7 Elbow Acute injuries that is preventing you from doing the things you love to do

1) Elbow bruising

Bruising of your elbow usually happens when you stumble and fall onto a hard surface.

The result is bruising and sometimes inflammation/swelling.

Your elbow may be tender to the touch for 48 hours but then it should subside and the bruise should start to change colour and begin the healing process.

2) Elbow sprain

When you suffer a sprain to your elbow, one or more of the ligaments becomes torn or stretched.

This usually occurs when you brace yourself after falling onto your outstretched arm causing a tear to one of your elbow ligaments.

You may experience pain in your elbow when trying to extend or straighten it.

3) Elbow infection

This one can be a little tricky.

Infections for the most part show signs early on such as swelling and inflammation.

Combine that with the symptom of being red in colour and hot to the touch.

This is more inline with a condition referred to as elbow bursitis.

What exactly happens is that the bursa sac which sits at the back of your elbow ruptures as a result of direct blow or infection.

This sac is filled with an oily, white liquid which is responsible for providing lubrication to your skin so it can move freely over your arm bones.

The most common signs of elbow bursitis is swelling of your elbow, it’s red in colour and feels hot as if someone is holding a flame to your elbow.

If your bursa sac becomes infected, your Doctor may opt to drain it with a needle.

Otherwise, as far as treatment goes, antibiotics may be prescribed by your Doctor to help fight the infection.

4) Dislocated elbow

Occurs when your two forearm bones(ulna and radius) shift or become displaced from your upper arm bone(humerus).

Your elbow joint is formed by these three bones and when either one of them shift suddenly out of place, you suffer a dislocated elbow.

5) Torn tricep

Your tricep muscle sits at the back of your arm and is responsible for helping you extend and straighten your arm.

When you suffer a tear of your tricep you experience tenderness and pain at the back of your arm.

It is not uncommon to hear a cracking or popping sound when you touch the back of your arm.

You will not be able to straighten your arm fully without severe pain.

This type of elbow injury is more commonly found in weight lifters and bodybuilders.

You can read more about torn triceps tendons and ruptures over here.

6) Torn bicep tendon

Occurs when your bicep tendon tears where your bicep attaches to your elbow or at the other attachment point, at your shoulder.

Your bicep muscle is responsible for bringing your arm in towards your body.

The majority of bicep tears, 90 percent, happen at the shoulder.

That leaves only 10 percent of bicep tears happen where your bicep attaches at your elbow.

So chances are that your elbow pain is not a result of a bicep tear.

7) Broken elbow/arm

As you’ve just learned, there are three bones that come together to form your elbow joint.

A sudden fall or quick strike to any one of these three bones can cause them to break or fracture.

If you have broken one of these bones, you should almost immediately notice some swelling and even bruising.

You won’t be able to use your arm as you normally would.

The only way to verify whether or not one or more of the bones are fractured is to have your arm x-rayed.

If you’ve taken a fall or direct blow to your arm in the past 24 hours and your arm shows signs of swelling and you can’t move it correctly

Please goto your Doctor or emergency room hospital right away because

Broken bones and fractures usually need to be immobilized with a cast in order to heal properly.

Also check out this great resource on injuries and disorders of the elbow.