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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Severe Pain In The Upper Arms?

I am having severe pain in my arms. Mostly in my upper arms with my elbows extremely sore. I can t sleep on either side. The pain began 2 weeks ago, first in my left arm then both. How do I know if it is muscle, bone or nerves? I can t lift my left arm without the pain making me catch my breath. Thank you. Pennie
posted on Sun, 19 Mar 2017
Twitter Mon, 10 Apr 2017 Answered on
Twitter Mon, 10 Apr 2017 Last reviewed on
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General Surgeon,  's  Response
Hi.
Thanks for your query.
Noted the history and understood the concerns.
Your history is bit short, not mentioning anything about the swelling in the arms or any neck pain.
Well, as per the history you have provided, the cause can be in the prolapsed discs at the cervical spine causing pain on both sides, also casing difficulty in raising the left arm with pain.
This can be confirmed by clinical evaluation and MRI of the cervical spine to see whether there is any prolapsed disc or any other compressing lesions causing pain in both the arms.
Local causes can be inflamed muscles due to excessive exercises or over-work beyond tolerance causing sore muscles and elbows as you have mentioned. Flu and any such medical diseases can add on to the problems.
Get a clinical evaluation and examination to get the clinical diagnosis and get a proper management.
Start taking anti-inflammatory medication like Ibuprofen and get pain free.
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What Causes Severe Pain In The Upper Arms?

Hi. Thanks for your query. Noted the history and understood the concerns. Your history is bit short, not mentioning anything about the swelling in the arms or any neck pain. Well, as per the history you have provided, the cause can be in the prolapsed discs at the cervical spine causing pain on both sides, also casing difficulty in raising the left arm with pain. This can be confirmed by clinical evaluation and MRI of the cervical spine to see whether there is any prolapsed disc or any other compressing lesions causing pain in both the arms. Local causes can be inflamed muscles due to excessive exercises or over-work beyond tolerance causing sore muscles and elbows as you have mentioned. Flu and any such medical diseases can add on to the problems. Get a clinical evaluation and examination to get the clinical diagnosis and get a proper management. Start taking anti-inflammatory medication like Ibuprofen and get pain free.