Pain in arm from shoulder to elbow. Why does the arm (left, right) hurt from shoulder to elbow: causes of joint pain

Pain in the muscles is a symptom of damage to the muscle fibers. Such changes can be associated with both mechanical injuries with excessive stress on the muscles, and with serious diseases of the muscle tissue. The localization of pain and the lifestyle of the patient are also of great importance in diagnosing the cause of the disease and choosing a method of treatment. For example, if the muscles of the arm above the elbow hurt in a professional athlete, one can assume the development of degenerative changes in the tendons of the biceps and triceps.

What muscles can hurt in the arms

In order to understand the source of pain, it is necessary to know the anatomy of the muscles of the upper limbs. The muscular apparatus is responsible for the work of the joints, provides the mobility of the hands. All muscles are divided into 3 main groups, depending on their location and the joints they affect.

Shoulder muscles

All the muscles that are located in the shoulder area can be divided into 2 groups. All of them originate near the shoulder joint and end at the elbow. When the muscle fibers contract, the flexor muscles cause the arm to flex at the elbow, while the extensor muscles act in the opposite way.

The flexor muscles are located on the front of the shoulder:

coracobrachial muscle;
biceps brachii (biceps);
shoulder muscle.

Extensors - back muscles of the shoulder:

triceps brachii (triceps);
elbow muscle.

If the muscles of the shoulder are damaged, pain is felt above the elbow, which increases with the work of the shoulder and elbow joints. By the nature of the pain (acute, pulling, may increase in motion or at rest), as well as the results of additional studies, it is possible to determine its cause and begin treatment.

Understanding the anatomy of the muscles of the upper extremities will allow you to determine the source and cause of pain

Forearm muscles

The largest muscle of the forearm is the brachioradialis, which flexes the arm at the elbow. The remaining muscles are responsible for the work of the wrist joint, ensuring its flexion and extension.

The wrist flexors are represented by a group of muscles that are located on the front side of the forearm:

radial and ulnar flexors of the wrist;
long palmar muscle.

The wrist extensors are a group of muscles that are located on the back of the forearm:

wrist extensor;
short and long radial extensors of the wrist.

If the muscles of the forearm are damaged, pain is felt below the elbow. Such disorders affect the work of the elbow and wrist - the movements of these joints cause pain.

Muscles of the hand

On the hands there are a large number of small muscles that set in motion all the joints of the fingers. These muscles can be injured in everyday life with careless movements. In this case, pain is felt in the hand or fingers, the work of the carpal joint may be difficult.

Causes of muscle pain in the arms

Pain is a sign of the development of inflammation or degenerative changes in tissues. By the nature of the pain, you can determine the cause of their occurrence.

Acute pain is a symptom of stretching or tearing of muscle fibers, arthritis, neuropathic syndromes, infectious diseases.
Aching muscle pain accompanies osteochondrosis, arthritis, chronic muscle inflammation.

When diagnosing a disease, it is important to know about the type of activity of the patient. Both intense sports activities and a sedentary lifestyle of an office worker can cause soreness in the muscles of the hands, but the cause of their occurrence will be different.

Injuries

The muscle consists of individual fibers that are able to contract, setting the arm in motion. They are elastic, that is, they can withstand a significant load, but with careless movements or performing complex exercises, they can be injured. The most common injuries are sprains and muscle tears.

Stretching is a pathology that occurs when a muscle is not able to withstand a load. The prognosis for this phenomenon is favorable, since the integrity of the muscle is not violated. Stretching can be suspected by characteristic signs:

moderate soreness, which increases with movement;
low muscle tone.

The first signs often occur at the time of injury. The patient feels a spasm that prevents further stretching of the fibers and their rupture. Symptoms disappear within a few days, for this time it is recommended to limit the intensity of the load, apply an elastic bandage to the damaged area. In the first few days, cold compresses are applied, then warming ointments are shown.

Special elastic bandages are selected individually and applied to the damaged area

A tear is a more serious injury in which the integrity of the fibers is broken. Distinguish a complete rupture and partial, when some of the muscle fibers remain intact.

Symptoms occur immediately after the injury:

acute pain on palpation;
decreased limb function;
high range of motion in the joint;
hemorrhage in the subcutaneous tissue;
puffiness.

