Pain after localization | Pain in the left forearm

Pain after localization

On the outside of the forearm there are generally two muscle groups: long extensors of the wrist, hand and fingers, and the flexor muscles of the elbow. These muscles can cause pain in the left forearm if the strain is excessive or incorrectly applied, for example when carrying or holding heavy objects with the left hand.It can also be caused by incorrect posture while working on the computer, when the keyboard is too high, bending and cramping the hand, which puts strain on the extensor muscles of the hand. Riding a bicycle can cause a similar problem, causing the wrists to rest on the handlebars in an unaccustomed and unhealthy position.

A so-called tennis elbow can also cause radiating pain from the elbow to the forearm. Pain on the inside of the left forearm is transferred to muscle groups other than pain on the outside, namely the finger flexors, wrist flexors and the reversible muscles of the forearm, also called rotators. If the fingers hurt when stretched, the finger flexor muscles are most likely to be tense.

Overstressing these finger flexion muscles can occur, for example, when a clamp handle is held too long, as is the case when carrying heavy suitcases. The wrist flexor muscles are most likely to be strained during static holding activity, for example in the gym on dumbbells or heavy bars. These muscles hurt when the wrist is now stretched.

The reversible muscles of the forearm are used when the forearm is turned, i.e. when working with a screwdriver, turning threads or taps. If the inside of the forearm hurts when the thumb is stretched, it could be caused by a cell phone or SMS thumb. The long thumb extensor muscle is used when typing on the keyboard or touch screen and can be overloaded if the cell phone is used excessively.

Pain in the elbow can have various causes: chronic inflammation of the base of muscles at the elbow (tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow) or inflammation of the bursa of the elbow (bursitis olecrani). Tennis elbow is a chronic inflammation of tendon attachments of the extensor muscles of the forearm at the lateral humerus, which is located a few centimeters above the outside of the elbow, so that pain occurs on the outside of the forearm. A golfer’s elbow is also an inflammation of the tendon attachments, but in this case the flexor muscles of the forearm, with the pain occurring more on the inside of the elbow than on the outside.

In both cases, a local stabbing pressure pain occurs at the base of the forearm muscles, whereby a fist closure can increase the pain. Causes are long-term mechanical overload, especially if it occurs only on one side (tennis, golf) or if joint wear and tear (arthrosis) has already occurred. However, some people are more likely to develop tennis elbow or golf elbow than others.

It is still unclear why this is the case. Inflammation of the bursa (bursitis olecrani) often occurs when the elbow is supported, as when writing on a writing surface (therefore also called student elbow) or when parts of the arm are overstressed. All of the above mentioned diseases occur more often on the side that is subjected to more stress, therefore more on the left for left-handed people and more on the right for right-handed people.

In rare cases, pain in the lower arm can be caused by a dangerous disease, the heart attack. A myocardial infarction is the occlusion of one of the coronary arteries, which leads to a reduced insufficient blood supply to the associated heart muscles and thus causes an undersupply of oxygen. This leads to a restricted pumping function of the heart and to a possible cardiac arrest.

The main symptoms of a heart attack are sudden and severe chest pain, which can radiate into the left arm, shoulder, upper abdomen, back and jaw. In addition, the patient may complain of dizziness, nausea, sweating, and as a result, fear of death. However, it can also happen that patients with a heart attack do not have all of these symptoms but only some of them, even if they have a major heart attack.

However, one should keep in mind that heart attacks can present themselves in very different ways. A wide variety of symptoms can occur with varying intensity. In the context of a long-standing diabetes (diabetes mellitus) even a (nearly) painless heart attack is possible.

The sudden onset of severe chest pain, which radiates from the left shoulder into the left arm, is and remains one of the main symptoms and should be taken seriously. If a heart attack is suspected, medical help must be sought immediately, as the probability of survival deteriorates minute by minute as time progresses. If in doubt, inform the emergency medical services.Other heart diseases that can cause pain radiating into the left arm or forearm are sometimes life-threatening and require immediate medical clarification and treatment.

These include pericarditis (inflammation of the pericardium) and myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle). Inflammation of the pericardium surrounding the heart muscle or of the heart muscle itself causes, in addition to a number of unspecific symptoms such as fatigue and reduced performance, sometimes stabbing pain in the left chest, which can radiate into the left arm, back or lower jaw and can easily be mistaken for an acute heart attack.