Introduction
The right arm, like the left arm, and both legs belong to the extremities. Pain in the right arm can have different causes, in addition the intensity and the type of pain can vary, so it is difficult to talk about the one pain in the right arm. Pain in the right upper arm has different causes and also a different pain character.
The most harmless is the so-called muscle ache. After a hard training session in the gym, the patient may feel pain in the right arm the next day. Usually the pain then occurs on both sides.
However, it is also possible that, for example, after cleaning the window with the right arm the next day, pain in the right arm is increased because the right arm is overstrained compared to the left arm. Right-handers who have been writing texts with their right arm for a long time know the phenomenon of unpleasant and pulling pain in the right forearm, which radiates into the right hand. Even musicians can be affected by pulling pain in the area of the right forearm.
Sometimes the pain becomes so strong that you cannot continue writing the next day and you cannot move your hand and forearm properly. The reason for this is the so-called tendosynovitis. In general, our muscles that run from the forearm to the hand run through a kind of tunnel on the back of the hand and the palm.
This tunnel is bordered by ligaments at the top and bones at the bottom. Through this tunnel, the tendons of the hand muscles run protected in their own sheath. If we now permanently overstrain the right arm, be it while writing a text or while making music, it is possible that the muscle tendons in the narrow tunnel will swell slightly and become inflamed.
This then leads to severe pain in the hand and forearm area. The pain is usually rather pulling and increases under stress. In addition to an inflammation of the tendon sheath, an inflammation of the tendons in the arm can also occur in general.
However, pain in the right forearm can also be caused by degenerative diseases. The wrist and elbow are frequently used joints. On the one hand, this can lead to wear and tear of the joints (arthrosis), which can occur especially in older patients who have used their right arm a lot.
Especially under stress, patients feel increased pain in the joint area. In addition, younger patients may also suffer from so-called arthritis due to joint inflammation. In this case, the patient suffers from a pronounced morning stiffness, the pain only gets better with movement.
Rarely only the joints of the right arm are affected, but also the finger joints. In rare cases, the right arm may be in severe pain due to torn muscle fibers. In this case, a heavy physical strain must have preceded (for example, carrying a heavy water box exclusively with the right arm or enormous sporting strain in the area of the right arm).
In this case, the pain does not improve either at rest or under stress, although it is somewhat milder at rest. Of course, a fracture in the right arm can also lead to severe pain. In most cases, one of the forearm bones breaks because it is narrower and therefore weaker than the humerus.
If the pain in the right upper arm is caused by a fracture, the patient usually feels this directly after the fracture. It is possible, however, that due to the hormones that are released (adrenaline) after special stress situations such as a fracture, the patient mistakenly interprets the pain as too weak. Therefore, after a severe fall on the right arm, an X-ray should always be taken to rule out a possible fracture.
A contusion can also lead to pain in the right arm. However, the pain should disappear within 2 days or at least have subsided considerably. If this is not the case, the patient should see a doctor again, because in some cases a fracture can only be detected in the X-ray after a few days.
In rare cases, pain in the right arm may occur due to degenerative phenomena in the cervical spine. In most cases, however, the patient is more likely to experience loss of sensitivity, which can also be misinterpreted as pain. In this case, the pain lasts for a long time and gets worse and worse, especially during certain head movements or head postures.Some patients have also been reported to have experienced pain in their right arm during a heart attack, mostly in the upper arm area.
In this quite rare case, the patients experience so-called pain of destruction. The pain occurs suddenly and cannot be improved by anything. In addition, sweating, a quicker pulse and severe anxiety attacks usually occur on the part of the patient.
In this case it is important to call the emergency doctor immediately and to calm down the patient as much as possible. Also problems of the gallbladder, for example gallstones or a tumor in the gallbladder can in very rare cases lead to pain in the area of the right upper arm and especially the right shoulder. The reason for this is that pain in the gallbladder cannot be felt as such, since the gallbladder is an organ that is painless in itself.