With a complete rupture, urgent surgical intervention is necessary, during which a suture is applied to the muscle. If some of the fibers have retained their integrity, the limb is fixed with a plaster cast. After its removal, a recovery period of 6-8 weeks is shown. During this time, the patient performs a set of exercises prescribed by the doctor, wears an elastic bandage, and physiotherapy is also useful.

Myositis

Myositis is characterized by a number of symptoms:

intense pain that increases with movement, but persists at rest;
limitation of the mobility of the affected muscle, which affects the functioning of the limb;
on palpation, muscle compaction is felt, the appearance of tubercles is possible;
with prolonged chronic myositis, the affected muscle becomes visually thinner compared to the healthy one;
the infectious process is accompanied by an increase in body temperature, weakness, and the development of purulent inflammation.

General symptomatic treatment takes place in 2 stages. In the first few days, cold is shown at the site of injury; ice or cooling compresses are used for this. Then the inflammatory process is stimulated with warming ointments and rubbing so that it does not go into a chronic stage.

Therapeutic massage to maintain muscle mobility, but only a professional should conduct it

Muscular rheumatism

Under rheumatism understand the processes of destruction of muscle tissue, which are accompanied by soreness and inflammation. The causes of this pathology can be injuries, infectious and metabolic diseases, hormonal and nervous disorders, as well as stress. Most often, such diseases are diagnosed in middle-aged women.

There are two forms of muscular rheumatism:

Acute - begins with an increase in body temperature, then there is soreness and muscle tension. Pain can change localization, that is, it can manifest itself alternately in different muscles. Such symptoms last for several days, then the disease can go away on its own or go into a chronic stage.
The chronic form of rheumatism lasts for several weeks or months and can continue to accompany the patient throughout his life. The muscles of the hands hurt when the climate or temperature changes, hypothermia or stress.

Treatment of the disease is complex. Therapy begins with the appointment of antirheumatic and anti-inflammatory drugs. Warming physiotherapy, therapeutic massage, treatment in sanatoriums have a good effect. Patients are shown psychological support, where a specialist will teach you how to resist stress and pay attention to internal balance. In addition, the patient will be advised on proper nutrition, so that all the necessary vitamins and minerals are present in the diet.

Joint pathologies

Joint diseases cause violations of the entire motor apparatus of the hands. All such diseases can be divided into two main groups:

arthritis - inflammatory pathologies that develop with injuries, infection of the joints, immunodeficiencies, nervous disorders;
arthrosis - changes in the structure of bones and joints of a non-inflammatory nature, caused by metabolic pathologies.

Mechanical damage to the joints leads to limitation of their mobility, inflammation and muscle atrophy.

For example, after an injury to the elbows, the muscles of the forearm suffer, and myositis develops. Treatment in this case is aimed at preserving the function of the joint. Fixing bandages are used, patients are prescribed a course of therapeutic exercises and medications.

Arthrosis must be treated in the initial stages, otherwise it will not be easy to restore mobility to the hands.

Osteoarthritis can occur at any age, but the elderly are at risk. Most often, the joints of the phalanges of the fingers are affected symmetrically on both limbs. It is not possible to completely eliminate the symptoms, it is only possible to prevent the development of the disease and relieve pain in the joints and muscles. The patient is advised to lose weight, adjust the diet, prescribe anti-inflammatory drugs and analgesics (painkillers).

Pathologies of the nervous system

The limbs receive nerve impulses through the spinal nerves. They originate from the lower cervical and first thoracic vertebrae and reach the shoulders, to the elbows and then continue to the very tips of the fingers. Pinched nerves in cervical osteochondrosis or hernias cause a feeling of soreness and numbness of the hands, their mobility decreases.

Treatment is carried out under the supervision of a physician. In some cases, surgery is indicated, but more often the symptoms can be eliminated with the help of therapeutic exercises, medications, nutrition and lifestyle changes. To support the spine, you can wear special collars that fix the vertebrae, relax the neck muscles and prevent pinched nerves.

