Forearm pain - excessive gripping??
Discussion
Has anyone any experience of dealing with forearm pain? I started getting pain at the top of both of my forearms, towards the outside by the elbow, back in the summer. I'd started doing a lot more gym work with free weights, and coincidentally was playing a lot of cricket and had spent a lot of time batting, and I have a habit of choking the bat handle so I was gripping a lot.
I'm still suffering now when gripping overhand and bending my arm, which means anything from getting a drink to putting clothes on or brushing teeth, it's a dull pain and affects my ability to grip.
I've started looking at trigger points and massaging as I'm convinced it's excessively tight forearm extensors, and when massaging I get a very, very sore point just below the elbow joint which is ridiculously tender. It actually hurts more now, I've been massaging using a cricket ball and trying to release whatever tension I think is there.
Anyone have experience of this?, as it's both arms it can't be anything else as far as I'm concerned.
I'm still suffering now when gripping overhand and bending my arm, which means anything from getting a drink to putting clothes on or brushing teeth, it's a dull pain and affects my ability to grip.
I've started looking at trigger points and massaging as I'm convinced it's excessively tight forearm extensors, and when massaging I get a very, very sore point just below the elbow joint which is ridiculously tender. It actually hurts more now, I've been massaging using a cricket ball and trying to release whatever tension I think is there.
Anyone have experience of this?, as it's both arms it can't be anything else as far as I'm concerned.
Google Tennis Elbow, sounds like it to me. Self limiting problem so will eventually go away on it's own. Take anti-inflammatories for the pain (Ibuprofen) and try an arm cuff.
I had it a while ago and it took a few months to disappear. Almost dropped a few cups of coffee as mine hurt when I rotated my wrist that way.
Doctor was only concerned about me taking ibuprofen long term in case it caused stomach problems but I was lucky not to have any isue with them.
I had it a while ago and it took a few months to disappear. Almost dropped a few cups of coffee as mine hurt when I rotated my wrist that way.
Doctor was only concerned about me taking ibuprofen long term in case it caused stomach problems but I was lucky not to have any isue with them.
Jefferson Steelflex said:
Has anyone any experience of dealing with forearm pain? I started getting pain at the top of both of my forearms, towards the outside by the elbow, back in the summer. I'd started doing a lot more gym work with free weights, and coincidentally was playing a lot of cricket and had spent a lot of time batting, and I have a habit of choking the bat handle so I was gripping a lot.
I'm still suffering now when gripping overhand and bending my arm, which means anything from getting a drink to putting clothes on or brushing teeth, it's a dull pain and affects my ability to grip.
I've started looking at trigger points and massaging as I'm convinced it's excessively tight forearm extensors, and when massaging I get a very, very sore point just below the elbow joint which is ridiculously tender. It actually hurts more now, I've been massaging using a cricket ball and trying to release whatever tension I think is there.
Anyone have experience of this?, as it's both arms it can't be anything else as far as I'm concerned.
Yes, I have had exactly this.I'm still suffering now when gripping overhand and bending my arm, which means anything from getting a drink to putting clothes on or brushing teeth, it's a dull pain and affects my ability to grip.
I've started looking at trigger points and massaging as I'm convinced it's excessively tight forearm extensors, and when massaging I get a very, very sore point just below the elbow joint which is ridiculously tender. It actually hurts more now, I've been massaging using a cricket ball and trying to release whatever tension I think is there.
Anyone have experience of this?, as it's both arms it can't be anything else as far as I'm concerned.
absolute agony that took aes to go away. doctors were no help, physios no help, just had to work out what was triggering it and stop doing that.
For me it was a straight bar curl. When I shifted to hammer grip I had no issues, and when I went on the EZ bar it hurt a little but not too much.
Once I worked out what it was I stopped doing any curls for a good 6 months, and stopping other exercizes with to much gip strength involved; dead list, farmers walk.
Year latr and I still cannot perform a straight bar curl, but am ok on EZ bar and hammer, deadlift etc.
