Upper limb pain, whether it be shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist or hand pain can be very frustrating as it often interferes with our daily activities. There are many causes of upper limb pain, finding the cause is the key to resolving the problem.
At Eccleston Physiotherapy Clinic our Charted Physiotherapist will take a detailed history of the problem and will carry out an assessment to diagnose the cause of the pain. Following the assessment, the physiotherapist will discuss the cause of the problem with you and create an individual treatment plan to suit your needs.
Some common causes of upper limb pain:
Shoulder
Instability
Feeling the shoulder is loose, weak, or you have no control. Pain can arise due to abnormal movement of the joint and possible catching or clicking.
Impingement
This is usually catching of a shoulder tendon or muscle as it passes through a narrow opening within the shoulder joint.
Stiffness
Shoulders become stiff for many reasons such as frozen shoulder or osteoarthritis.
Elbow
Tennis Elbow is pain in the lateral (outer) aspect of the elbow. You don’t have to play tennis to have this problem and many structures both within (ligament, muscle and joint) and outside the elbow (neck, thorax and shoulder) can cause symptoms.
Golfers elbow is the pain in the medial (inner) aspect of the elbow. Like Tennis Elbow many structures both within (ligament, muscle and joint) and outside the elbow (neck, thorax and shoulder) can cause symptoms.
Wrist and Hand
Carpel Tunnel Syndrome is a painful disorder of the hand caused by pressure on your median nerve as it runs through the carpal tunnel of the wrist. Symptoms include numbness, pins and needles, and pain (particularly at night).
Repeated Strain Injury (RSI) is a descriptive term for an overuse injury. Repeated use of the same movements causes inflammation and damage to the soft tissues (muscles, nerves, tendons and tendon sheaths etc.)
De Quervain Tenosynovitis affects two thumb tendons pain is felt at the wrist below the thumb on movement due to inflammation restricting the movement of the tendons.