Infectious diseases

Bacterial diseases (flu, brucellosis) are often manifested by muscle pain. They begin with fever and general weakness, then characteristic symptoms begin to develop. The diagnosis is made on the basis of laboratory tests, after which the doctor prescribes special drugs that destroy the pathogenic microflora. Treatment takes place in a hospital, then a rehabilitation period is shown to restore the body's defenses.

Pain in the muscles of the hands is a dangerous symptom that requires additional diagnosis by a doctor. Despite the many causes, the symptoms of many pathologies can be similar, and the treatment should be different. With an untimely start of therapy, there is a risk of transition of some pathologies to the chronic stage, which will continue to disturb the patient for a long time. Even minor sprains require diagnosis and qualified medical care.

Many diseases in the human body begin with subtle, recurring pain. As time goes by, the pain becomes more and more annoying. And when the pain becomes unbearable, the person goes to the doctor.

In addition to the "usual" hand pain associated with damage to muscles, ligaments of joints and bones, hands can also hurt from other reasons.

1. Example. The arm hurts from the elbow to the shoulder joint. In this situation, it may turn out that you are faced with signs that indicate a discogenic pathology of the cervical spine. To confirm the diagnosis, it is necessary to contact a neurologist and conduct magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical spine. If this is not done, the protrusion of the cervical spine will increase, and the treatment will be delayed.

2. Example. There is severe pain in the arm from the shoulder to the elbow. Especially the pain intensifies with movement, "penetrates right up to the bone." The clinic diagnosed osteochondrosis of the cervicothoracic spine.

This diagnosis has often been made to patients, but this is not the cause of pain in the arm, especially during movement. For a correct diagnosis, a vertebro-neurological examination is necessary.

3. Example. Severe pain in the arm from the elbow to the shoulder. There were no injuries. In the evening there is intense heat on the outer side of the elbow.

According to this diagnosis, we can say that this is neuralgia, a sign of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine. It is possible that this is epicondylitis - inflammation of the muscles in the area where they are attached to the elbow joint.

Perhaps, after the examination, doctors will suggest a surgical operation, but you should not rush to use such radical methods of treatment. You should first contact the Healthy Spine Clinic, whose specialists have developed and apply highly effective methods of non-surgical treatment of spinal diseases.

The patient in the clinic will be offered treatment using such advanced techniques as muscle relaxation traction therapy, vacuum gradient therapy, intravenous laser blood irradiation (ILBI), dynamic electrical nerve stimulation (DENS). A good effect in diseases of the spine is given by various types of massage and physiotherapy.

In the clinic, each patient has a special approach, doctors do not "cut everyone under the same brush", but develop an individual set of treatment procedures, taking into account all the peculiarities of the patient's state of health.

Pain in the arm from the shoulder to the elbow quite often takes us by surprise. Seemingly unprovoked, but so sharp and unexpected, these pains are unsettling and can become a source of anxiety for a long time.

Causes of pain in the arm from shoulder to elbow

The causes of pain in the left or right hand can be many. All of them can be divided into groups according to the etiology of the disease:

pain caused by diseases of the spinal column. It may be an intervertebral hernia;
joint diseases - tendonitis, bursitis, periarthritis;

systemic diseases associated with genetic pathologies of the joints, pathological processes in the bones () or the development of cancer cells;
neurological diseases - paralysis, neuropathy;
lesions of internal organs, such as sciatica, liver pathology, angina pectoris, heart attacks.
injury.

Injuries

The most common cause is shoulder injuries resulting from both a bad fall and a blow. Most often, athletes are subject to this, in which the load on the shoulders is significantly increased. If the right or left hand is injured, the humerus may be displaced. If the tendon is torn as a result, the shoulder can be completely incapacitated. At a more advanced age, the causes of shoulder injuries are a violation of calcium metabolism, wear and tear of bone and muscle tissue.

Please note: the joints of the left shoulder suffer the most during injuries, because the muscles on them are weaker (respectively, in left-handed people - the right one).

Treatment

In case of shoulder injuries, even minor ones, it is necessary to undergo a course of treatment. Provide rest to the injured joint, if necessary, maintain health with medication. A careless attitude to the state of the shoulder joint can go sideways at a more mature age, when tissue repair is slower than in youth.

