How to Treat Arm Muscle Pain

Take off your jewelry

Particularly if the pain extends to your wrist or fingers. Jewelry not only adds unnecessary weight to your body (though you may not realize it), but also restricts movement and creates unnecessary friction on the surface of your skin. Plus, it would become more difficult to remove jewelry if your arm or fingers become swollen.

Use anti-inflammatory medications

Over the counter non-steroidal drugs like ibuprofen instantly ease your pain. If you feel the pin persists, talk to your doctor.

Try ice compress

If medicines are not an option, then try an ice compress. A heating pad works just as well, honestly. Keep either of them on your arm for a minimum of 10 minutes. Repeat this process 3-4 times a day, alongside giving your arm complete rest.

Have a good rest

This should come as no surprise. The only remedy to overuse of your body’s muscles is to give them complete rest. Why? Well, your muscles, tissues and ligaments have to relax so that they can heal, right? So give them a complete "bed rest"! If required, prop some pillows next to your chest and lay your arm on them in a comfortable position. And when you think you’re ready to work out again, make sure that you…

Slowly work your way up

Don’t begin your workout by lifting heavy weights. For the next few days or even the entire week, work with light to medium weights. Avoid lifting any heavy objects. If you feel even the slightest amount of pain, immediately stop your workout. Talk to your trainer to help you stretch/relax your muscles.

Try physical therapy

If you find that none of the above mentioned methods work well as your arm muscle pain treatments, then it’s time to rope in professionals. Why? Because sometimes the damage is too extensive for the body to heal without any external help. Needless to say, you need to first talk to your doctor in order to get approval.

When to See Your Doctor

Sometimes, it can be confusing when you should or shouldn’t see your doctor regarding pain in your arm muscles. In such a case, remember that the following symptoms should not be ignored:

• If you experience dizziness, nausea or vomiting;

• If the swelling in the painful area does not subside after 48 hours;

• If the pain does not go away after taking medicines, using an ice or heat compress or resting your arm;

• You have chest pains. This might be a symptom of heat related problems;

• You bleed;

• You are unable to move your arm even after 48 hours of giving it complete rest and taking your meds.

More Things to Remember for Your Arm Muscle Pain

Now that you know about various arm muscle pain treatments and when to see your doctor, you should also be aware of other issues that can give you arm pain:

• If you have pain in your arm because some heavy object or someone hit you, or if you had a hard fall, then most likely you have a fracture. In such a case, the pain will be severe and you will face great difficulty in moving your arm.

• Sometimes, chest pains could indicate angina. Accompanied symptoms include pains not only in the chest area, but also in the neck, entire arm, jaw or even your backside, lasting from a few seconds to a few minutes.

• Nerve pain is more common in older people, where the spinal cord nerves become compressed. The pain is akin to feeling several pins piercing your skin, except that the pain occurs on the inside of your body. This can easily be taken care of with non-prescription painkillers. Physical therapy also helps.

• Tennis elbow occurs due to overuse of tendons and muscles in the arm, where the pain extends to the entire arm. You will continue to experience pain for weeks at an end

• Bursitis, for those who don’t know, is an inflammation of small areas of fluids in your joints, called bursa. With repetitive movements of the arm, the amount of liquid in the bursa can increase, leading to swelling and pain. It gets better roughly within the course of a month.

Needless to say, if you experience any pain that you feel is not a sprain or minor muscle injury, you should make an appointment with your doctor and discuss the best arm muscle pain treatments for you.