If, however, there are problems in the area of the gallbladder, the pain is projected into the area of the right shoulder of the right upper arm, since this is where the gallbladder has its “dermatome“, i.e. the area in which we feel pain when there is something wrong with the organ. Pain in the right arm can have different intensities and different courses. If the pain in the right arm is due to a sore muscle, the pain is usually not very bad and disappears again after a few days.
In addition, the pain is about the same intensity under rest or stress. If the pain in the right arm is due to a torn muscle fibre, the pain will become worse and worse under stress, which is why the patient should avoid stress. The same applies to tendosynovitis.
In this case, the patient feels pulling pain in the area of the right forearm and hand. In the case of a fracture in the right arm, the pain is usually very strong very quickly, and swelling and bleeding in the area of the fracture are also common. If the cause of the pain in the right arm is in the cervical spine, the patient usually has additional loss of sensitivity.
In older patients with osteoarthritis, the joints stiffen, the pain gets worse under stress, whereas in arthritis, the pain gets better under stress, especially in younger patients. A heart attack manifests itself with strong, sudden pain. If the pain in the right arm is caused by the gallbladder, digestive problems occur, the patient can no longer tolerate fatty meals, and the stool may become discolored.
If the pain occurs in the shoulder area, different causes can be responsible, depending on the quality and intensity of the complaints. While harmless causes make up the majority of causes of pain in the right shoulder, there may also be reasons for the complaints that require treatment. It is often not the shoulder joint itself that causes the pain, but surrounding structures such as muscles, ligaments or nerves.
In addition to harmless and temporary causes of pain, such as a simple muscle ache, other diagnoses can be considered. The best way for an orthopedist to find out which cause is possible in an individual case is to perform certain movement tests. Some examples of possible causes include: Damage to the so-called rotator cuff.
This can occur, for example, as a result of an accident or as part of degenerative diseases in old age. An accident can also lead to dislocation of the shoulder. In old age, degenerative joint diseases such as shoulder joint arthrosis or AC joint arthrosis should be considered as causes.
It is also possible that inflammation of the bursae and the joint mucosa in the shoulder cause the complaints. The so-called impingement syndrome also represents an important differential diagnosis for shoulder pain. Pain in the area of the ribs usually manifests itself as intercostal neuralgia (=intercostal nerve pain).
Here, irritation of the nerve running between the ribs is possible due to physical stress. It is a phenomenon without great disease value. In addition, a contusion of the ribs can be a possible cause of pain.
The shoulder blade is fixed in its position on the back mainly by muscles. Pain localized there is therefore mainly due to tension, as well as sore muscles or torn muscle fibers.The shoulder blade is the origin of four muscles that fix the shoulder joint. These muscles are grouped together under the name rotator cuff.
If this results in the associated rotator cuff defect, pain can be transferred to the shoulder blade. At the upper edge of the shoulder blade there is a notch specifically designed for the nerve, the incisura scapulae. The nerve (supraspinatus nerve) runs through this notch and is held there by a band, the Lig.
transversum. If the ligament ossifies due to excessive strain or as a sign of aging, a painful constriction of the nerve can occur. Pain in the neck region is often accompanied by discomfort in one or both arms.
This is due to the course of certain nerves that run from the neck into the arm. Muscular tensions occur particularly frequently in the neck area and can irritate the nerves there. The pain is passed on to the nerves and is then not only felt in the neck but also in the right arm.
In almost every case of neck pain, a muscular cause of the pain can be identified as the cause. Overstrain caused by sports or especially by posture problems is the main cause. It is not uncommon for neck pain to be diagnosed as part of a psychological background (e.g. in the context of depression).
In rare cases, degenerative diseases of the bones and joints of the cervical spine are responsible for the complaints. Systemic diseases of the rheumatic form are also possible triggers for the complaints. Rarely, sudden and severe neck pain can also indicate a heart attack.
