Question
QUESTION: I recently hit my elbow against the weightlifting bar pretty hard.  I've seen a doctor and told me to take Anti-inflammatory medicine and not to worry about it since I had full extension/flexion of my elbow and fingers and there was no swelling.  But I still have need better advice.  It's been 8 days and I've seen improvement.  But I still get pain in my elbow and 4th and 5th fingers every now and then, and my forearm gets a weird sensation every now and then too.  In addition there is pain in my tricep leading up to my neck.  This happens when I type or I have my elbow bent for a long time.  I'm guessing it could be because I hit my radial nerve in my elbow, but why would my neck hurt or is this a separate issue; a seperate neck problem that I have to address.  I'm an 18 year old male.  Please can you elaborate on this because the doctor didn't do a good job.  I hear this is common, but do I still need to see a Chiropractor?

ANSWER: I would suggest seeing a chiropractor to rule out misalignment.  The injury you describe could have caused one, and is the source of your continuing symptoms.  A good chiropractor should be able to assess and treat the injury as well as setting you on a good rehab program.

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QUESTION: Thank you for the response.  I think it is already healing because today, I only had pain in my middle finger to bother me (only once), and my wrist pain is still there when I type, but it has gone down a bit.  There was still some pain in my triceps every now and then too.  So I think I can rule out ulnar nerve damage.  But my Brachioradialis seems to be slightly more swollen than the other arm.  This might be the cause for some of the radial nerve pain, right?  I asked my weightlifting coach on his advice, and he said that if it hurts to work out, then don't do it.  I worked out today, and it didn't hurt.  What's your take on this, should I keep working out since it doesn't hurt?  Will working out increase the swelling or decrease it?  I also run every day, do you advice running since it requires repetitive motion of the elbow?  And what's your take on the old saying that if it doesn't hurt to do something, then do it (does it apply to most scenarios such as this one).  And again, thank you for the advice.

Answer
Absolutely...if it hurts don't do it...if it doesn't hurt, chances are you are not injuring it further.  Running should be ok...give it a shot and...if it hurts, don't do it!!!  It sounds as if the injury was pretty self limiting; just keep an eye on it and if it should re flare, have it checked.