Medical issues, forearms always tense

[omgnoseat]

This forum has been a great help in the past. Someone here actually diagnosed my heart condition (re-entry tachycardia) while the doctors convinced me nothing was wrong (They did eventually found out the re-entry tachycardia when I pushed it on them to research it).

So here I am again. The last 6 months I've been having some troubles with tension in my forearm muscles They are basically tense the entire day and won't relax. It has gotten to the point where squeezing a brake or pressing the shoulder buttons on a gamepad hurt. My legs also hurt sometimes, after long walks I can't sleep from the pain, it feels like they are being sueezed in a vise. This doesn't affect my every day life alot though.
I've been to the doctors, they did a blood exam, couldn't find anything and didn't bother anymore.

The muscles that bother me most seem to be these:
- Extensor Capri Ulnaris

- Extensor Digitorum
- Sometimes Flexor Capri Ulnaris

When squeezing a brake it hurts more in the underside of my forearm;
- Flexor Capri Radialis
- Palmaris Longus

It's kind of hard to pinpoint the exact muscles though, but it seem to be these.

My nutrician seems to be fine:
- I eat breakfast (custard)
- lunch at work at 13:00 (sandwiches with chicken or cheese, usually a piece of fruit too)
- Dinner (usually a typically dutch meal which consists of potatoes, vegetables and a piece of meat)

I weight 64kg and am 1.80 meters tall.

I work as a programmer at a game company, so I work with mouse and keyboard a lot. At work I've adopted the use of a drawing tablet instead of a mouse to reduce stress on my forearm. I have also purchased a high quality anti-RSI mouse called the handshoemouse. I've only had it for a week, so I haven't used it a lot though.
I had times where I would work 8+ hours a day on a computer for weeks in the past, and I never had problems with muscle tension there. so I'm not sure if siting behind the computer is related.

Since i've started working fulltime I don't have alot of time for biketrials, usually around 3 hours a week in 1 session. I have no pain whatsoever whilst riding, it feels like that is because I'm warmed up though.

This issue is starting to have a big impact on my ability to work. I had to work overtime today and the extra hours are killing my arm.
Hope anyone could point in a direction where this could be coming from.

[Matt Vandart]

Firstly, I am not a doctor but I would get your circulation checked. Then, you are underweight, I am more than 64 kg and I am a short ass. Thirdly check this book out, it solved my forearm problem:

http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Trigger_Point_Therapy_Workbook.html?id=IYqqY5Ae_VoC&redir_esc=y

Fourthly, change your job.

Edited August 30, 2013 by Matt Vandart

[Tony Harrison]

Would you consider yourself mentally stressed? Stress can do crazy weird stuff to you.

[Kevinfor]

Try doing some stretches and eat more!

[Muel]

Then, you are underweight, I am more than 64 kg and I am a short ass.

He's 5'9" and 10 stone 1lb? That's far from underweight, that's a healthy weight. I know 5+ blokes who are that sort of height and well under 10 stone who are far healthier than me.

I'd go and see a doctor and a physio. It doesn't sound like a simple case of stretching more or exercising less to me.

[FamilyBiker]

i´d like to come up with the powerball tip,mainly because strenghtening up is good anyways

i got massive problems with my wrists since last year,some fibrocartilage is irreversibly damaged,and i tend to feel the pain a bit up the forearms,in the area you´ve mentioned.sometimes pain in one area is an indicator for problems in another,so overall strenghtening of your arms would be my tip.

yeah okay,go to a doctor to be certain,thats right.

but doctors arent always the solution,mine said i´d have to quit riding by now(august 2012),and with powerball training,different handlebars angle and nutrition(chondroitine etc)i´ve been getting to a point where its possible to ignore an "irreversible damage"

wasnt going to tell the whole story first,just to mention the "doctors solution" bit,sorry

Edited August 30, 2013 by FamilyBiker

[ooo]

I have a couple of suggestions, I have had bad forearms and wrists too and i am also a programmer so I know how annoying it is.

- Trigger Points. Your muscles are overused and too weak to put up with riding and programming so you are developing trigger points in your muscles. These are basically knots in the muscle. When your muscles get over used the elements in the muscles fibres lock up. when they lock up they get larger and cut off blood supply which causes more to lock up. Trigger points can be dealt with by squeezing out old blood and getting new blood in the area.

Typically people massage or use a foam roller, I personally find ice packs (frozen peas) much more effective and as your hands are hurting you probably can't massage so ice your forearms twice a day until they are as cold as possible without burning.

- The other issue with this sort of problem, is that it won't go away until you get the root cause sorted. Your desk is likely to be making it worse, make sure your seat and tabletop are at the correct height and that your wrists are not bent at all when you type or use your mouse.

You also probably need more strength before you can cope with riding and long hours of computer work.

- Gaining strength shouldn't be started until you have rested your arms sufficiently, when the pain is mild and bearable strengthening and stretching should help. You will need to use physio bands and particular exercises for this. See a good Physiotherapist it will make the process so much quicker and easier, they will have you back to normal as quickly as possible.

