For about 3 years now, I’ve been suffering from random, short-term pain in my lower bicep/upper forearm (and even part of my elbow) pain. On very bad days, the pain extends up the side of my arm and I can feel soreness between my bicep and tricep. Usually, the day after the pain initially comes on, the affected area is very tender to the touch. This pain comes and goes, no rhyme or reason to it, but when it hits, it is excruciating - like, can’t even hold up a 16oz bottle of water and on the edge of tears pain.
The pain is mainly concentrated on my left arm, lower outside part of the bicep - when I dig my thumb in there and roll it around, it feels like a giant knot or inflamed tendon or something. My usual therapy (which I’m currently doing now) is taking 600mg of ibuprofen every 8 hours and icing for 20min on/20 min off when I get home from work. I’m doing drill work at BJJ now and am not going to attempt a live roll for at least a week.
I’ve seen 2 doctors about this and each have given me the bland “RICE treatment and never do again what you’re doing to get rid the pain.” After doing some research, I’ve found that I’m not alone with this problem, but it’s rather painful this time around (like I’ve been hit in the arm with a baseball bat) and each recurrence of this pain seems to be worse than the last. Is it tendonitis? A tear? Something else? What would some of you recommend for a treatment plan to heal quicker and/or remove this problem?
Thank you.
