Bursitis, anyone?

[DarrenX]

I used to get a throbbing pain in my forearms and biceps after some workouts about 6 years back when I was taking Creatine and benching very heavy. I haven't lifted close to that heavy in a while, but have been progressing nicely the last 6 weeks and did a pretty good amount on my last set yesterday. I was still a little sore from the previous day, but I hadn't done any chest or tricep exercises. I then did incline bench and was fine, but then tried cable chest flys, barely doing any weight, and my arms burned/throbbed. I could barely lift them, and no position made them hurt and less. It's hard to describe because it's not a soreness, and it's not a bruise or getting hit. Just a constant throbbing that isn't helped by heat or cold. I could barely lift my arms to drive the mile home from the gym. I rolled around on the floor in agony for a couple hours (good plan? [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]), and eventually got better. I had tried IcyHot, but it didn't help. This morning I woke up and the pain was back, but not nearly as intense. I'm not 100% sure it's bursitis, but I don't know what else it may be. Wikipedia says bursitis involves inflammation (which I have none) and seems to be pain in joints, while my pain seems to be in the muscles. And no, this isn't general soreness experienced 24-72 hours after a workout.

FWIW, I'm 32, 6'1 207, in okay but not great shape, and am not currently taking any supplements other than a multi vitamin.

[Efourdee]

Inflammation doesnt necessarily mean swelling. Not sure what you mean by not having inflammation, because that is what you are describing.

If its bursitis, then stick with ice. You should be icing as often as possible. The only way its going to get better is through rest. Lots of ice can help speed up the process. So can anti inflammatories, but Ive never had great success with them.

[DarrenX]

Thanks for the response.

I always assumed inflammation and swelling were synonymous...? The pic on Wikipedia showed an elbow that was red and larger than normal, two things that I don't show.

[Efourdee]

You can definatly have inflammation without swelling or redness showing.

Your case could possibly be inflammation of the connective tissue of the muscles. Like a shin splint in the forarm.

[Genz]

I think I had something similar to what you described for a short while. as soon as I started working out, my forearms started to hurt very bad. It just went away. I always thought it might have something to do with overtraining, lack of regeneration etc. Something might be wrong with your nerves. I don't know your training schedule but maybe you are training your arms too often, esp. indirectly via bench press or back excercise. Try giving them more rest.

[Ikaika]

If you had bursitis, it would look like someone had filled your elbows with a bunch of water. They'd be all puffed up and ridiculous looking. Not necessarily painful, but can be.

Be more specific regarding the location of your pain.

[DarrenX]

[ QUOTE ]
If you had bursitis, it would look like someone had filled your elbows with a bunch of water. They'd be all puffed up and ridiculous looking. Not necessarily painful, but can be.

Be more specific regarding the location of your pain.

[/ QUOTE ]

Shin splint in my arm sounds like the right way to describe my pain. Mostly forearms, some in the biceps. Oddly, this occurs during chest exercises.

As far as my workout schedule, I'll typically work out 3-4 times a week, doing two of the four groups on two days (bis/tris/back/shoulders) and then chest on another day, mixing in abs and/or calves most days. Typically a days rest in between workouts, some times two, sometimes none.