Arm ache

Hi Rach,

I’m sorry you’re in pain. I have rheumatoid arthritis & for the last 2 days I’ve had inflammation in my right elbow which seems to radiate up to my shoulder. My left elbow is affected too but not as much. I too find it hard to raise my arm especially when trying to put my hair up, the muscle between my elbow & shoulder seems to go into spasm when I try. It’s also hard to find a comfortable position for my arm when sleeping. For me I would class this as an arthritis flare, which I’m hoping will pass in 48 hours but I’m not back on my usual meds yet, following a knee op, so I guess the flare may last longer.

I find a hot water bottle for 10 mins followed by an ice pack for another 10 mins on the inflamed area can ease the pain as well as taking my prescribed anti-inflammatories.

We are all different & can perceive pain differently, maybe some of what I have said you will find familiar, either way I hope you get some relief from the pain soon.

I will join you @Rachibob89 but for the first go I will only chill my heat pad in the fridge. When my arms flare up it feels like I have been punched in the arm. The pain is deceptive its not really from my arms. I am fairly certain its a tendon in the shoulder causing the trouble, which is something can only be learnt from scans or physio.

Well, I wore a cool pad to bed. When I woke up I worked the bad shoulder and made sure I can hear the sinews crackling and moved my arm in directions it wanted to go until the sinew popped. Then made sure I got up in a way that wasn't hurting my arm. Who knows if that works.

I've always been told by physios to do strengthening exercises when things are reasonably good and just to take each joint through tange of movement ones when flaring. It works for me.

Remission from arm ache day 4. Aside from wearing a cool pad to bed on my shoulders, I made sure I was getting into bed and out of bed in a way that didn't make my arms hurt. The result was immediate remission from an arm ache that had been plaguing me ever since trying to visit the gymn. It wasn't being caused by the gym the ache was being prolonged by getting up painfully on my arms several times every night.

It's like a fuffy bean bag, a bit like a flight pillow that people wear on aeroplanes to help them sleep, except it can be warmed up in the microwave or chilled in the fridge for more comfort. In fact, when I first had my arthritis attack I did actually wear a pump up flight pillow in bed to relieve the horrible pain.

Thanks so much, really appreciate this😊

Happy easter, aches and pains permitting. How is the pain log going. I look back on mine sometimes and think, gosh, yes it does change.

looks like I'm set right back to a set of physio exercises for rotator cuff injury, where you quite literally use your good arm to lift up your bad arm. Better get on with doing them I suppose.

@Rachibob89 Hiya! I’ve had it for a little over a year now, and I recall it took 3 months for the MTX to take effect. I used chilled gel wraps, that you can get fairly cheap from Amazon. The ones I had were like bandages with pockets to put the gel packs in, and then wrap each bandage round your knees and elbows. The gel packs are kept in the freezer or fridge and the cooling effect lasts hours, reducing inflammation.

cold showers esp over the hot joints also helped, and studies of the Scandinavian practice of sauna & ice dips lowers inflammation in the population. I have neither, but a detachable shower head works just as well, so I would have hot & cold showers. The cold really helped.

Pushed my microwave shoulder heating pad into the fridge for some cold therapy. Takes longer to go cold than microwaving but there is usually room in the fridge. The pad is fluffy so there's no cold shock. I more and more fancy a sauna though. Never tried a sauna.