Hands hurt from the wrist to the elbow: causes, treatment

Doctors often have to deal with patients complaining that their hands hurt from the wrist to the elbow. Moreover, not only those whose professional activity involves physical exertion on their hands, but also those who “work with their heads” turn to doctors with this problem.

The overall picture of the disease

Most often, pains in one-sided hands are observed. This means that only the left or right hand can hurt. Often the pain covers the entire arm, but localization occurs in one place, for example, only from the inside. This is due to the fact that one of the structural elements of the bone was affected.

The nature of the pain is also different. This phenomenon may be temporary, but if the hands from the wrist to the elbow are constantly sore, this indicates possible serious violations. In this case, it is necessary to undergo a diagnosis and seek professional help.

Causes of arm pain

If the arm bone from the wrist to the elbow hurts, the first thing to do is determine the cause of the problem. Only then can we talk about treatment. The causes of this problem can be general, such as, for example, fatigue or trauma, or more serious, which indicate violations in the functioning of internal organs. First, we define the common reasons:

1. Professional workload. A fairly common phenomenon is when a hand hurts from the elbow to the wrist with a load on it. This condition occurs due to functional disorders. Some professions lead to the fact that the muscles in the arm are constantly tense, and due to the fact that there is no way to leave work for a long period, there is no time for a good rest. As a result, carpal tunnel syndrome develops. This is a fairly common disease today, and representatives of modern professions suffer from it : programmers, cashiers, dispatchers, artists, pianists. The fact is that these professions assume uniform movements of the hand, as a result of which the load falls only on a certain muscle group. Tendons in this place become inflamed, swell and squeeze the nerve endings that pass in the wrist channel. In this case, the arm from the elbow to the wrist from the inside hurts. Similar inflammations can also occur as a result of microtraumas, which can disrupt blood circulation and even lead to the gradual destruction of tissue. This problem affects people whose work is associated with heavy physical exertion, mostly falling into their hands.
2. Exercise , in addition to the obvious positive effect, can cause hands to hurt from the wrist to the elbow. Here the whole point is that as a result of constant training, the muscles are in an overstressed state. It is dangerous because it threatens the appearance of inflammation, while the muscles become denser. So-called tendinitis occurs. Thus, during movement, the nerve endings will be pinched, causing pain in the hands.
3. Injuries . This is a very obvious reason that hands from the wrist to the elbow hurt. Injury can occur as a result of any mechanical damage, whether it be bumps or a fall. The nature of such pain is clear. It will occur abruptly, in addition, the tissues that surround the damaged bone can become inflamed or swell.

What diseases lead to the problem

The causes of pain in the hand can be not only mechanical damage or features of professional activity, but also diseases of internal organs or systems, which a person sometimes does not even guess about. Most often it can be:

1. Joint diseases. These include arthritis or osteoarthritis. These diseases can cause severe pain in the joints of the elbow and wrist. The affected area may turn red or even swell. In this case, the movements of the sore hand will have to be severely limited.
2. Neurological disorders. In this case, the root cause is a violation of the peripheral nervous system. As a result, the arm muscles atrophy, paralysis can develop. However, the symptoms of the disease develop quite slowly. At first, a person feels pain and weakness in his hands, it is difficult for him to do even everyday things.
3. Diseases of the spine. This is, first of all, osteochondrosis, which can cause pain in the arm from the shoulder to the wrist.

As evidenced by pain in the left hand

As already mentioned, pains in the hands are often one-sided. The right hand most often hurts due to the professional activity of a person. But why does the left arm hurt from the elbow to the wrist? There can be many reasons, ranging from the formation of intervertebral hernias in the cervical region and ending with an acute attack of a heart attack. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish the signs. In addition to causes common to both hands, pain in the left can also indicate diseases of some internal organs, in particular the heart and lungs.

Diagnostics

Diagnosis of pain in the hands does not present special difficulties for modern medicine. First of all, it is necessary to check whether this problem is associated with a dangerous condition for life. These include heart disease, trauma, intervertebral hernia. To do this, it is necessary to carry out:

• radiography of the spine;
• X-ray of the diseased limb and shoulder area;
• computer scanning of problem areas;
• nuclear magnetic resonance scanning.
  

In addition, clinical research methods should be prescribed. With their help, you can determine if there are any autoimmune processes in the body, as well as possible pathologies caused by various infections.

How to reduce pain at home

What to do if a hand hurts from the elbow to the wrist? The treatment here will depend entirely on the results of the diagnosis, but you can try to alleviate the condition at home.

1. If the pain is caused by the fact that the muscles are in constant tension, it is necessary to let them relax every 15-20 minutes. To do this, just rearrange your schedule. In addition, at the workplace, you can perform special exercises that will not only relax the muscles, but also strengthen them.
2. If the cause of pain in the arm is an injury, it is necessary to immobilize the damaged limb. The arm should remain locked in the position in which you are not experiencing pain. It is advisable to remain in this position until the doctor arrives.
3. A little compress will also help alleviate the condition. It will contribute to the removal of edema and inflammation.

Any other types of treatment can be carried out only on the recommendation of a doctor and under his supervision. The fact is that there are a lot of causes of pain in the hand. Trying to get rid of pain, you can cause serious harm to your health.

Which doctors should I contact

Faced with the problem of the appearance of pain in the hands, not everyone knows which doctors need to be consulted. You can help:

• traumatologist;
• rheumatologist;
• neuropathologist;
• neurologist;
• cardiologist.

The surest strategy when choosing a therapy is to eliminate the cause of the onset of pain. However, with severe pain, doctors can also prescribe symptomatic treatment.