Why does my left arm hurt?

February 18, 2019 9:49 PM

Okay, I’ve put this off for two months, but it’s really getting to me. Almost every time I sit in my office-type chair, my left arm either starts hurting (immediately and a lot) or gets a nasty pins-and-needles feeling, or both.

I’ve mentioned this to my doctor, but after she took an ECG to be sure it wasn’t the kind of left-arm pain that signals heart trouble, she didn’t seem to care much about it. This is my second office chair since this started, so I don’t think it’s the chair itself. This also has happened to me in a couple of other chairs, both with and without armrests. I don’t lift heavy things often at all, and I’m not left-handed. Generally the pain is above the elbow, but sometimes it's the whole arm. And sometimes it's bad enough that I also feel it in one spot on an upper rib.

I tend to sleep on my left side, so that probably isn’t helping me any. But the pain only appears when I sit in some chairs.

YANA/MD, but I’ll happily accept informed anecdata. Thanks.

posted by bryon to Health & Fitness (18 answers total)

I had arm pain caused by a pinched nerve in my neck
posted by txtwinkletoes at 9:58 PM on February 18, 2019 [3 favorites]

Is it just sitting in the chair, or are you sitting in the office chair and doing computer work? If it's the latter, I've had similar issues that were caused by tendinitis. Ice, ibuprofen, rest, and an ergonomic keyboard helped. (Also, you might look at your desk setup and make sure there aren't any ergonomic issues that should be corrected.)
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:01 PM on February 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

following up on sitting-and-working: do you use a separate mouse, or numberpad, or paper notebook that could be moved to the other side to see if the pain moves to the other side?

Or do you have a big wallet in one back pocket?
posted by clew at 11:00 PM on February 18, 2019

Arm pain can be caused by neck/shoulder tension. A physiotherapist can help both diagnose and treat if this is the case.
posted by Murderbot at 11:19 PM on February 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

Do you wear glasses?Or are you of an age where you might need reading glasses? If you're doing something funny with your neck to see the screen clearly it can pinch a nerve in your neck and do this.
posted by fshgrl at 11:44 PM on February 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

Mouse shoulder? I have it and it often affects my whole arm.
posted by TheRaven at 12:41 AM on February 19, 2019 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I do sit in my office chair to work at a computer, but the pain begins as soon as I'm seated, before I start doing anything. I work a mouse with my right hand, and it's the left arm that hurts (useful link, though, TheRaven). Also, I never put a wallet in my back pocket.

One of the times this immediate pain has happened was when I sat at a table at a restaurant. I hadn't so much as perused the menu when it began.
posted by bryon at 12:58 AM on February 19, 2019

Your feet may be improperly supported and pinching a nerve in your rearend. Try an adjustable foot support?
posted by DarlingBri at 2:58 AM on February 19, 2019

Your description of the pain makes it sound neuropathic, like you've got a nerve that's unhappy. Just an idea: sitting down causes pressure in the intervertebral discs of the spine to increase. If you have a slightly herniated disc, the increased pressure of sitting can cause it to bulge more and press on a nerve root, eliciting pain not felt in other positions e.g.: standing.

Sounds like good sitting posture is your first order of business. But if it keeps bothering you a lot, next step is another visit to your doctor or a referral to a different clinician.
posted by cyclopticgaze at 5:55 AM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

How's your posture?

I did PT last year for a torn rotator cuff, and the big lesson for me was that a lifetime of terrrrrrrrible posture was causing a lot of my chronic discomfort -- but it was also going to take a long time to make new, better habits.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:26 AM on February 19, 2019

I think you need to see a physical therapist. A good one will be able to examine your gait, how you sit, etc and will be able to recommend exercises and stretches specific to your problem. As you can see from all the different advice you're getting, this kind of arm pain can have lots of causes.

Obviously there's no reason not to try other interventions as you line up the PT appointment, but I can tell you from personal experience that "I think this is probably what is causing my pain, I will do some stretches" is not as good as an expert looking at how you move and spotting oddities.
posted by Frowner at 6:29 AM on February 19, 2019 [2 favorites]

Is something in your left back pocket? If yes, try going without that wallet or whatever.
posted by Carol Anne at 7:10 AM on February 19, 2019

It's probably nerve compression, either in your shoulder or your neck. It could be tight muscles under your left shoulder blade, too. You probably sit differently in the office (or restaurant) chair than you do in other seats, and it changes the shape of the space that the nerve goes through. In this case, one usually starts with PT to relieve the inflammation and work on postural ways to lessen the stress that caused the inflammation; if that doesn't help, a cortisone injection. You may also need to change your desk setup.
posted by jlkr at 7:58 AM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

Even cheap office chairs are pretty adjustable, and any half-decent office chair will be very adjustable. Look up your office chair, read up on the ergonomics, and start customizing it for your needs. Make a label for your chair if you're in a shared environment. Most companies are aware of the cost of worker's comp claims and should be delighted to help you.

I tend to spend way too much time sitting, and any app that will remind you to do some exercises, stretch, move around, is going to help. My fitbit really helped me before it randomly died.

If you don't get relief, ask your doctor to recommend an ergonomic expert and especially, physical therapy. You may have to file a workers comp claim to get your employer to cover it, but it's in their best interest to treat it as early as possible.
posted by theora55 at 8:00 AM on February 19, 2019

As a general matter, if you have a symptom that is chronically bothering you and impairing your function, you can follow up with your doctor to emphasize the pain and impairment while requesting a referral to a specialist, and if they still don't listen, get another doctor.

My anecdata is that I have had a similar complaint for awhile, but it seemed related to how tight my home blood pressure monitor squeezes my arm and how frequently I check my blood pressure. I reported it several times during primary care visits and got no response. During a recent trip to ER for very high blood pressure, I had an IV that I accidentally jammed when I tried to scooch up in the bed, and there was a lot of bruising afterwards around the IV site. Then my left arm pain got worse, and I was sent to Urgent Care and examined there, and they said it was nerve damage that should resolve with heat and stretching. Then I went to a PT, got an overview of the muscles related to the shoulder, reminded about posture, and told it should resolve with stretching exercises and applying cold packs. Then I got a new primary care doctor, mentioned the conflicting advice, and was told that if heat makes it feel better, I should go with that, and to follow up if it doesn't improve.

Here's the best part: I know from a head and neck CT scan that I have some degeneration in the discs in my neck, and this post and its answers got me thinking about that and the variety of stretches I've been assigned by PTs, especially because my left arm pain continues. And then I did some cervical extension exercises assigned by a PT who specializes in treating TMJ, and I'm happy to note that my left arm pain has noticeably improved.
posted by Little Dawn at 8:18 AM on February 19, 2019

Nthing nerve pain. My left arm kept hurting like you describe. That evolved into a burning pain whenever my hand or arm came into contact with anything - even just resting it when trying to sleep at night. Then came tingling and numbness.

After lots of tests, it was a pinched nerve and gabapentin helped get rid of the pain until my dad, a chiropractor, adjusted me a few times. (I live 2,000 miles away and wasn't able to immediately see him.)
posted by tacodave at 5:14 PM on February 19, 2019

Response by poster: Thanks, folks. This gives me a good direction for follow-up with my doctor.
posted by bryon at 10:19 PM on February 20, 2019

Outside, distant possibility, i was having tingling in my left arm that I put down to physically demanding work, but it never seemed to go away.
Until i had to get a new van. The armrest in my first generation Honda van was the culprit, because I haven't had the problem since, even after more of the same work.
Just my weird .02
posted by Redhush at 9:00 AM on February 21, 2019