Hi everyone. Recently my elbows shot up to my #1 pain position, happened over the last two weeks. A few days ago a med change brought to the surface just how badly they were hurting, and with that came a bunch of muscle spasms around the elbows. Muscles attached to the elbows on both sides, above and below elbows. Anyone have that kind of thing? Initially I figured it was a response to severe pain but now I'm not sure.
I recently had some painful elbow problems to . I have no idea why it is so painful. Just trying to survive it. Hey kkotts. Yes this has been the worst of my RA pain yet. I have to wear long sleeved shirts all the time now, and when it's really bad I wear thermal tops.
Really it's the spasms that has me puzzled though. I'll be talking to my RD today about it.
Heating pads and hot baths are two things that seem to help me the most. Sorry you're hurting :-(
See an orth surgeon for tendinitis or repetitive motion injury.Thanks everyone. I would say it's nice to know I'm not alone but it's not- I wish you all hadn't had that because sweet hallelujah! Before this it was the knees that were the most painful, but I could use a cane. With the elbows shooting to the worst pain spot I can't use a cane anymore. I wanted to talk to RD today about this but we had too much else to cover. I'll email them.
Hi Sparky, how are you doing? I've had RA for 8 years and only recently got elbow pain-bilateral of course. Due to the location, my RD said it's not RA but severe tendonitis. I think RA makes me more susceptible to getting tendonitis and bursitis... I've got those in so many joints and always bilateral. Anyway, both RD & Primary said epicondyl tendonitis is a very painful condition and takes months to recover. They told me to use ice, rest them as much as possible, though they admitted that's hard to do, and try the elbow compression braces. Ice packs are necessary for me since I'm severely allergic to anti-inflammatories but you probably aren't so try one or maybe even get a cortisone shot if it's safe with your RA drug regime. For spasms, heat might help relax the muscles. Also, for spasms, try to figure out what the opposite muscle is and contract that one instead when you are experiencing a spasm so your spasming muscle must relax... you know, like when you have a calf charley-horse and you pull your toes back; that toe-pulling contracts the top of your leg so your back calf muscles automatically relax. Try pulling your hand back or something (I don't know which muscle is spasming).