Yes sounds like bilateral tennis elbow, I agree with the advice to take ibruprofen with food regularly for a couple of weeks - keep to dose on packet(if you have no health complaints where your doctor advises you shouldn't take it e.g; stomach probs, asthma; heart, liver or kidney probs, allergies)
I would also recommend acupuncture, which is excellent at treating the trigger points
I would also recommend acupuncture, which is excellent at treating the trigger points
Thanks all for the advice. I don't think it is tennis elbow as I had the physio look at it a few weeks ago while I was in for some other work and he tested for it and said not. I'll have another look though as the issue is now more specific to the same point on both arms after I massaged and iced the crap out of it over the last few days.
Sounds very much like my Bilateral, Lateral Epicondylitis; tennis elbow in both arms.
To diagnose; hold your arm out straight in front of you, palm down. Make a fist. Get someone to gently push down on the top of your hand or knuckles.
If you did not have the strength to resist and they could push your hand down easily with you whimpering like a little girl, its tennis elbow.
RICE.
Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation
Or so they say.
Mine mostly went away over 12 months or so but still comes back a little every now and then. Not pleasant.
To diagnose; hold your arm out straight in front of you, palm down. Make a fist. Get someone to gently push down on the top of your hand or knuckles.
If you did not have the strength to resist and they could push your hand down easily with you whimpering like a little girl, its tennis elbow.
RICE.
Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation
Or so they say.
Mine mostly went away over 12 months or so but still comes back a little every now and then. Not pleasant.
The pain is most likely a symptom of overworking the positive part of the movement (gripping) without developing the negative part.
Try an elastic band around your fingertips and open your hands for a few reps and sets. This will stretch the tendons and balance the strength in your forearms between the concentric and eccentric movement.
I used these and found them to be very good and was surprisingly weak to start with but quickly moved up to the top band.
https://www.crucialfitness.co.uk/ironmind/ironmind...
They are a replaceable item though as they will snap or perish eventually.
Try an elastic band around your fingertips and open your hands for a few reps and sets. This will stretch the tendons and balance the strength in your forearms between the concentric and eccentric movement.
I used these and found them to be very good and was surprisingly weak to start with but quickly moved up to the top band.
https://www.crucialfitness.co.uk/ironmind/ironmind...
They are a replaceable item though as they will snap or perish eventually.
oilydan said:
To diagnose; hold your arm out straight in front of you, palm down. Make a fist. Get someone to gently push down on the top of your hand or knuckles.
If you did not have the strength to resist and they could push your hand down easily with you whimpering like a little girl, its tennis elbow.
If you did not have the strength to resist and they could push your hand down easily with you whimpering like a little girl, its tennis elbow.
Succinct and accurate. Got it in my left arm; someone passed me a bag of sugar yesterday and I winced because I forgot and took it with my left (non-dominant) hand.There are stretches you can do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3GoDQ9ylZY
Jefferson Steelflex said:
Thanks all for the advice. I don't think it is tennis elbow as I had the physio look at it a few weeks ago while I was in for some other work and he tested for it and said not. I'll have another look though as the issue is now more specific to the same point on both arms after I massaged and iced the crap out of it over the last few days.
Any specific exercises where the levers (arms here) are fully extended and the elbow joint has to take an unnatural amount of weight/be in an unnatural position with possibly poor technique. Some culprits could be front raises with thumbs up, side raises, skull crushers etc etc. OK, this still isn't getting any better so I'm going back to the physio now that I have pinned down some more information on what causes what...
As I dislocated my left shoulder back in October, I had my arm in a sling and then generally imobilised for 4 weeks so my left arm felt 'better' in terms of elbow pain. Things that used to bring on the pain, like picking up a large glass of water, no longer hurt my left but still hurt my right. Cool, so some rest. etc. seemed to do the trick but the right arm did not get totally better and I would always catch it doing something innocuous like getting dressed or picking up a drink. It was better, but not 'right'.
