OT- Have any of you guys torn up a elbow- it ever get better?

[Trboatworks]

I took a fall down some outside steps on a boat and banged up my elbow.
No problem- ice and hopefully it sorts out.
No go- having to work and a month later I am finally totally out of action.
What I’ve got- really hot spot on outer elbow and forearm that clenches up so tight I can’t straighten without searing pain.
Everything works but pain on action like hammering a nail or working a screw gun.
Basically I can’t do dick with my right arm.
I am off to a ortho guy this week but want to know what the lay of the land is.
I can’t afford to have the guy say to just take a aspirin and give it a week.
I want to make sure he gets imaging NOW or whatever it takes.
Any of you guys get winged like this?
Will I ever be able to play the piano again?
Advice for talking to the doc to make sure I get on the right path right now?
The timing sucks- I am in the middle of a shop rebuild which was causing contracts to stack up while the shop is out of action.
Now with me out the whole deal has ground to a stop.


Thanks all

 

[SAG 180]

I had some persistent elbow bursitis with a sore swollen area on the outside for a couple of years. After starting a low dose enteric coated aspirin for a while (general inflammation) I realised the elbow inflammation had gone away after a fortnight. It also greatly eased sore knees too.

Edit: I have the dose down to about one 100mg capsule every three days and it stays under control, scratches and nicks bleed a bit more but still clot fine after about double the time.

 

[machfab]

I had a similar pain from a different injury. I was lifting the tongue of a trailer and ripped that same muscle on the outer elbow/forearm area.After going through many sleepless nights because of elbow pain, I went to see the chiropractor and he told me that because the muscle was torn,it was pulling the elbow joint out of place. He performed the Graston technique a few times over the next few weeks and it worked.Hope you heal quickly and are able to get back to work.

 

[Bruce Griffing]

If the problem is inflammation, as it often is, ibuprofen is my goto solution. The problem with inflammation is that it is self perpetuating. You have to break the cycle. Take 600mg of ibuprofen every 6 hours around the clock for at least 5 days. It is critical that no dose is missed. If there is no improvement, something else is wrong.

 

[gustafson]

A few notes
consider what Bruce has to say, surgeons are like carpenters, when you have a hammer everything looks like a nail
if you get a diagnoses, study it, if surgery is the answer, find out who does the most of that surgery, and what their ratings look like

Pretend you are choosing, say, a machine shop, there are good ones and bad ones, ones that are equipped to do your job one and ones that are not

Good Luck

 

[Trboatworks]

Thanks guys.

Just a heads up- apparently breaks and fractures in the elbow can go very bad.
I was in too much pain Thursday night and decided to consult with Dr. Google.
Apparently blood vessels and nerves can get impinged and do real damage to the arm.
Universally all the better medical sites give a list of symptoms for which “medical emergency, go to er” apply.
I was reading the list and “if you cannot straighten arm” was right in there.
Being fatalistically pragmatic I figured- “well it’s been weeks and nothing has fallen off yet”...
So I am waiting it out till I can be seen by ortho guy.
Sort of interesting in a sort of gloomy way..

Edit-
Post above:
yep, if choosing a carpenter I would choose me.
I just don’t think there is any way in hell I can operate on my own right elbow- even with a mirror...

 

[idacal]

I have done that, went down hard, it sucks,
, a chiropractor and ibuprophen. And you Might have fractured something. but a doc is going to run you through a bunch of tests and tell you you hurt yourself and to take some pain meds or if work is covering it that you need surgery. If you have adecent chiropractor in your area try them first

 

[Trboatworks]

Yeah- my boot hit a slick nose on a gel coat tread and I went down hard- faster than I could blink.
I don’t know if I wrenched the arm or hit something but it was ‘oh my god that hurts’..

 

[Pathogen]

If you decide on surgery, have a plan in place to sell everything you own before you loose it. Read lots on surviving on the street as homeless.

 

[gmach10]

Sorry to hear your about your accident. My 2 cents, STAY AWAY FROM CORTISONE SHOTS!! I wrenched my knee once on the job. Clinic DR sent me to a specialist. With a 1 minute diagnosis specialist said a cortisone shot was the answer. I said not so fast let's give it a little time. After a two more visits to the specialist and two more "I'll give you the shot" and me saying "no let's wait" it started getting better. I asked the original Dr about getting the shot, after going back and forth he said "Why would anyone get a steroid shot for inflammation?" I'm not a Dr but I know it masks the pain and you think all is well till you do more damage. But I've known to be wrong before. A good chiropractor can rub away scar tissue as well and provide pain relief too, so long as nothing is tore. Good luck.

 

[ripperj]

If you decide on surgery, have a plan in place to sell everything you own before you loose it. Read lots on surviving on the street as homeless.