If pain occurs in the right arm, it is often reported that it can be felt over the entire arm up to the right hand. There, the complaints manifest themselves in the form of tingling, numbness or more or less attenuated pain. This can be explained by the course of nerves in the arm and hand.
The nerves that are responsible for the transmission of pain and the sensation of the arm and hand all come from the cervical spine and the upper thoracic spine. Pain that develops in the course of the arm is often passed on to the hand even though there is no cause for the pain. Sometimes the pain in the hand is so severe that it overshadows the underlying cause, which is located further up the arm, making it difficult to make a diagnosis.
It is also possible that the pain originates in the hand and can be felt in other parts of the arm. A precise examination by an orthopedist can usually determine the cause of the pain. The reasons for the development of pain under the armpit are manifold.
Ingredients of care products or insufficient or wrong care of this region are possible reasons. Also consequences of shaving in this area can cause complaints. Muscles and nerves in the armpit can also be irritated.
As there are many lymph nodes in the armpit area, they should be examined for their pain sensitivity and size. If there is swelling under the armpit, a doctor should be consulted to rule out malignant processes. In most cases, pain in the right arm is no cause for concern and can be treated conservatively.
In some cases, however, pain in the right arm can also occur in the context of serious heart disease. Especially in the context of a heart attack, strong, so-called pain of destruction, can occur in the right arm. The reason for this is that certain nerves are irritated by the heart attack.
The perception and processing of pain in the brain is relatively imprecise in this case, however, and so it happens that a heart attack can also trigger strong pain in typical other places, such as the left arm. Although mostly the left arm or the back as well as the lower jaw is affected, the pain can also occur in the right arm. The pain here is difficult to bear.
If this kind of pain occurs, an emergency doctor should be called immediately to avoid the consequences of the heart attack and to intervene immediately. Pain in the right breast can be a symptom of multiple diseases. Here the heart, which can also radiate into the right half of the chest, is the most serious cause of pain in the right chest in combination with the right arm.Far more frequently, however, pain in the left arm occurs in combination with pain in the chest.
Due to the variety of possible diseases, medical advice should be sought in case of severe pain. Milder complaints may include heart complaints, inflammation of the lungs, lung pleura and other lung diseases, as well as bruises, tension, sore muscles or intercostal neuralgia. Also heartburn, as well as inflammation of the gall bladder, can radiate mainly into the area of the right shoulder.
If these are serious complaints, further diagnostics should be carried out. The precursors or symptoms of a stroke can be of varying specificity and severity. In the case of small strokes, there may even be complete absence of symptoms.
Symptoms can range from localisation in the head, as a stabbing or persistent headache, to other parts of the body. In addition to nausea and vomiting, chest pain can often occur. These are particularly common in women.
Thromboses can occur in the venous vascular system and cause a serious complication, embolism. This means that the thrombus (blood clot) dissolves and works its way through the vascular system to the nearest physiological constriction, usually in the lung. This is known as a pulmonary embolism, which can lead from symptomless appearance to cardiac arrest.
In most cases, however, patients with pulmonary embolism experience acute chest pain. An embolus in the arterial vascular system is also conceivable, which can occlude the supplying arterial vessels and thus affect various organs. If this organ radiates physiologically into the chest, chest pain may be an unspecific sign.
The occlusion of an arterial vessel is called an infarction. Pain in the right arm accompanied by numbness can have various causes. Permanent pressure and excessive mechanical irritation of nerve tracts are possible causes.
So-called neurodegenerative diseases also show similar symptoms. Both are based on the influence of nerve currents. Typical signs of this are pain, numbness and even a loss of function, in this case of the arm.
