Upper arm pain

Introduction to upper arm pain

Upper arm pain is the pain that is felt between the shoulders and elbows of the arms. There are many different possible causes. Sometimes there could be a direct cause such as an injury, but sometimes it can be due to an underlying, and much more serious, medical condition.

A lot of people associate pain in this area of the body with heart attacks, because they have probably heard many stories of people beginning to feel pain un the upper arm before it travels to the chest when a heart attack is occurring.

A heart attack can cause pain in the upper arm, but it is definitely not the most common cause of such pain. When a person is having a heart attack there will be many more accompanying symptoms, including seating, nausea, and chest pain that will usually occur at the same time as the arm pain appears.

Another rare cause of such pains is when a person has a malignant tumor in the arm. However, since heart attacks and cancers are some of the health conditions that people worry about the most, it is natural that any possible symptom will be linked to these problems.

Upper arm pain more likely will result from injuries, that are not as serious as a heart attack or cancer, but still should not be taken lightly at all. Causes of upper arm pain

The most probably cause, most of the time, which results in pain in the upper arm is usually some sort of injury. Since the upper arm has so many muscles, it is usually very difficult for a broken bone to occur in that area, although it does occur sometimes.

However, pain in the upper arm can be caused most frequently by damage that is done to the muscles, ligaments and tendons that are located in that area of the arm.

One of the most painful upper arm injuries is a rotator cuff tear, which will cause pain in the shoulder and throughout the upper arm.

The tendons of the biceps and triceps can also be torn, which is yet another painful upper arm injury.

These are the most common causes of upper arm pain.

Another very common cause is tendonitis. When tendonitis is believed to be the cause, the doctor will usually recommend physical therapy to help with the condition.

Diabetes is another common cause, which results in neuropathy from nerve damage in the extremities. This can usually be treated with prescription nerve drugs, gabapentin being one of them.

Compressed nerves can also cause pain in this area of the arm, which many people who spend long hours in front of the computer can develop. The common name for such a condition is carpal tunnel syndrome.