As for your other concerns if you have some sort of blood issue this will make your muscles more prone to problems, but the same goes for postural problems. Your doctor sounds a bit crap, change doctors if you can and get a second opinion / more tests with your other concerns.

[forteh]

Not sure on the weight thing, I'm 5'7" and about 76kg, there is no way I'm overweight - you can't say that just because someone is tall and light that they're underweight.

Possibly look at getting an upper body massage, I partially sublaxed my right shoulder years ago on the trials bike which resulted in a knot of muscle in my back pressing on a nerve and loosing all grip strength, movement and feeling in my right hand. Going to the doctor resulted in nothing and seeing a physio didn't diagnose the problem either (although they gave me exercises to help), back massage showed signs that I had dislocated my shoulder (I wasn't aware that I had and it was an immediate out and in job) but within a week of the massage I had full strength back.

[omgnoseat]

Firstly, I am not a doctor but I would get your circulation checked. Then, you are underweight, I am more than 64 kg and I am a short ass. Thirdly check this book out, it solved my forearm problem:

http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Trigger_Point_Therapy_Workbook.html?id=IYqqY5Ae_VoC&redir_esc=y

Fourthly, change your job.

They checked it many times and it seemed to be fine. Making games is my passion, I won't change that haha. But I don't really think it has anything to do with it, as I often did the same thing at home for 12 hours, and I had no problems whatsover at that time.

Try doing some stretches and eat more!

Yeah I'm planning to stretch some more, thanks for the tip!

He's 5'9" and 10 stone 1lb? That's far from underweight, that's a healthy weight. I know 5+ blokes who are that sort of height and well under 10 stone who are far healthier than me.

I'd go and see a doctor and a physio. It doesn't sound like a simple case of stretching more or exercising less to me.

Yeah my weight is fine, I'm not really thin or anything.

The doctors here don't give a shit, they put through the usual routine and then conclude nothing is wrong.

i´d like to come up with the powerball tip,mainly because strenghtening up is good anyways

i got massive problems with my wrists since last year,some fibrocartilage is irreversibly damaged,and i tend to feel the pain a bit up the forearms,in the area you´ve mentioned.sometimes pain in one area is an indicator for problems in another,so overall strenghtening of your arms would be my tip.

yeah okay,go to a doctor to be certain,thats right.

but doctors arent always the solution,mine said i´d have to quit riding by now(august 2012),and with powerball training,different handlebars angle and nutrition(chondroitine etc)i´ve been getting to a point where its possible to ignore an "irreversible damage"

wasnt going to tell the whole story first,just to mention the "doctors solution" bit,sorry

I actually have a powerball haha. Never seemed to help though.

How did they determine your muscles are damaged? Since they didn't want to do anything else beside a blood check here.

I have a couple of suggestions, I have had bad forearms and wrists too and i am also a programmer so I know how annoying it is.

- Trigger Points. Your muscles are overused and too weak to put up with riding and programming so you are developing trigger points in your muscles. These are basically knots in the muscle. When your muscles get over used the elements in the muscles fibres lock up. when they lock up they get larger and cut off blood supply which causes more to lock up. Trigger points can be dealt with by squeezing out old blood and getting new blood in the area.

Typically people massage or use a foam roller, I personally find ice packs (frozen peas) much more effective and as your hands are hurting you probably can't massage so ice your forearms twice a day until they are as cold as possible without burning.

- The other issue with this sort of problem, is that it won't go away until you get the root cause sorted. Your desk is likely to be making it worse, make sure your seat and tabletop are at the correct height and that your wrists are not bent at all when you type or use your mouse.

You also probably need more strength before you can cope with riding and long hours of computer work.

- Gaining strength shouldn't be started until you have rested your arms sufficiently, when the pain is mild and bearable strengthening and stretching should help. You will need to use physio bands and particular exercises for this. See a good Physiotherapist it will make the process so much quicker and easier, they will have you back to normal as quickly as possible.

As for your other concerns if you have some sort of blood issue this will make your muscles more prone to problems, but the same goes for postural problems. Your doctor sounds a bit crap, change doctors if you can and get a second opinion / more tests with your other concerns.

The trigger points sound spot on, I do have alot of knots. When I move my shoulder blades apart you can actually hear them "pop" or something, it's really strange.

Besides riding I also exercise a bit before I go to sleep, do some push ups and stretch. I can see that this would not be enough though.

The thing that's weird to me as that I have the same lifestyle as I always have, but now suddenly I have this issue with my muscles. I can't think of anything that would have triggered this.

Not sure on the weight thing, I'm 5'7" and about 76kg, there is no way I'm overweight - you can't say that just because someone is tall and light that they're underweight.

Possibly look at getting an upper body massage, I partially sublaxed my right shoulder years ago on the trials bike which resulted in a knot of muscle in my back pressing on a nerve and loosing all grip strength, movement and feeling in my right hand. Going to the doctor resulted in nothing and seeing a physio didn't diagnose the problem either (although they gave me exercises to help), back massage showed signs that I had dislocated my shoulder (I wasn't aware that I had and it was an immediate out and in job) but within a week of the massage I had full strength back.