The exact location of the nerve damage is very important. Due to the nerve supply of the arm via the arm nerve plexus in the area of the lateral neck, as well as the subsequent division of the nerves at the level of the armpit, pathological consequences can already result here through constriction or incorrect posture. In the further course of the upper and lower arm, the three major nerve cords run in bone furrows, along muscles, joints and muscle boxes, so that nerve irritation and even entrapment can occur in all levels of the arm.
Deaf fingers can result from impairments of the nerve close to the body or far away from the body. A well-known syndrome here is the carpal tunnel syndrome, in which chronic constriction of a nerve in the area of the wrist can cause sensitive deficits. Acute events are distinguished from chronic events, which have a different duration of symptoms.
Acute events are defined as symptoms which are caused by injuries or by a bad posture of extremities and last only a few minutes to a maximum of days. In chronic, mostly neurodegenerative diseases, a permanent sensory or motoric impairment must be expected, so that the symptoms are irreversible without therapy. The origin of the two nerves that sensitively supply the inner side of the upper and lower arm, i.e. produce the tactile/palpable experience, lies in the same section of the spine.
The origin is located at the transition from cervical spine to thoracic spine. This is where the nerve cords emerge into the environment. A malposition of the spinal column caused at this point, for example, can thus trigger a feeling of numbness in the circumscribed area.
Neuralgia, i.e. pain caused by nerves, could also be triggered by this. Possible reasons for such a malposition can be scoliosis or degenerative spinal diseases, such as osteoporosis. However, the pain or numbness need not be limited to the inside of the arm.It can also be present in other areas, such as the armpit, elbow, and if fingers are involved, even the wrist area, if nerves from the spine are pinched.
In the context of pain in the right arm, a tingling sensation in the hand or other parts of the arm can occur in addition to other symptoms. The tingling is caused by an impairment of certain nerves. This impairment can have several reasons.
Often the tingling is caused by compression of a nerve. For example, an unfavorable position of the arm during sleep can cause a nerve to be squeezed and the arm starts to prickle. This is a temporary, harmless phenomenon.
But diseases can also be responsible for the complaints. Inflammations in the arm are also a possible cause of the impairment. Injuries to the nerves during operations or accidents must also be considered as a cause.
The mouse, as an indispensable tool for computer operation, has medical consequences for the arm due to its classic form. The rotation of the hand does not take place in the wrist as thought, but is a performance from the elbow joint. The architecture of the forearm with ulna and radius and their corresponding joint surfaces makes it possible to rotate the hand in relation to each other.
Thus, a position of the palm downwards towards the mouse and table is necessary. This is called pronation. In the pronated position of the hand, ulna and radius are not parallel to each other, but take up a slightly crossed position.
This position compresses certain muscles of the forearm and stretches others. Under these circumstances, the immediate proximity to the nerves can cause irritation or even compression of the nerve tracts. This can result in sensory disturbances or even painful conditions if the mouse is operated over a longer period of time.
Repeated/cumulative strain of the upper extremity with activities, such as working at the computer with the mouse, can result in a recurring pain event. This syndrome can be summarized under the name of repetitive strain injury syndrome (RSI syndrome for short). A herniated disc occurs more frequently with increasing age.
This is the decreasing resistance of the outer layer of the intervertebral disc (annulus fibrosus), which under certain conditions can lead to breakthrough. The gelatinous core of the intervertebral disc (nucleus pulposus) then emerges through the hernial orifice to the back or to the sides. This part of the disc, which has broken through the hernial orifice, can then cause further symptoms through pressure on the nerves located here.
These are listed according to their frequency pain, sensitivity disorders and/or paralysis. Pain clearly dominates here. In the area of the cervical spine, these can be similar to a tension in the neck or shoulder area, as they can classically occur in chronic poor posture or excessive sporting stress. A mix-up of a herniated disc in the cervical spine with pure pain symptoms and muscle ache is therefore quite conceivable, even though the incidence of herniated discs in this area of the cervical spine is negligible. Significantly more frequent are herniated discs in the transition region of the lumbar spine to the sacral spine.
