]

Should it go into the wiki? I've posted it enough times!

If you're sick of posting it feel free to add it to the wiki (its your forum login anyway).

Not that its likely to get read, and you'll still end up posting a link to the wiki anyway. 

[mrjonathanr]

http://www.athlon.com.au/articles/r&i_dodgyelbow.pdf
this article mentions brachioradialis pain

Well yes,

 

and suggested eccentric dumbell exercices.

then no.

I didn't link to Saunders' advice because it doesn't outline any eccentric exercise for brachioradialis.

[mctrials23]

I had a read of that article and it seems to only mention a stretch that I have been doing for a while now with regards to brachioradialis issues.

Cheers for popping that in here but I'm not sure how much use it is in my case.

[tesla]

FWIW, I had this exact same injury for several months. I eventually got rid of it, but no idea what it was that helped most. I did the following:

- stretches mentioned in the article, but not regularly, mostly just after climbing
- eased off, climbing hardly at all for a few weeks, then slowly starting back again.
- doing very light conditioning for shoulders, back etc.
- reverse wrist curls
- massaging the arm, heat packs.
- possibly the thing that did the trick: I got a lump hammer with a longish handle and did the kind of exercise described in the following article, although in both directions http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=3614 (which I think by rights shouldn't do much for BR)

Anyway, worked for me. Hope you get well soon.