Forearm pain--advice?

MusicalMelanie11

Hi all,

Yesterday I did a short, 10 minute kettlebell workout from a YouTube video and it was awesome! I felt like I could have done more, but I didn't want to push it too much. So I decided I would hold off and do a longer one thursday. Well, this morning my muscles were kind of sore, so I felt like I did good yesterday. I went to cut an apple into slices, and my forearm started killing me about halfway through. I thought, "Did I just pull a freaking muscle CUTTING AN APPLE?" But it doesn't feel exactly like a pulled muscle. It's a sore area on the outside of my arm almost at the elbow, and it hurts to touch.

I saw this image:



...and the area "tendon damage" points to is where it hurts. So maybe my muscles were tighter than I thought from the workout, and cutting the apple was just enough to hurt it? Or maybe it is a pulled muscle after all and I just don't know what I'm talking about?

How do I treat this? Should I hold off on kettlebell for a while? Advice is much, much appreciated.

JohnBarth

It's likely tendonitis/tennis elbow. Rest and ice can be helpful. You'll want to ease into activities to strengthen the tendon. There are braces you can wear that can help with the symptoms.

AsISmile

I would not do any lifting exercises until the pain is gone. Just to be sure.

cheshirecatastrophe

Did you do bicep curls with the KB? Pain like that can come from curling your wrist at the end of the motion instead of keeping it straight. (Or other things, but that's the one I'm familiar with.)

CSARdiver

Try alternating warm/cold water to help with the pain. Ice the area to minimize swelling and try to minimize movement until it heals.

If it's a minor muscle injury it should heal in 48hrs. If you injured a tendon this may take a week.

XavierNusum

Add in some tissue work with the above suggestions to loosen the muscles and maybe relive stress on the joint/tendons. foam roll, lacrosse ball or something like that to work out the knots.

MusicalMelanie11

Thanks guys. I'll try your suggestions. Fingers crossed that it gets better soon!