Having been on here (and thanks for the advice), I started on some rehab/strengthening for tennis elbow so did stretches, icing, concentric muscle work, etc. on both arms and the right felt a little tender afterwards but over the past few weeks I've seen an improvement.
Fast forward to my last physio appointment for my shoulder (2 weeks ago) - advice was to now start light dumbell work doing shoulder abduction (side raises with thumbs up), and bicep curls. Girly weights, all about form and building proprioception and base muscle strength. I found the side raises 'annoyed' my elbows on both sides, so in for a penny and all that I thought I would push to doing lateral raises with palms down (i.e. normal form) and after 1 set of 10 my elbows were on fire when I tried to bend them - not just the lateral epicondyle but also the outside tip of the elbow.
Bear in mind this was with a 3kg dumbell in each hand, so not a heavy weight and even for my weak shoulder the actual lifting was easy. Whatever is wrong with my elbow/forearms is brought about when my arm is extended or almost fully eetended, grip action palms down or neutral (but never palms up - bicep curls are fine!), with a weight in the hand.
Now again everyday things like pulling up a pair of trousers or lifting a full glass of water to drink irritates both arms. Not back to square one (as I type this i feel much better today) but it's there nonetheless.
Sorry for the long post - I hope these's a clue somewhere as to what the issue is.
NB - I recall this first happening back in August as I started on some shoulder work and I definitely started doing a lot of lateral raises around that time (exclusively palms down). It seems most likely that I have bad form/arm in the wrong position or some form of muscular tightness or imbalance, but even so having not done anything for 5 weeks, then immediately irritating it with a 3kg weight seems a bit strange.
As I dislocated my left shoulder back in October, I had my arm in a sling and then generally imobilised for 4 weeks so my left arm felt 'better' in terms of elbow pain. Things that used to bring on the pain, like picking up a large glass of water, no longer hurt my left but still hurt my right. Cool, so some rest. etc. seemed to do the trick but the right arm did not get totally better and I would always catch it doing something innocuous like getting dressed or picking up a drink. It was better, but not 'right'.
Having been on here (and thanks for the advice), I started on some rehab/strengthening for tennis elbow so did stretches, icing, concentric muscle work, etc. on both arms and the right felt a little tender afterwards but over the past few weeks I've seen an improvement.
Fast forward to my last physio appointment for my shoulder (2 weeks ago) - advice was to now start light dumbell work doing shoulder abduction (side raises with thumbs up), and bicep curls. Girly weights, all about form and building proprioception and base muscle strength. I found the side raises 'annoyed' my elbows on both sides, so in for a penny and all that I thought I would push to doing lateral raises with palms down (i.e. normal form) and after 1 set of 10 my elbows were on fire when I tried to bend them - not just the lateral epicondyle but also the outside tip of the elbow.
Bear in mind this was with a 3kg dumbell in each hand, so not a heavy weight and even for my weak shoulder the actual lifting was easy. Whatever is wrong with my elbow/forearms is brought about when my arm is extended or almost fully eetended, grip action palms down or neutral (but never palms up - bicep curls are fine!), with a weight in the hand.
Now again everyday things like pulling up a pair of trousers or lifting a full glass of water to drink irritates both arms. Not back to square one (as I type this i feel much better today) but it's there nonetheless.
Sorry for the long post - I hope these's a clue somewhere as to what the issue is.
popeyewhite said:
Any specific exercises where the levers (arms here) are fully extended and the elbow joint has to take an unnatural amount of weight/be in an unnatural position with possibly poor technique. Some culprits could be front raises with thumbs up, side raises, skull crushers etc etc.
^^ Looks like you were spot on by the way...NB - I recall this first happening back in August as I started on some shoulder work and I definitely started doing a lot of lateral raises around that time (exclusively palms down). It seems most likely that I have bad form/arm in the wrong position or some form of muscular tightness or imbalance, but even so having not done anything for 5 weeks, then immediately irritating it with a 3kg weight seems a bit strange.