Capsulitis

"Frozen" shoulder - a syndrome in which the muscles of the shoulder girdle cease to perform their functions - they seem to be "frozen". This leads to a sharp limitation of the mobility of the shoulder joint - the movements of the arms up and to the side are practically impossible, it is also impossible to put a hand behind the back. Pain occurs during movement.

Diabetics and the elderly are prone to developing capsulitis. And for women, this probability is much higher than for men. It usually hurts on a non-dominant arm and radiates to the elbow.

With capsulitis, the size of the capsule surrounding the joint is significantly reduced, adhesive changes develop in nearby tissues, which causes pain from the shoulder to the elbow.

What to do

When the first pain symptoms appear in the arm above the elbow to the shoulder, and even the slightest restriction of mobility, it is necessary to undergo treatment. At the very beginning, conservative methods of treatment based on admission, physiotherapy and physiotherapy exercises are sufficient. If capsulitis is left untreated, it can lead to complete loss of mobility of the shoulder joint. In the future, the disease is subject only to surgical treatment.

Tendinitis

This disease is associated with an inflammatory process in the tendons of the biceps. It develops, as a rule, against the background of performing the same type of movements of the shoulder joint. Usually, they say about such pains - “the hand has overworked”. It is characterized by strong, transient, reddening of the skin and swelling of the diseased joint. The skin at the site of inflammation is hyperemic.

At risk are:

women during menopause, when, against the background of hormonal changes in the body, the entire musculoskeletal system develops. For men, this is less typical and manifests itself over the age of 40 years;
builders;
professional athletes.

In addition to heavy physical exertion, tendinitis causes calcium in the tendons.

What to do

The first thing they do with tendinitis is to provide complete rest to the inflamed joint. To do this, apply a bandage or on the space from the elbow to the shoulder. The intensity of physical activity is greatly reduced. Further treatment is based on taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, if necessary, the doctor may prescribe antibiotics (for infectious tendonitis). Physiotherapy, and subsequently physiotherapy exercises, will help restore the functioning of the joint.

It should be remembered - - the process is quite lengthy and can take from several weeks to several months.

Shoulder-shoulder periarthritis

Characteristic features are shooting,. Acute pain sensations are associated with an inflammatory process in the tendon ligaments and periarticular tissues. As a rule, only the dominant hand gets sick. The pain from the elbow gives off into space, even the slightest movement causes an attack.

If left untreated, the pain will become boring, the mobility of the joint will worsen.

This disease is characterized by numbness of the fingers. With the progression of the disease, neurological signs are also added - deterioration of basic reflexes, loss of sensitivity.

Treatment

First of all, you need to see a doctor. Shoulder-shoulder periarthritis should not be treated on its own. This disease is treated by a rheumatologist or neurologist. With humeroscapular periarthritis, traditional treatment is prescribed - a course of anti-inflammatory nonsteroidal drugs, physiotherapy, exercise therapy. The main thing is not to delay the visit to the doctor, then the treatment will be quite quick and successful.

Pain, muscle weakness, muscle atrophy - all this. Inflammation of the muscles (myositis) can be caused by a variety of factors - trauma, hypothermia, past infections, toxins that enter the body with food, water and air, professional activities associated with increased stress on the muscles. In some cases, stress can also provoke myositis.

Myositis is characterized by aching pain in the muscles of the affected arm, starting from above and radiating to the elbow. Dense nodules and strands are felt under the skin. Quite often, myositis is accompanied by fever, with chills, fever. The skin in the focus of inflammation turns red and swells.

How to treat

The treatment of myositis may differ depending on the causes that caused it: if the appearance of myositis is provoked by some diseases, then the underlying disease is first treated.

There are generally accepted methods aimed at reducing the pain symptom:

dry heat;
reception;
massage (in the absence of contraindications);
physiotherapy procedures.

It also helps to cope with the disease therapeutic exercises, diet correction - food should contain as many easily digestible proteins as possible.

When the cause of myositis is hypothermia or muscle strain, it is imperative to ensure complete rest for the affected hand.

If the arm hurts from the shoulder to the elbow, only a specialist can diagnose the disease. Therefore, you need to seek help as soon as possible, without waiting for the disease to progress or go into a stage where it can only be cured by surgery.