Yeah I've been thinking of getting a massage. I don't really know where to go to though, we have lots of "thai massage" places in amsterdam, I think that's a whole different kind of massage though

Thanks for all the kind replies everyone, always a great help here!

It has gotten pretty bad overnight, my legs are also starting to hurt a lot and for the first time it is keeping me from riding.

I actually had a dream that a dog was biting my arm tonight and it wouldn't let go, pretty much the feeling I have in my arm haha.

But I'm beginning to think it's a wider problem, since my legs are also starting to hurt more.

[FamilyBiker]

How did they determine your muscles are damaged? Since they didn't want to do anything else beside a blood check here.

i had an mrt,have the pics on dvd if you want some lol

it showed clearly(could see it for myself without being told where its located )that my "discus triangularis" is teared apart,that thing is kind of a buffer for pressure loads.

i ride with 661 "wrist wraps",they support without taking the training effect away,really good

[Luke Rainbird]

I have nothing relevant to add that hasn't already been said, however this is awesome;

- I eat breakfast (custard)

[omgnoseat]

I have nothing relevant to add that hasn't already been said, however this is awesome;

Why is that awesome?

I was not really sure what the english word was, so I might have said something funny.

i had an mrt,have the pics on dvd if you want some lol

it showed clearly(could see it for myself without being told where its located )that my "discus triangularis" is teared apart,that thing is kind of a buffer for pressure loads.

i ride with 661 "wrist wraps",they support without taking the training effect away,really good

Oh interesting, I wasn't really sure if there was any kind of "scan" to see damages in muscles.

[Luke Rainbird]

Haha, I did wonder if perhaps there was a language difference involved, but I'd like to think not

Custard here is a yellow liquid dessert commonly eaten with sliced bananas and produced by Birds (the company, not the feathered creatures!)

[Pete.M]

I think you might be right about it being a wider problem. I hate to bring up fibromyalgia, as I really hope it's not that.

[omgnoseat]

Haha, I did wonder if perhaps there was a language difference involved, but I'd like to think not

Custard here is a yellow liquid dessert commonly eaten with sliced bananas and produced by Birds (the company, not the feathered creatures!)

Haha that sounds about right. Still not sure whats funny about it though

I think you might be right about it being a wider problem. I hate to bring up fibromyalgia, as I really hope it's not that.

I just looked it up. Whilst I did have sleeping problems my entire life, all of the other symptons don't really match with what I have.

Thanks for mentioning it though, had never heard of this.

[FamilyBiker]

fibrocartilages arent muscles!

[ooo]

The trigger points sound spot on, I do have alot of knots. When I move my shoulder blades apart you can actually hear them "pop" or something, it's really strange.

Besides riding I also exercise a bit before I go to sleep, do some push ups and stretch. I can see that this would not be enough though.

The thing that's weird to me as that I have the same lifestyle as I always have, but now suddenly I have this issue with my muscles. I can't think of anything that would have triggered this.

These sort of muscle pains are well known for coming on very suddenly and progressing fast, however they do take years to form. Its because the body has a wide margin for error, so when you start to feel pain you are fairly far progressed. Unless you go to a top notch chiropractor on a regular basis you wouldn't know.

If your shoulder blades pop it means that they mis aligned and the muscles in your shoulder are out of sync. Go to a GOOD physio and get them to check your whole body first, i don't know if you have free physios in your country but if you have to pay its well worth it. If they can explain why you have pain and that it is postural or because of neuro-muscular activation then you can get it sorted. If they can't explain it, you may have to look into other health conditions that may be causing it (fibromyalgia or whatever comes up??).

80% of the pain people feel in their life is muscular but health services invest very little in treating it. Be prepared to move doctors and try lots of specialists until you can narrow it down.

Use ice/ frozen peas alot and get one of these for your legs until your doctor finds out what is wrong:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=foam+roller&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=MmgkUrP2N-ry7Aag6IHwBw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1158&bih=783

[omgnoseat]

These sort of muscle pains are well known for coming on very suddenly and progressing fast, however they do take years to form. Its because the body has a wide margin for error, so when you start to feel pain you are fairly far progressed. Unless you go to a top notch chiropractor on a regular basis you wouldn't know.

If your shoulder blades pop it means that they mis aligned and the muscles in your shoulder are out of sync. Go to a GOOD physio and get them to check your whole body first, i don't know if you have free physios in your country but if you have to pay its well worth it. If they can explain why you have pain and that it is postural or because of neuro-muscular activation then you can get it sorted. If they can't explain it, you may have to look into other health conditions that may be causing it (fibromyalgia or whatever comes up??).

80% of the pain people feel in their life is muscular but health services invest very little in treating it. Be prepared to move doctors and try lots of specialists until you can narrow it down.

Use ice/ frozen peas alot and get one of these for your legs until your doctor finds out what is wrong:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=foam+roller&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=MmgkUrP2N-ry7Aag6IHwBw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1158&bih=783

Thanks for the info, sounds like you know your stuff. I´m going to give the doctor a call tomorrow since this is beginning to become unbearable. I´ll ask if she can forward me to a physio, I´ve never actually been to one.