Edited by Jefferson Steelflex on Wednesday 7th December 09:21
Jefferson Steelflex said:
Forearm pain - excessive gripping??
Jefferson Steelflex said:
and I have a habit of choking the bat handle
Beeg.com's a helluva website. 
On topic I had the same problem and the only thing that cured it for me was to lay off the weights for 6 months. I had 6 sessions of acupuncture which were very enjoyable and relaxing but did nothing to help.
Thanks again, for the first time last night I spent some time properly analysing what I am doing and going through some stuff on YouTube (!) to see if there was an issue which rings true.
So, although it's probably obvious to those in the know, it's certainly a wrist flexor thing. Anything involving holding or lifting something (of almost any weight) with my wrist slightly flexed causes the discomfort. Triggering my memory on what perhaps started this off, my work on dumbells must be the culprit, possibly something as basic as how I lifted them off the rack, but most likely the little flex at the end of the movement on lateral raise or the flex at the bottom of a bicep curl.
I'll do some of the wrist strengthening stuff - it doesn't hurt at all to do weighted wrist flexions when my forearm is flat on a table, etc. and stretching it doesn't hurt so positive signs in that regard. I guess if the forearm flexors are stronger, the wrist won't flex when lifting things? In other words, can you injury-proof yourself?
So, although it's probably obvious to those in the know, it's certainly a wrist flexor thing. Anything involving holding or lifting something (of almost any weight) with my wrist slightly flexed causes the discomfort. Triggering my memory on what perhaps started this off, my work on dumbells must be the culprit, possibly something as basic as how I lifted them off the rack, but most likely the little flex at the end of the movement on lateral raise or the flex at the bottom of a bicep curl.
I'll do some of the wrist strengthening stuff - it doesn't hurt at all to do weighted wrist flexions when my forearm is flat on a table, etc. and stretching it doesn't hurt so positive signs in that regard. I guess if the forearm flexors are stronger, the wrist won't flex when lifting things? In other words, can you injury-proof yourself?
Efbe said:
have you tried lifting really slowly?
Lifting slowly will expose the side of the elbow to even greater stress than is usual and isn't recommended.Here's some info on elbow and wrist exercises OP: http://www.nismat.org/patients/injury-evaluation-t...
This may not work for everyone but it does for me.
I suffer (but expect) tendonitis a lot because I do a lot of grip and forearm training, often with large grips.
Although tendon pain is normal for me, it occasionally gets too painful and I struggle to close me hands. After 6 sets of a pulling exercise, the last set with a weight I struggle to move, my tendons seem to stretch and I can then fully close my hands for another few weeks.
You seem to have other issues but it's worth trying if you want to continue training your grip. Also high rep exercises with low weight to increase blood flow in and around your tendons/ligaments.
I suffer (but expect) tendonitis a lot because I do a lot of grip and forearm training, often with large grips.
Although tendon pain is normal for me, it occasionally gets too painful and I struggle to close me hands. After 6 sets of a pulling exercise, the last set with a weight I struggle to move, my tendons seem to stretch and I can then fully close my hands for another few weeks.
You seem to have other issues but it's worth trying if you want to continue training your grip. Also high rep exercises with low weight to increase blood flow in and around your tendons/ligaments.
Bloody hate tennis elbow. Last bout took 20 months to go away, its just coming back again after 12 months of being ok.
The self limiting comment is a bit misleading IMO.
I get mine from Squash and Badminton, plus bizarrely carrying a laptop bag through tube turnstiles.
I have seen a specialist several times, he is advising against cortisone injections and saying surgery is a possible, or wait another 9 years as incidence in people over 60 is very very rare
The self limiting comment is a bit misleading IMO.
I get mine from Squash and Badminton, plus bizarrely carrying a laptop bag through tube turnstiles.
I have seen a specialist several times, he is advising against cortisone injections and saying surgery is a possible, or wait another 9 years as incidence in people over 60 is very very rare
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