extreme pain and weakness in forearms/wrists.

I have OA of both elbows, I underwent an arthroscopy about five months ago and now see a physio for rehab.
After working in my shed for a brief period my forearm will become extremely painful and strength is all but gone.
The same happens in my left elbow, the pain and weakness being in the same area and identical even though I have not undergone an arthroscopy on the left.
In the mornings when I wake my forearms are so sore I cannot use my hands.
In the five months since the arthroscopy the pain has steadily increased and my strength gradually diminished until non existant, Has anyone else had this problem, if so how did you deal with it.

The Doc advised me the joint was far worse than he anticipated and he had to do a lot more work than he had planned. The pain has only surface since the procedure, although my neck problem did take a turn for the worse around the same time. Doctors usually ask if you have any numbness or tingling in your arms, fingers, etc, when investigating cervical pain, I have none of that, just the pain and weakness in forearms/wrists A very valid point though, I shall discuss that with my GP next time I see him.

Hi tonyho have you been seeing or have seen a neurologist about this problem? And have you had an MRI done of your cervical spine? You don't always have to have numbness in tingling in your forearms and hands to have cervical disc problems. The first time I started having problems it felt like when you hit your crazy bone {elbow} really hard and sends pain down your arm into your fingers, and that was it! Everyone is so different, but if your experiencing weakness in your arms and hands, I would think that it would be time to see at least a neurologist and get some further testing done. MRI, EMG, Nerve conduction studies, or what ever??? Especially if your having problems with both arms??? I would definitely want to get that checked out. When I first started having problems I was a young man in the military, and I got the run around for quite some time before they finally found out what the real problem was. It is all in some of my earlier post here on this forum. Anyway I definitely would not want anyone to go through what I did, back then! So please keep after them to find out what is going on! And in the mean time I would also avoid getting any chiropractic manipulation done on your cervical spine until you know for sure that, that is not the cause! Just in case!!

Anyway my 2 cents worth! I wish you well and Welcome to the Forum!

White Beard

It could be whatever position they had you in for the surgery. I'm assuming it was done under anesthesia? Perhaps your neck was in a certain position for that period of time and has caused a subluxation that is pressing on a nerve. You would most likely need an MRI to check. How did your doctor 'rule out' cervical referred pain?

Tony I'm certainly not a Dr but was a nurse for more than two decades and a spinal patient over one and been here in this forum about the same and I have to say ruling out cervical nerve issues by lack of more than one symptom or based on a multitude of them that doesn't fit textbook examples is a load of bull. The only clear picture of what's happening is by scan and even that can fall short of a positive diagnosis. With spinal issues it's usually hit or miss as no two people with the same damage rarely display with exact and textbook symptoms. One symptom is all it takes. I personally would be looking for a second opinion here if all that blood work comes back negatives. Not sure what he's looking for other than one of the immune system diseases in blood work though.

Good luck and I certainly hope you find a answer and that Dr wouldn't be the first for missing the boat,many of us search countless years through even more countless specialists only to end up back to the beginning.