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elbow pain

Yesterday I felt all day like my right elbow needed to “pop”. I kept bending it in all sorts of ways trying to get the pop to come out as it was really bothering me. As the day progressed my elbow got more and more sore, but never popped. I hoped it would work it’s way out overnight, but today it still feels as though it needs to pop and it’s still sore. It’s on the outer part of my elbow kind of more towards the upper arm end, as opposed to the lower arm. Is this something that should just go away? What would cause it to begin with? I wasn’t doing anything with it in the past few days that should have created the need to pop. I am 46 and I have noticed, just in general, that I am always popping in my collarbone these days and in other places that never used to. What causes this? Thank you!

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    Over the past couple of years I have occasionally experienced the sensation you described, usually as a result of lifting an object with my arm extended, and feeling something “shift” in my elbow. I would then find that I could flex my elbow from fully extended to about 80 degrees with little problem but any greater angle resulted in a feeling of tightness and increasing pain, as if some tendon accross the back of my elbow needed to pop back in place. I would describe it as a “catch” in my elbow. In the past I was able to resolve this by waving my arm around or stretching my triceps muscle, but in the most recent case this was not effective.An internet search eventually turned up a condition called nursemaid’s elbow (technically “Radial Head Subluxation”)which matched my symptoms. Most sites suggested that this was a condition usually found in children 1-3, but as the symptoms seemed a good match, I carefully tried the suggested “reduction technique” (as I interpret it, gradually flexing my elbow to the full 180 degrees while applying pressure to the back of my elbow. – NOTE THIS IS MY INTERPRETATION, NOT A MEDICAL TECHNIQUE) I felt a gentle pop and the sensation was gone – my elbow was free to move without tightness or pain.You may wish to search “nursemaid’s elbow” and/or “Radial Head Subluxation” and to compare the info on the web with your symptoms. There are also several diagrams available of the “reduction technique” that may be of assistance. I could not fully understand the motion from the diagrams, but I apparently got the gist of it, as my elbow is now fine. Good luck fixing that pesky elbow!

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