Elbow - medical advise needed

Also a robo trip is always a good idea. As a kid I'd prefer the triple c's. Then I discovered acid. Go get some acid instead.

 

It might be surfers elbow aka tennis elbow. There is an easy stretch you do that instantly stops the pain. I learned about it on the interweb and it works great. Google it. Extend your arm out in front of you, then pull back on your fingertips so your hand is at 90 degrees to the arm, bent at the wrist, then do the same thing but opposite direction so your wrist bends 90 degrees down. It pulls on the ligaments or whatever that are getting inflamed and trapped in the elbow and instantly relieves the pressure. Check it out.

 

I think I just felt it move...

 

you have never even eatn clam just rotten pish.

 

Nice try Betty. But that is ridiculous. Tennis elbow?!?! You're gonna get him killed.
You can't stretch away AIDS. He needs tussin.

 

Ok, not sure if it's even possible to answer this seriously on this forum, but here goes.

I had something similar to what you're describing. A very sharp pain on my elbow. In my case, it did not go completely away to the point that for a month or more I had to wrap my elbow in two braces in order to be able to paddle. The act of pulling in the paddle stroke would cause pain.

What clued me in to what was wrong is this: I noticed that at night my pinky and ring finger would go numb.

This is called "cubital tunnel syndrome" and is just like carpal tunnel, but is a different part of your arm. I saw a doc, had the tests, and it's what I have. At first it felt a lot like you're describing.

Good news- the pain eventually went away on its own. Bad news- the numbness is probably forever.

Anyway, tennis elbow kept coming up in my Google searches, but that is most definitely NOT what I had. Once I was able to Google "cubital" I was able to get a lot more information.

http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/cubital-radial-tunnel-syndrome

There is a test they do, a nerve conduction test. It is gnarly and hurts as much or more as it sounds like it would.

 

Also, just to add, the pain came on very suddenly while surfing. My elbow just started to hurt more and more as I paddled. Like you, I tried to figure out if I had hyper-extended it, banged it, or done something to cause the pain. Between that, and the tennis elbow always popping up, it took a long time to figure out a malady that matched my specific symptoms.

I've had surfer's elbow as well. They are not the same. Surfer's elbow involves your muscles or ligaments. Cubital tunnel syndrome is strictly a nerve-based pain.

 

Last winter I was surfing, my hand went all numb and pounds and needley. I thought it was odd but no pain. Happened a few more sessions after that. After about a hour and a half my hand would go all weird. Did some stretching in my neck/shoulder region and all is good. If I slack on my yoga/stretching for awhile it will happen again here and there. But it's not often. And when it does I just make sure I take the time to stretch it all out again. Nerves and shiz always ruining all the fun

Not saying thats what OP has. Just thought I'd bring it up since toonces brought up numbness

 

Tennis elbow also feels like nerve pain. The nerve gets pressed on. It's bad enough to keep you awake at night. Most of my crew has had it. I taught them the exercises which give instant relief. Eventually it goes away after a couple of months if you're good about it.

I put on my skateboard wrist "splints " and that immediately takes the pain away too, if you have some at your home.

 

When I was in college I had a night job calling people on the phone for the alumni association. We had to keep the phone to our ear the whole 3 hour shift(we had ten minute breaks each hour). So after a few weeks of sitting at a desk with the phone to my ear, my left pinkie finger got numb. It was the nerve being pinched because the whole time I had the phone to my ear, I had my left elbow on the desk, and I was leaning on it, writing with my right hand. So I bought a big thick sponge you use to wash cars, and propped my elbow on that, and the numbness went away in a couple days.

So don't lean on you elbow on a hard surface for any length of time, that will make it worse. Dear OP, please post a BBQ recipe or two for payment of this and other expert medical advice. Thanks!

 

The easiest way to tell the difference between what I'm describing and surfer's elbow is the numbness. I used to sleep stomach down, arms folded beneath pillow. I can't do that anymore because after about an hour my hands will go to sleep and wake me up.

I contrast that with surfer's elbow, which I remember as an ache through my forearm to the hand. I remember it hurt so bad once that I went to Foodland and bought Tylenol and could barely open the bottle because my arm was so trashed. No kidding, but I was almost in tears from the pain and could barely use my hand do grasp things to the point that I drove to Foodland instead of just going home.

The pain I'm describing was different, more acute, and also was something that took place beyond just surfing. So, I only say look at all your symptoms, not just the obvious. Like I said, I've had both, and that made the whole process much harder to diagnose what was wrong. I surfed through it though!

 

Sounds very tasty. I'll have to try that out with my wife's smoked nori. Mermaids smoke seaweed.