Pain of the upper arm on the left inner side
Localized pain on the inside of the upper arm is almost always caused by muscular problems in this area. A heart problem would rather lead to a diffuse radiation into the entire left upper arm. Parts of the biceps and triceps also radiate into the left inner side of the upper arm.
Heavy physical work combined with lifting or rotating movements can lead to a strain in the area of the upper arm. The resulting pain is usually localized to the inner side of the left upper arm. In this case there is usually no radiation towards the shoulder or forearm.
An injury to the triceps muscle can also lead to pain on the back of the upper arm. If the examiner allows the arm to move against a resistance, which can increase the pain, this indicates a muscular problem in the area of the upper arm. Although a heart cause would lead to diffuse and radiating pain in the upper arm, it could not be intensified by movement. In any case, however, if the cause of arm pain is unclear, regardless of the location, an ECG of the heart should be performed in order not to miss a heart attack.
Pain in the upper arm at night
Nocturnal and suddenly shooting pains in the left upper arm, which were previously unknown, are highly suspicious and should be clarified medically without delay. Above all, if it comes to accompanying complaints, like difficulty in breathing, pressure on the chest, heart taches, destruction pain in the chest and fear of death, the cause should be clarified.Here a heart problem can be the cause and not seldomly a heart attack turns out to be the cause for a nightly and suddenly shooting pain, which must be treated in an emergency. Nocturnal pain in the left upper arm is becoming more and more severe, because otherwise the person affected would not be awakened by it.
Furthermore, sprains, muscular strains and nerve irritations can also be behind the suddenly shooting pain in the upper arm. In deep sleep, it can also happen that extremely unphysiological positions are taken unnoticed, which can lead to the muscle parts of the upper arm being bent or pulled off. Also, nerves of the upper arm can be squeezed by a certain posture and thus lead to severe pain.
As soon as the person concerned has awakened from the left-sided pain and has taken up his normal position again, the pain should disappear very quickly. After one or two days at the latest, the affected person should not notice anything more. If the pain does not subside significantly or even increases over time, it is essential to rule out heart involvement.
To treat muscularly caused complaints of the upper arm, an attempt can be made to treat the pain with ice packs or anti-inflammatory pain gels. However, it is important that a heart attack or angina pectoris attack (narrowing of the blood vessels of the heart muscle) has been medically ruled out beforehand by means of an ECG. If it is not a heart attack and cooling and anti-inflammatory measures do not help, the shoulder should be X-rayed to rule out degenerative changes in the shoulder bone as the cause.