Many people are familiar with a rather unpleasant condition when their arms hurt from the shoulder to the elbow. Usually, such pain has a one-sided direction, is felt in a specific place or spreads over the entire surface of the arm, and can last both a short period of time and a long one. Most often, the causes that caused it are muscle strain or a long stay in an uncomfortable state. However, it can also be a sign of a dangerous disease, so it is necessary to conduct a correct diagnosis in order to exclude such a situation and start treatment in a timely manner. Let's take a closer look at why the arms from the elbow and shoulder hurt, what causes this pain and how to treat it.

There can be many reasons for the occurrence of pain in the hands. First of all, they call excessive muscle tension. It occurs, as a rule, during or after an intense workout, especially with an increased power load on the muscles of the shoulder. The pain is aching, the inconvenience increases when performing any movements with the hands. This problem is familiar to those involved in bodybuilding, as well as people who have to lift weights.

The second, no less common reason is a long regular stay in the same, often uncomfortable, position. Pain stops during rest and occurs when the load is resumed.

In addition, pain in the arm above the elbow indicates a variety of pathologies, which are conditionally combined into several groups:

Diseases of the spine, muscles.
Disorders in the work of the joints.
Systemic diseases.
Pathological changes in the internal organs.
neurological diseases.
Injuries.

Diseases of the spine

In certain situations, pain in the arm from the shoulder to the elbow is caused by diseases that are not related to the upper limbs.

Spondylosis in the cervical region also responds with a pulling pain in the arm, because. the lateral processes of the vertebrae are significantly enlarged, hindering the neck in movement.
With intervertebral hernias (protrusions), the discs are noticeably damaged: their wear and thinning bring the vertebrae together, as a result of which the nerve endings are pinched, which, in turn, causes severe pain in the hands.

Osteochondrosis of the thoracic and cervical spine is manifested by pain in the left or right hand, as well as tingling and numbness in the hands. However, the functionality of the limbs is preserved, although the pain in them increases significantly if you need to turn or tilt your head, raise your hand. You can work on correcting your posture using a corset. Specially designed exercises, swimming, also help well.
Myositis is an inflammatory disease of the muscles. It can begin to develop due to injuries, hypothermia, infectious lesions of the body. It is manifested by the fact that the muscles hurt, in advanced cases, even their atrophy is possible.

Articular pathologies

Tendenitis

Inflammatory process in the tendons, which occurs as a result of a constant load of the same type on the shoulder joint. This violation is accompanied by swelling, redness of the affected area, its swelling. You can hear a crunch when moving your hand. The patient does not experience limited mobility in the upper limbs, but the pain bothers the person constantly, either intensifying or decreasing. If tendinitis is left untreated, it will become chronic.

Neurological pathologies (sciatica, paresis, neuropathy, neuralgia) can cause pain in the hand.

Injuries

Pain in the right or left arm may indicate an injury. As a result of a blow or inaccurate fall, a person gets a shoulder injury. In this case, it is likely that the humerus will move, if the tendons rupture, then the shoulder will be very sore, numb, and will not function for a long time. The severity of pain can be judged on the resulting damage. For example, when a bone is broken, the slightest movement will respond with a strong pain syndrome in the arm. Moreover, the soreness of the injured place persists for a long period of time. In right-handed people, the left shoulder is more intensely injured during injury, because. the muscles of the left hand are much weaker, and in left-handers - the right.

See below for advice and exercises for the prevention and treatment of the shoulder joint from the doctors of the SportClinic.

Older people are most often affected by traumatic injuries due to age-related changes in bones and muscles. Athletes who have increased loads on the shoulder joints and bones are also often injured.

Shoulder dislocation can also be the answer to the question of why the arm hurts. You can dislocate the shoulder joint during an unexpected fall or intense movement during training. In the professional environment of athletes, there is even the term "habitual" dislocation of the shoulder.

Therapeutic measures in the treatment of pain syndrome, first of all, are aimed at reducing pain and eliminating the cause of the disease. Therapy is often enough, but in the most difficult situations, surgery is possible. Surgery is indicated if:

The integrity of the bones is broken.
Arthritis or arthrosis led to deformity of the joints.
It is necessary to cure the intervertebral hernia, which put pressure on the nerve endings.
There is swelling in the shoulder.