Not funny dude


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[ripperj]

Edit: duplicate post


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[Trboatworks]

Cortisone.
Yeah- I’m not looking for pain relief.
I just need to get back to work without risking permanent damage.

 

[wheelieking71]

I had bursitis in my right elbow a few years back (ruptured bursa sack). That was miserable. And, just like you said, it made my elbow hot to the touch.
Mine cleared up after about 6 weeks. That was a long 6 weeks.

 

[tomato coupe]

Sorry to hear your about your accident. My 2 cents, STAY AWAY FROM CORTISONE SHOTS!! I wrenched my knee once on the job. Clinic DR sent me to a specialist. With a 1 minute diagnosis specialist said a cortisone shot was the answer. I said not so fast let's give it a little time. After a two more visits to the specialist and two more "I'll give you the shot" and me saying "no let's wait" it started getting better. I asked the original Dr about getting the shot, after going back and forth he said "Why would anyone get a steroid shot for inflammation?" I'm not a Dr but I know it masks the pain and you think all is well till you do more damage. But I've known to be wrong before. A good chiropractor can rub away scar tissue as well and provide pain relief too, so long as nothing is tore. Good luck.

The reason you get a cortisone shot for inflammation is because it is an anti-inflammatory. It does no just "mask the pain."

A chiropractor is the last person that should work on a elbow injury -- it's well outside the scope of their training.

 

[gbent]

Find a practice that specializes on arms. The surgeons knowledge of knees and ankles is of little use to you.

 

[rke[pler]

Try to find a doctor specializing in sport medicine. They're the guys who deal with this stuff.

When you get to the point of physical therapy do everything they ask and no more - overdoing can cause more damage than not doing anything at all.

I blew my right elbow 20+ years ago. I'm still on antiinflammatory drugs (Meloxicam right now, used diclofenacs in the past) and still have limited range. But I have feeling in my hand so figure I'm ahead of a lot of folks.

 

[BoxcarPete]

One thing to note with the use of anti-inflammatory drugs: be careful not to over-use the joint while you are using them. Inflammation and pain is your body's way of getting you to lay off for a while, but it slows the healing process. If you eliminate the inflammation you can speed up recovery, but unless you take it easy it can get worse from overuse.

Easier said than done of course, but something to keep in mind.

 

[cg285]

elbow injury about 10 years ago, after much pain and dicking around i woke up one day and couldn't straighten my arm. xrays, mri - had bone chips. went to two orthopedics that said leave it alone. not happy with the bent arm and convinced the bone chips were a problem went to a third (hand specialist with high reviews). surgery and 7+ years later bent more, lots of pain if worked hard. now told severe, severe osteoarthritis and i'm screwed. still trying to race dirt bikes at 67 but it's painfull. hope yours works out better.

drunken raisins and turmeric helps noticeably until it gets overworked. cortisone helps initially but fades out long before the next shot

 

[EPAIII]

It is true that they are not bashful about suggesting surgery. We have a bone and joint clinic here in Beaumont. It is an adjunct of one of the local hospitals so it's not fly-by-night; they have been there for at least two decades now. I have been to them for several problems: trigger finger, knee pain, and a torn ball joint in my shoulder. I'm on Medicare and was advised to have surgery for all three. I expect that none of it would have cost me a cent.

The knee was really bothering me and it was getting worse, so I had the surgery on it. And it did not cost me anything, Medicare and my supplemental insurance paid it all. I am somewhat satisfied, but I have to get shots every six months in that knee to keep it down to a satisfactory level of comfort.

The trigger finger is the oldest condition and I just let it ride: no treatment at all. It has slowly bothered me less and less. It's been about 7 or 8 years since the original diagnosis. I was told it would not get better on it's own. But it has. The body is a remarkable machine.

The shoulder injury occurred about 3 years ago and it bothered me a fair amount at first. Again, I was told by a different doctor at that clinic that it would not heal on it's own and surgery was the thing. I am not anxious for surgery there and have just put it off. No treatment of any kind. It has reached the point where it does not bother me at all.

All I can say is that I do not regret the surgery on my knee. It was getting worse and now it is, at worst, manageable. Nor do I regret not getting surgery on the others. It is your injury and your body and only you can really say what you should do.

I do not think it is a thing for a chiropractor. If you go to a surgeon, DO check him/her out. They do have different levels of success and perhaps I could have found a better one for my knee and had less need for those periodic shots.

PS: The shots for my knee do help for a time. But the discomfort does slowly come back.

A few notes
consider what Bruce has to say, surgeons are like carpenters, when you have a hammer everything looks like a nail
if you get a diagnoses, study it, if surgery is the answer, find out who does the most of that surgery, and what their ratings look like

Pretend you are choosing, say, a machine shop, there are good ones and bad ones, ones that are equipped to do your job one and ones that are not

Good Luck