Hi everybody! Hope you all had a great Christmas. I am at my parents house right now so I am able to post. (My computer won't let me long on!)
I have a quick question. I have never had problems in my elbows but for the past few days my elbow locks up for a few minutes at a time and then is completely fine!
I went to pull up my pants just a few minutes ago, and it triggered this horrible pain! I could stretch it out to 180* angle but when I tried to bring it in, I couldn't get past about 90*. It was TERRIBLE pain to the point where I thought I was going to throw up. My dad put some heat on it and about a minute later it was like nothing happened. Does this happen to any of you?
I had this happen in my wrist before too. So strange.
OH and it also hurt to touch one little part of my joint.
Thanks in advance for the help.
Christina
Well i used to get thst more when i was younger and worked harder. Maybe a little rest is in order. For the arm. I do not remember it as part of a flare for me personally. My whole arm is messed up from scare tissue and i have RA but my right arm has also the regular kind of carpule tunnel and the regular type of ware and tare. And scared up shoulder. So i do not use it hardly enough to bother my elbow anymore. RA can i have found bother about any joint in the body i get them all. So if you are not flaring it is then a possible ortho pedic problem. You can get a small chip of bone lodged in the joint, that is one problem that could lock up your elbow. Also some times the nerve or tendon is swollen from over use or flaring and this can cause your elbow to catch and hurt really bad. Sounds a bit like tennis elbow. But RA or fibro could both cause this i think. I have had it and it went away or would come and go. I have fibro and have had to put my arm in a sling for a few days. Try avoiding to much repeatitive movement for the time being. Actually i just felt in mine to see if i could feel a knot. I have a very sensitive nerve there and it gave me the willies. Sometimes when a person has the nerve in an exposed area of the elbow they can surgically move it to a place where it does not get as much irritaion. Could just be a bit of fibro or scar tissue that is inflamed. Not sure what kind of a knot you have, could be a fibro knot in the tendon, or an RA nodual, a cyst or a small piece of bone. Some times a small piece of bone just floats out into the elbow joint and gets lodged there. See how long it last and if it becomes a problem see an ortho, If you are flaring then that is probably all it is.Hi Christina, I have had those some things happen to me in different joints. It's a sharp split second pain then it goes away. It's random and sometimes I let out a little "OUCH!" and everyone looks at me, and then it goes away.
I hope it gets better for you and they are few and far inbetween!Christina - my experience has been hits of huge pain or huge symptoms that can resolve in 20 minutes or last for days. It drives you crazy. Hang in there ~~ Cathyhi Christina, about 6 months ago I had intense pain in my elbows and was told by my doctor that it was bursitis. I had had bursitis in the hip before but never knew you could get it in the elbow. I used ice packs, pain creams and elbow braces for about a week when it started to go away. I have still had the arthritis pain in the elbows but luckily nothing like that since. it was awful so i know what you mean by the terrible pain. I was told if it didnt go away then a cortisone shot would be needed.Dear Christina,
I was officially diagnosed with RA is 1999 although I suspect I had it as a child (then the diagnosis was "growing pains"). My initial flare (in 1999) was in several areas, but my shoulders and elbows were subjected to the biggest attack.
I, too, in the month of December, experienced a flare in my right elbow. It began in the neck earlier in the month, domino'ing to shoulder-rhomboid-scapula points of pain, and know has settled into the elbow.
I really wanted to write and share your confusion. There's so much ambiguity to auto-immune diseases, especially as we are enduring pain. The questions of what is causing what, how much do I take, how far do I push, the bigger questions of the possible "new" reality of our life...
And, that's where I am at the moment. Like you, I want the answers.
Gale
Hi Gale,
WELCOME
If you start of a bit about yourself in a new topic then everybody will be able to welcome you to the forum.