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There was a three week waiting list to see a GP, my Monday appointment is now cancelled...which is to be expected. Told to ring back in a month...its getting a bit annoying now, I've got an idea what it might be but not the treatment/whether to avoid cycling.
For about 12 weeks I've had what I originally thought was muscle pain in my upper and lower arm. I rode a fair bit in January but have hardly been on the bike since, partly as the pain started getting a bit worse, and also the crap weather!
Originally it was mild aching in both arms, one seems to have recovered, the other has got a bit worse.
The symptoms are:
-
Aching elbow at times
Soreness in upper and lower arm when lifting objects, especially at arms length (mug of coffee, saucepan etc)
Soreness in lower arm and behind elbow when gripping (squeezing a bike bottle, undoing a jamjar lid)
Soreness when fully straightening arm.
I've just had a week off work and pretty grumpy as I've only been out on the bike twice and obviously there is not much else to do at the moment apart from a bit of DIY!
Go and see a private physio ?
Self refer to your local hospitals NHS physio for free.
Sounds like my arm.... I had a shoulder reconstruction end of November though 😂.
Go see a professional, if you can afford it go private as NHS are rather busy and your arm pain is unlikely to lead to your demise.
Yep physio, I had ulnaritus which at the time scared the crap out of me, twinging arm pains spreading up the arm, couldn't even put a key in a door lock it got so bad. Doc prescribed anti inflammatory gel which helped but physio worked. Text me for the physio I used details.
Surprised they cancelled it tbh given it’s not infectious. Did they do phone triage before?
A physio sounds the best shout. Since it was initially both arms, could it be more spinal than left arm? Everything is so interconnected it needs someone who knows what they’re talking about - that’s not me by the way.
Things are going to difficult in the near to medium future for niggles like this that can be quite debilitating and worrying.
I hope someone comes along shortly and fixes you.
Sounds exactly like my elbow tendonitis. Which you can get in both simultaneously if you are particularly talented.
This offers some explanation and some rehab exercises, aimed primarily at climbers.
http://drjuliansaunders.com/dodgy-elbows/
My physio is offering consultations over Skype, so maybe an option. Sounds v similar to symptoms of tennis elbow.
Surprised they cancelled it tbh given it’s not infectious.
Really?
I'm 6 weeks into a 6 month course of treatment that I've been waiting years for. The plug has just been pulled - unlike their other patients I don't have cancer so it can wait.
+1 for tendonitis. Golfer's or Tennis...I forget which side of the elbow hurts with which one.
Surprised they cancelled?
Have you been living in a bunker?
In the scheme of things, it's trivial - sorry OP - and the NHS are focussing on essential services and services only.
Have you been living in a bunker?
no, but my wife works in a doctors surgery and footfall is decreased. They are still seeing patients. The NHS isn't closed down.
Thanks everyone, I'll definitely look into the private physio - I considered it straight up originally but I would go via GP first to see if I had an NHS referral.
Thanks for the offer Ming, my wife also uses one so have a couple of options. I will wait a couple of weeks as I just found a cashplan type thing at work I can pay into and it'll cover a few hundred quid of physio receipts from next month.
I did ask the surgery if I could have a phone chat with the GP but that wasn't an option, didn't want to question further as I'm sure they are getting plenty of crap from the regulars who seem to book their fortnightly slot in advance which gives them time to develop something else to bend the docs ear about! I wasn't sure if the GPs are getting diverted to other roles in the NHS.
I'll look up ulnaritis and tendonitus symptoms. What I think I might have is Radial Tunnel Syndrome (nerve problem in elbow). Possible causes are I spent a few hours at Christmas ripping the binders and plastic covers off a filing cabinets worth of paperwork so we could recycle it, I remember thinking at the end it had made my elbows ache...however I can't remember for sure if I already had symptoms! I also got a rigid singlespeed in early Jan which had some swept back bars so wondering if that has set things off. Not ridden it since end of Jan as I know bracing the bars against pedalling a big gear will do my arms no good even if its not the cause of the problem!
Edit: So I don't think its tendonitis, symptoms don't match and I've rested it so should be fixed a while ago. Ulnaritis covers Cubital and Radial Tunnel Syndrome so that supports my self diagnosis!