Anyone ever have this? Five years ago I bonked by right elbow during a tickle fight, and my elbow swelled up with a soft egg-sized lump on the bottom that took several days to go away. I don't remember it hurting or anything, just it being, well, weird... It happened a couple other times that summer, and I went to an orthopedist, and he said, well, it's synovial fluid accumulating (the stuff that normally lubricates your joints). So I wore an elbow pad off and on for a few months to protect my elbow, and the problem went away.
This last month my elbow's felt a bit sore, but not from bumping my elbow... then Sunday night I noticed it was swelling up. More painfully this time though -- seems to be a bit bigger than last night, so the skin's tight around my elbow and it's painful to bend it too much. (So typing's somewhat uncomfortable, while brushing my teeth is definitely painful.) There's also a purple spot that looks bruised.
Any ideas? I've been putting arnica on it, and icing it some, and wearing a pad when I'm out of the house... but if the swelling doesn't go down in a few days I'll probably go to an orthopedist again.
Posted by Theaca (Member # 8325) on :
You talking about fluid around the very tip of the elbow? That is olecranon bursitis. Usually from repetetive trauma or irritation, in someone healthy. Bursitises can be infected, so if you have a red, hot, very tender bursitis or a fever you need to be seen.
My husband had this condition after a trauma to the elbow. The doctor had to drain the fluid, but it kept reaccumulating for a while. She kept checking on him, but he never got an infection. It did take a while to go away, but it did and he's had no problems with it since. I don't recall him taking any medication other than anti-inflammatories. In other words, his experience lined up perfectly with what Theca's link described.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Thanks for advice!
It's definitely not getting better -- seems more bruised and swollen -- so I'll try to get it looked at tomorrow.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Update... went to my doctor last week, he did some blood tests to check for infection or anything systemic, nope, nothing there. He made a tentative diagnosis of a muscle tear in my arm just below the elbow.
Went to an orthopedist this week. He said, no, that's not a muscle tear, and he took x-rays, which didn't show anything. He said that, well, you probably just bumped your elbow without noticing it, and to keep putting ice on it and try anti-inflammatories and to wait for the swelling to go down. Said it might take up to 6 weeks. (He recommended NOT draining it, because sometimes that can introduce infection into the elbow.)
Anyway, so it's still pretty swollen, but a bit less bruised and sore, and it's been easier to type again, yay. Still real weird looking though -- the only consolation is getting to use it for show-and-tell.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
"Look at my swollen plaid elbow" Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Well, it is pretty weird looking, folks say "ewwww" and then ask if they can touch it...
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
(He recommended NOT draining it, because sometimes that can introduce infection into the elbow.)![[Confused]](confused.gif)