In less complex cases, the doctor will limit himself to prescribing medicines, physiotherapy, plastering, splints and physiotherapy exercises.

Medicines

Medicines used in the treatment are divided into several types.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used both in the form of tablets and in the form of an ointment. Their main task is to stop the inflammatory process in the joint.
Painkillers significantly reduce or completely relieve pain.
Chondoprotectors prevent the development of destructive processes in the joints, perform a restorative function. In advanced situations, drugs are injected directly into the joints.

You can also use warming ointments, but you need to be attentive to your feelings: in no case should a burning reaction be allowed.

Pain-blocking drugs work for a short time. You should not independently determine the causes of pain and prescribe treatment for yourself.

Physiotherapy

If a person has pain in his hands, then in the remission stage he is shown the following physiotherapy treatment:

Electrophoresis.
Magnetotherapy.
Manual therapy.

Orthopedic products

In case of shoulder injuries, in particular, fractures, it is necessary to apply a splint and a fixative - a plaster cast. For sprains, an elastic bandage is used. If osteochondrosis is diagnosed in the cervical spine, a Shants tire is used.

Traditional medicine

When the right hand hurts or pains are felt in the left, then you can pay attention to traditional medicine. At the same time, they should be used only after consulting a doctor, because. possible intolerance to the components.

Baths with essential oils. For 600-700 g of warm (but not hot) water, take 8-10 drops of essential oils of orange and parsley. The patient's hand is kept in water (avoiding burning) for up to 15 minutes, the course is 7-10 days.
Vodka and honey compresses also relieve pain well. You will need to mix 1 tsp. honey with 100 gr. Vodka. The resulting mixture is applied to the sore spot, fixed with a bandage, left overnight.

Any folk remedies do not affect the main factor that provoked the pain, but help to remove or reduce it.

The main thing, remember, the causes of pain in the arm from the shoulder to the elbow, can only be reliably determined by a professional doctor. He will advise how to cure the disease.

For more information about pain in the hands, see the program "Live healthy" with Elena Malysheva.

Hands are one of our busiest organs. We use them to do many types of work. From this, they can get tired, overwork, get various injuries and fractures. There are many reasons why the arms from the shoulder to the elbow begin to hurt. Often, when lifting weights, the muscles of the arms do not have time to recover, and the next day, pain appears in them, spreading from the forearm to the elbow. Here are some of the characteristic diseases of the upper arms that can lead to severe pain not only in the shoulder joint, but also in the arm from the shoulder to the elbow.

The shoulder structure itself, surrounded by well-developed muscles, is damaged much less frequently than the rest of the arm. But, if the pain still appears in the muscles of the shoulder, this may be a signal of tendinitis, that is, inflammation of the biceps tendons. The result can be very severe pain, which is caused by the contact of the diseased tendon with bone tissue. Tendinitis is the result of exposure to long-term high monotonous loads on the joint.

Most often, it manifests itself in athletes, builders, gardeners, as well as people over 40 years old. Women suffer from them a little more often than men, as they experience hormonal changes during menopause, which provoke the manifestation of tendonitis. Very often, the cause of tendonitis can be an excess of calcium in the tendons of the shoulder.

Shoulder-scapular periarthrosis

Aching, often shooting, sharp pain in the shoulder, which does not allow you to raise your arm when putting on clothes, does not allow you to sleep at night on this side, may signal humeroscapular periarthrosis (periarthritis). With this disease, the ligaments, tendons and other tissues that surround the shoulder joint become inflamed. Most often, this disease develops in one arm - in right-handers in the right shoulder, in left-handers in the left. Any touch to the aching shoulder, any movement or movement to the side is painful, painful, debilitating.

If you do not start treating periarthrosis, then the joint in the shoulder can become stiff, and the pain will turn into boring flour. Deprivation of rest for a suffering person is provided. It is also bad that the pain in the muscles of the shoulder itself is quite rare, and much more often along with it there are pains in the elbow, shoulder blade, neck. Periarthritis can cause numbness in the fingers. This is because swelling around the shoulder muscles leads to compression of the nerves, which begin to signal this with severe pain in the arm from the shoulder to the elbow.

