Forearm Pain

Pain often occurs between the wrist and the elbow. The pain resulting from a forearm injury is exerienced as tenderness, ache, tightness and often an inability to perform repetitive tasks. Most commonly, forearm pain results from repetitive sress such as tennis, golf and typing.

These symptoms can occur from:

• Pulled and/or strained muscles
• Muscle ruptures or small tears
• Acute injury may occur from a direct blow, fall, or any extreme twisting, bending, or jamming action.

• Tendonitis, such as tennis elbow or golfers elbow. Tennis elbow is a painful condition caused by inflammation or small tears of the forearm muscles and tendons on the outside or inside of the elbow. Tennis elbow is caused by overloading the forearm muscles through repetitive stress and poor technique.
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, another repetitive stress disorder, affecting the nerves and tendons of the wrist and forearm.

U.R.I.C.E is the best treatment for forearm muscle pain. The U.R.I.C.E. method decreases pain and inflammation, thereby enabling a full and speedy recovery.

Ultrasound around your forearm in the area of pain for 5 - 10 minutes, 3 times a day. This is best accomplished with a personal, therapeutic ultrasound device.

Rest and limit your activity. Use a brace, splint or cast.

Ice your forearem 2-3 times/day for approximately 15 - 20 minutes at a time to help reduce blood flow and fluid build up. Gel packs are a better option than frozen peas if possible, as they mold to your body shape and are reusable (do not apply ice/gel packs directly on your skin, instead wrap cold compress in a wrap or cloth).

Compress the area if possible by adding light pressure to minimize swelling (make sure the compress is snug, but not too tight as it could cause numbness, tingling or more pain).

Elevate your arm above chest level to relieve the pressure from swelling and allow fluid to drain from your injured area. Gentle massage around area will also help to prevent stiffness.

Ultrasound is a great therapeutic option to decrease inflammation, pain and soft tissue (muscle, tendon, ligament, nerve and connective tissue) damage experienced with forearm pain that may be associated with tendonitis and/or bursitis. Treatment can be placed on the forearm, using a portable, home ultrasound device (self-administered) or by seeing a physiotherapist. Ultrasound therapy is easy, painless, and safe. It is based on a form of deep tissue therapy, which is generated through high frequency sound waves (that we can not hear). These waves send vibrations deep into your body and raise the temperature of your soft tissue. The waves are delivered through a hand held transducer and medicinal conductive gel that are used together in a slow, circular motion on your skin over the injured area. You may experience a slight tingling or warm sensation during the process partly due to phonophoresis - a secondary enhancing, therapeutic effect of ultrasound. Do not use ultrasound over the abdomen, pelvis or genital areas and please seek the approval of your physician before using ultrasound!

Ultrasound therapy increases collagen and tissue elasticity, which in turn promotes blood flow (circulation) and brings oxygen and nutrients to your injured area. This cleans your tissue by getting rid of cell waste products and helps your injury to heal. If not treated properly injured tissue can heal with a weakened state, which can lead to scar tissue or calcification. If used on an ongoing basis, ultrasound will help to increase your range of motion by breaking down any scar tissue that may form in your upper thigh muscles and hip flexors. Ultrasound waves penetrate deep into your tissues, repair and relax your muscles and other tissues, decrease chronic inflammation and pain, and accelerate your recovery rate, so you can return to your daily activities as soon as possible.

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