rumrunn6

anyone else ever get this?

aggravated one elbow, while taking photos of photos, in an awkward position, leaning on my elbows, just to get the lighting right. in particular, on my right elbow. because I was moving the pics in & out of frame, w/ my left arm

the next day, the right elbow swelled up. a week later a medical professional drained it. I have a compression sleeve on now & trying not to use the arm as much. it filled again but not very much. medical professional says to wear the sleeve for a week & it might go away after a cpl months. ugh, I'm a very active person how to I not use it for two months? I've already been neglecting my fitness training for a cpl months, due to a family emergency & was looking forward to getting going again

the shadow is the soft tissue swelling before the procedure. doesn't look like much, but in-real-life, when my arm was straight, it looked like I had a ping pong ball under my skin

another view that doesn't show the swelling

HIPCHIP

You need to get a nice thick piece of slightly soft foam rubber, cut a circle out of the middle, and make a donut pad to cover it. It needs to be thick enough to be higher that the skin so that it doesn’t rub on the bursa sack yet protects it from being bumped. Put it on and wrap with a flexible wrap. Ice it when you can, 20 minutes on, then at least 40 minutes off. You can do that all day. The 40 minutes off is to allow it to warm back up as too much ice will actually cause swelling. Bursa sack take longer to heal because it’s like a water balloon with no place for the swelling to go, so just protect it as much as you can.

rumrunn6

ain't nobody got time for that. just kidding, thank you for taking the time to be helpful!

HIPCHIP

I am a former Certified Athletic Trainer, so was trained on how to deal with all the screwy injuries athletes get. The nice thing about that is the athlete can get a custom pad and wrap done daily. Unless you’re rich you have to try and make stuff that will work for a week or more. A donut pad will protect the bursa from getting smacked and swelling some more. I know it is a pain in the butt, but it is worth it. Try a covered donut then an open donut with an Ace wrap. If it stays inflamed too long it can cause more problems and then you have to have surgery and then you’ll be laid up for months.

Don’t forget the ice. Helps remove swelling and keeps Dr. Jack Daniel’s liquid medicine cool.

rumrunn6

oh really?! I have been wearing a compression sleeve. 2 shifts at my part time lumber job & I need to get back to my weight training. Sitting at my desk job or hours behind the wheel, driving back & forth to NY for family stuff is making me nutz. The swelling seems to vary depending on activity meaning it goes up but comes down again but never really goes away. Wish I had a private doc to drain it every day

HIPCHIP

The sad thing is that the bursa, being basically a water balloon, has no place to drain, so even if drained by a doctor it will basically fill up again. About the only thing you can do is protect it so it doesn't get bumped or rubbed and irritated. The donut pad and cover will help protect it a bit and the Ace wrap will provide a little compression to try and help keep fluid out and put a little compression on it to help keep if from filling up. Ibuprofen can be a little help, along with the icing, but really not much you can do. Don't bend/flex your arm too much or do something like tennis as that will just irritate it a bunch. Used to have problems with this on my basketball players. Doc would drain and inject with cortisone and lidocaine which helped a little, but basically it just takes time. Remember R.I.C.E.= Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. Put the ice on, try and keep elbow above heart, wrap the ice bag with a spare Ace wrap in case it gets wet, and relax while watching the tube or something for the 20 minute time, with 40 minutes off.
Good luck

rumrunn6

wow, just wow. I might be able to do that if I was in an assisted living situation but my lifestyle doesn't include that kind of rest

rumrunn6

been using a compression sleeve but the swelling didn't go away. it's been kind of slowly going away but after I was active it would enlarge a little. so it was up & down but never really going away. since the nurse practitioner suggested a 2nd draining may be helpful, that's what I went back for. she also injected a little bit of cortisone it is much closer to normal now. I think I will ditch the compression sleeve after another week

the day I first had the swelling, 7/26/22?

the juice she removed yesterday

how it looks this morning


hopefully the humidity will break & I'll get to the gym for the usual weight training. the bump was rubbing against the curl machine so I had to adjust the seat lower to avoid the contact but that limited the range of motion. hoping w/ the swelling gone I can get back to it, at the normal adjustments

BobbyG

Yikes! Our bodies become more treasonous every year.

Wishing you a full recovery.

Champlaincycler

It's likely that your Drs. have considered this, but thought I'd ask. Has the drained fluid been tested for uric acid. That baloon at your elbow looks very similar to some people I know that have gout. I once took a splill on a concrete floor and had similar swelling just as I was beginning a gout diagnoses. Again, likely not but thought I'd add it as a possibility. Best of luck and good health.

rumrunn6

I've read about connections between this disorder & gout. I have had gout. this is not related because of the cause. it was not tested for uric acid. I've had a blood test recently (this spring) for uric acid & it was normal. I've made adjustments since spring to eliminate the gout presently. thank you for mentioning tho!

rumrunn6

this is where I get gout, presently. my left foot. these pics are from the spring, prior to treatment







like I wrote. there was a specific elbow injury, which lead to the aggravation of the bursa

rumrunn6

also, the elbow experienced no pain. anyone who has had gout attacks knows, you don't have gout attacks w/o pain

rumrunn6

interesting! do you get gout in your elbow? typically it occurs in the feet but I've read it can appear elsewhere. since you had the fall on the elbow what did your doc say? how was your gout diagnosed?

if you'd like, we can extend the gout covo here
Gout

Champlaincycler

I did have it in my elbow. Before my gout diagnosis , caused by a very swollen knee, I'd had a swollen, reddened, and warm right elbow off and on for a bit. Figured it was from ageing and use but hindsight says that was not so. My left elbow had your balloon shape for a bit after I slipped and brushed the concrete floor, and I've noticed that same elbow look on others with gout. For me, gout first manifested in joints I'd previously injured and the older you get the more of those there are. So, elbow, knee, ankle. Later, when given medication that releases the crystals and makes things worse for a few months, I did have issues with my left foot. I've 3 older brothers that have gout (yes it can be genetic,not diet related) so I'd been asking my Dr. to do a uric acid test yearly and I was always on the high end of normal, but still acceptable range, not to worry he'd say. Happened anyway. Now on Allopurinol and have not worried about gout for quite some time. Again, I'm no Dr. and this could be irrelevent to your case, but that's a familiar looking elbow you have. Best of luck,

rumrunn6

wow ok gotcha, thank you! duly noted

rumrunn6

I'm at my 2nd job yesterday & the nurse practitioner that drained my elbow, twice, came in looking for a cpl items, for her project. we had a nice chuckle & chat. she was glad to see my elbow was doing well

boozergut

I stopped drinking. All signs of gout have vanished for good.

peterws

I have a bursa in my left new, through scrambling about the floor of my shed. There's all sorts of strasnge stuff down there; I felt a sharp pain, and ended up with a bursa.
The quack said it'd drain on it's own, but he'd been working a 12 hour shift, so he'd just want to get home. . . .

rumrunn6

how swollen is it? btw - my doctor warned me multiple times of an infection from the needle used in draining it & that she had treated several ppl in the past with antibiotics via an IV drip. so, not a decision to take lightly. I gladly had mine drained twice & even got a small injection of steroids & never got an infection