Capsulitis or frozen shoulder

With this disease, the muscles located in the shoulder girdle gradually come into a state of painful “freezing”, which does not allow the arm to fully move. The affected shoulder limits the movement of the arm up and to the side. It becomes almost impossible to move a sick hand, including putting it behind your back. This leads to the inability to dress independently, and in a neglected situation, to bring a spoon to your mouth. A painful, debilitating condition of the shoulder may not be confirmed by x-rays, in which the pathology in the shoulder joint cannot be detected. Elderly people and diabetics are at risk for this disease. It is much more common in women than in men.

Causes of capsulitis can be: damage to the cervical intervertebral disc at shoulder level and prolonged overload in the muscles of the forearm.

With frozen shoulder syndrome, the size of the capsule surrounding the joint is reduced and anti-scarring (adhesive) changes are formed in adjacent tissues. It is they who not only restrict movement, but also cause severe pain from the shoulder to the elbow at the slightest movement.

Consequences of injuries

Injury from an unsuccessful fall, collision, strong blow can lead to displacement of the humerus. In this case, the upper part of the arm may "pop" out of the hinge joint. And if at the same time the tendons of the muscles that provide the movement of the arm are torn, the shoulder will be incapacitated. Most often, "shoulder prolapse" injuries are observed in athletes and energetic young people.

In old age, the shoulder can be injured due to wear and tear of muscle and bone tissues, as well as due to impaired calcium metabolism in the bones. People who subject their shoulders to significant frequent loads (engaged in bodybuilding, shot put and discus throwing in athletics, as well as in other sports) often experience severe pain not only in the shoulder joint, but also in the elbows, lower back, knees. Such injuries lead to: tearing of the cartilaginous ring; shoulder joint injury serious violations in the joint capsule.

Diseases of the internal organs

Pain on any part of the arm from the shoulder to the elbow can be caused by diseases of the liver, heart, tumors on the chest, diseases of the cervical sciatica. Very often, the shoulders, elbows and other parts of the arms begin to go numb, their sensitivity to various influences decreases.

shoulder pain syndromes

Pain in the shoulder joint can be of a different nature and intensity. Aching or dull, sharp and burning, constant or in the form of attacks - pain in the arm from the shoulder to the elbow, may be accompanied by sweating, redness of the skin, nervous muscle tic, the appearance of balls under the skin. Neurological symptoms may also appear: loss of sensitivity, impaired reflexes, and other unpleasant signals. In this case, not only the pathology of muscle and bone tissue, but also the nerve itself can occur.

Treatment of the shoulder or elbow joint

Sometimes there is such severe pain in the arm from the shoulder to the elbow that it is impossible to raise the arm. In such cases, you should seek help from the clinic. A doctor (traumatologist, surgeon, neurologist), after examining and examining a sore spot, most often prescribes procedures for resolving treatment. It is with their help that the mobility of the hand is restored and inflammation is quickly removed. After the end of treatment, it is recommended to start performing special therapeutic exercises to develop shoulder mobility.

Untimely access to doctors can lead to the fact that inflammation and pain will slowly subside, but complications may occur. The capsule and ligaments will become inelastic, resulting in stiffness of the shoulder joint. Until the tests are ready, which will help to establish the causes of inflammation (up to 2 weeks), as well as the types of drugs tolerated by the patient's body, you can prescribe steroid injections against inflammation in the shoulder or elbow. And only after getting acquainted with the tests, the doctor can prescribe immune and anti-infective therapy. In advanced cases, they resort to the use of absorbable preparations, electrophoresis, manual therapy, massage and special gymnastics.

Summing up

If you experience frequent pain in the shoulder or elbow joint, you should immediately consult a doctor. Of course, you can try to get rid of them yourself, using the advice of traditional medicine, but the consequences of complications can be very serious. The limited mobility of the hand can disrupt the habitual way of life, lead to helplessness in performing simple daily tasks.

Therapy for the treatment of diseased shoulder or elbow joints, first of all, eliminates the causes of pain. But sometimes, due to severe severe pain, it is not enough, and doctors are forced to treat symptoms with analgesics. These drugs successfully fight inflammation and improve the structure of muscle and bone tissues.