I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

This is mainly, I suppose, a plea to our medical members (several nurses and at least one doctor as I recall). I'm in real pain, here, and it looks - well, it looks quite funny actually.

I've used a computer for years. I used one at work, all day long, for over 15 years and I've always used one at home too. Using a mouse with my right hand has led me to lean on my left elbow - and it's gone "funny".

Years ago, I damaged this elbow when I slipped on stage and chipped a tiny bit of bone at the end of it. I've had tennis elbow in it and had a hydrocortizone injection which hurt like hell, and cured it, but now..... The end of my bone hurts to the touch and I've got a great big lump on the elbow itself. This lump is, actually, painless and I think it's a sac of fluid. When my arm's straight it looks like a cartoon elbow - with this great big knob on it.

So, what can I do about the pain at the end of the bone (radius or ulna, I haven't a clue which) and can I do anything about the squishy lump because it's driving me crackers?

Thank you. :)

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

I had similar problems, seen typists of the old school who have changed to computers, and developed wrist and elbow problems.
I have my keyboard tilted at a 10 degree angle, and my left elbow is on a pad made from 3 bathroom sponges wrapped inside a plastic bag then covered with leatheret. Pains gone.

Retlaw.

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

go and see your Doctor...it sounds like you may have a collection of fluid which needs to be aspirated....but it needs to be checked out.
OK.......I know that I am a fine one to give this kind of advice......but in the end I took your advice :D

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

I had a lump of fluid on my elbow last summer - golf ball size.
The doc said 'bursitis' and painlessly drained it with a hypodermic needle.
The fluid was 'watery milk like' - no blood.
I might be the same - but my elbow was not painful.

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

Oh ******. I was hoping for a quick fix without seeing the GP. I am constantly bothering him about my heart/lung/blood pressure/blood sugar/thyroid gland problems. If I go in pointing my elbow at him, he's likely to think I'm a complete wreck. This lad is new to GPing. He's taken over from David, who I knew for over 30 years, and he's just a lad. I must be the stuff of his nightmares.

Ah well. If I must ........:o

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

Can i make the recommendation you see him as soon as its possible .... i had one on my knee ... left it and it went away 3 months later i was in blackburn royal having an emergency op on my knee and off work for 6 weeks ...

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

Well I hope it's all better now. Wow, I thought it was nothing much. :eek:

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

go to the quacks cath, ya paid enough national insurance in yer time.;)

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

I understand your reticence entirely, but I feel that this is unlikely to go away on its own.
I'm sure your young broth of a boy GP will be kind to you...especially as you sound like you might have a season ticket :D

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

See Cath, we are all singing from the same hymn sheet...and all in the same church too!

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

I avoid docs too :D, so I did research an alternative, and did find one.
There exists a herbal pad which you place and bandage to the site for a couple of nights in a row.
It claimed that it drew the fluid out using osmosis.
Sounded messy - and since the needle would be taking stuff out and not putting stuff in,
I opted for it

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

oh its fine now .. just a neat little scar about half an inch long ... but do go and see him ... i thought mine was nowt cos it had gone away .. then my knee ballooned up to twice its normal size and couldnt bend it ...

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

And it's called.......? :)

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

think rationally alternatives fine when all else fails, cos ya have to pay fer it.:)

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

It's called "get to the doctor", only way to get to the bottom of the problem:)

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

Osmosis works by the movement of water from a region of high water concentration through a semi permeable membrane to a region of low water concentration. You skin is semi permeable. You can often use strong solutions of sugar dissolved in water to form a paste on a pad to draw splinters and such like out of your skin. As the water is drawn through the skin it tends to push the splinter out - if you are lucky.

I suspect the same principle could work for the fluid. The only problem I would see if that the water may be drawn out leaving other things behind. Draining with the needle would remove the water and whatever else is in the fluid.

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

I suspect that what Jen had was a 'Baker's cyst'.........I think that Cath has probably got a case of bursitis....the pain could be the fluid compressing a nerve......and that is why she needs to see the doc....he can aspirate the fluid and it will feel a whole lot better.

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

hubby just had bursitis, our doc recommended massaging with something like power gel 3 times a day for a month, if it was no better by then, to go get it drained, he ended up getting it drained. just go to doc's and follow their advise.(by the way he had no pain with his)

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

I don't think Cath could use the gel as she has already told us that she has a pre-existing chest condition.......this gel is contra-indicated in such situations......it would probably be drained and then a hydrocortisone injection to calm down the inflammation.....but only a doctor will be able to decide this....so Cath....get thee to the Quacks..pronto.

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

Its surprising that things such as gel can have an effect on people with chest problems, that's why I always check any new meds prescribed, just to be on the safe side

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

I agree with all the people that have said,Go to the Doctors.:)

When cured get a left-handed mouse.:D

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

I had an infected bursitis years ago. If it feels warm to touch then get to the doctors NOW as it would mean that it is infected.

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

I had pre-patella bursitis margaret .. well thats what they told me.:D:D:D

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

Yes, there has been a move away from naming conditions after eminent surgeons/medical people, to a more accurate anatomical name.....but I have a feeling that it is the same condition.

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

Yes, yes, OK, I'll see the doctor. I have to see him next week anyway, for blood test results, so I'll stick my squishy lump under his nose. :D

Incidentally, the lump itself doesn't hurt at all and, being where it is, I can move it around quite a bit. The elbow only hurts if the actual bone touches a hard surface (if the lump shifts a bit) or when I straighten my arm, when the bones touch together. The lump is unsightly but it's definitely acting as a cushion on the joint.

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

So you been to the doc's Cath and if so what did he say?

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

My wife had a similar problem, as caring as I am I walked into the surgery, she explained.

"I have this irritating lump on my elbow",

the Doctor, (never did like women doctor's), took one look at me and said,

"Divorce Him!".

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

I am going on Monday, primarily about my diabetes (I know, I'm just a wreck), so I will be showing her my squishy lump and I'll keep you informed. I bet she won't drain it (if it needs it) herself and tells me to make an appointment with the nurses' clinic. As long as she doesn't send me to the hospital - I'm sick to the back teeth with that place. :D

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

I saw the GP today and showed her my squishy lump. She said, "Oh, that's bursitis," and I said, "Yes," and she said it would go away on its own, eventually. I asked her if it needed draining and she said they don't do that any more because of the risk of infection. So, I'm stuck with this stupid-looking elbow for the foreseeable future. :(

It looks a lot like this but my arm isn't so hairy!

http://tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:....com/elbow.jpg

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

tell ya what west ender, bet they would have drained it,if ya was 40 yrs younger.:rolleyes:

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

I have looked again for that treatment I mentioned before -
treatment bursitis | treatments knee bursitis | elbow bursitis

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

Thank you, Margaret. I will keep it on file.

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

If you lived in Bury you'd get the freedom of the Town:D

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

Well I worked there, nearly 50 years ago. Will that do? :p

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

My hubby had one drained about 2 month ago and he is no spring chicken.

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

I am glad my diagnosis was right.
Hope your lump goes down soon Cath.

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

Du for me West Ender:D

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

It's going down!

I looked up a few home remedies and one of them was sesame oil. We just happened to have a bottle of it at the back of a cupboard, years out of date, so I thought it was worth a try. I've had it as a sort of poultice, bandaged on to my elbow, and the lump is definitely reducing.

This may also be due to the fact that I am being ultra careful and not allowing the elbow to come into contact with anything and trying not to use the arm too much. Still, what ever it is, it's working. :)

Re: I've Got This Lump On Me Elbow
 

Great news Cath:)