Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with arm

Left biceps hurts on weightlifting noob. Now what?

nomadicink — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:08:08 -0800

Recently started lifting weights a few months ago. Now arm hurts, wtf? In the bid to get in shape, got a trainer, worked with him, did a lot of crossfit stuff, some weightlifting lessons. Have since left "class" and am lifting on my own for about 6 months.

Over the past few weeks I've noticed a dull ache in my left upper arm, in my biceps I think. It's not a fierce or sharp pain, just a dull ache that feels worse if I lift. I tried shifting down to a lower weights, say going from 195 on a seated press to 130 and that helps a lot but the ache is still there.

What should I do? Should I totally stop lifting with my left arm? If so, can I still do weights with my right? Do I visit a doctor? Like I said it's not sharp pain at all, mostly unnoticed as I go through a normal day, so it seems odd to visit a doctor. Is there some time frame about long I should lay off?

Mostly, I'm really kinda freaking out over starting to develop nice definition and form and losing that. Is there anything I can do to prevent that, while attending to the pain/ache?

Why does this trick with my arm work?

twoleftfeet — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:15:58 -0800

Why does this trick work? Turn your palm face up. To turn your palm face down you must twist your wrist, right? But if you do six simple moves you can turn your palm face down without twisting your wrist. The trick appears at the beginning of this talk by Lennart Green but can also be done backwards.

I want my regular arm back

molecicco — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 05:30:17 -0800

What is happening with my arm? Suddenly the bicep feels really tight and is sensitive and painful to touch. I looked around on Google and here, and think it may be a pinched nerve in my neck, but I have no cold sensation, and no numbness. Just a really, really sensitive bicep (I think that's the muscle.. it is sore from the inside/back of the elbow, all the way up to the inside front of my armpit). No other muscles are sore. Just the one. No spasms.

It started last night and feels like it has gotten worse over the last 12 hours.

You are not my doctor, I know. And yes, if it is still painful by tomorrow I will go to the hospital.

How long could a person live after having his or her arm cut off?

edavidoff — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:00:49 -0800

How long could a person live after having his or her arm cut off? I was watching my DVD of Kill Bill, for about the umpteenth time, and I wondered about the scene where Uma Thurman's character cuts off the arm of a pretty lady at the shoulder. The lady has a lot of blood spurting out of her shoulder, and she screams at bit, but by the end of the movie seems pretty OK about losing her arm.

Does anyone, maybe with some medical knowledge, have a good idea about how long a person could live after having an arm cut off before dying of loss of blood, or of shock, or probably both? In the movie, she lives at least 30 minutes, probably more, which I reckon could never happen. What do other people think?

Over the top?

bob bisquick — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:46:23 -0800

How do I get better at arm wrestling?

Bicep BooBoo?

bitteroldman — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:09:36 -0800

What muscle did I pull in my arm? In June, I pulled a muscle in my upper arm trying to lift a heavy suitcase-like item. I stopped the gym for a few months, but the pain didn't seem to subside.

I thought it was my bicep, but I am wondering if it might be something else. here are the symptoms:

- I used to feel a sharp pain when I curled my bicep (for example, if I made my fist touch my elbow), but this pain doesn't seem to be there anymore
- I don't feel any pain when I do bicep curls at the gym
- I do feel significant pain in my upper arm, more specifically in the fleshy crook of my elbow, when I try to do pullups.

So I'm thinking it's not necessarily the bicep, but some other muscle that comes into play when I do pullups. What is that muscle and how can I make it better?

Help me save money on a mortgage.

halogen — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:24:51 -0800

Mortgage filter: is there any reason I shouldn't get a 5/1 ARM at a slightly lower interest rate than the 30-year fixed option? Asking for Dad.

I am buying a $247,000 foreclosed townhouse in Houston, TX with $50,000 down. I am financing $197,000 and currently have the following offers for mortgages (closing date is December 3rd, so I don't have much time):

A 5/1 ARM with an interest rate of 5.25% through ING direct. They have relatively few fees ($3,000 or so closing costs, no escrow, etc.), but unfortunately I do not have a crystal ball and don't know what interests rates will be in five years. (Current plans are for us to live in the new house for longer than five years.)

A 30 year fixed-rate mortgage at 5.625% with a local broker. My payments with the fixed-rate mortgages will be approximately $50-60 more a month, adding up to about $3,000 over five years. The broker has not been particularly upfront about fees (they keep changing on a daily basis), but it this loan will be more expensive than through ING Direct. My real estate agents says that I should go for the fixed-rate mortgage if I don't mind paying an extra $60 a month for the security of a low interest rate.

Hive mind, which option should I choose? Any additional advice when choosing a mortgage is also welcome, since I have never bought a home before.

The Right to Bare Arms

troika — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:03:34 -0800

How can I best lose some excess upper arm flab? I'm a midtwentysomething girl, fit and happy with my body. Except for the upper arms - they're your classic 'bingo arms' and wearing sleeveless tops has me really self-conscious. What sort of exercises can I do to try and tone them? I don't currently belong to a gym but I'm on the edge of joining one, otherwise I run and bicycle for fitness.

Getting used to a wristwatch.

ooklala — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:25:52 -0800

How can I get used to wearing a wristwatch? I have not worn one for a while (4 years) because of an inability to get used to them. Now it is a requirement that I wear one. I have found a watch but now have to get used to having the thing on my arm.
If it means anything, I am left handed.

Possible causes for pain in left shoulder, arm and hand for about two weeks?

Nelsormensch — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:49:37 -0800

My fiancée has been experiencing pretty severe pain in her left shoulder, arm and hand for about the last two weeks. She saw our family doctor last week and has another appointment tomorrow. We're looking for some more pointed questions to ask. Details inside. About two weeks ago, my fiancée started getting pain and soreness in her left shoulder. Severe pain in her left hand and arm soon followed. Since then, things have been consistently painful. She has difficultly picking up all but the lightest of objects and grasping smaller items as well. Even when the pain is milder, she still describes a feelings of severe "tension" or "tightness," especially in her hand.

Things generally feel better in the morning and get very bad in the evening. Additionally, and this seems significant, if she lifts her arms above her head, things feel *much* better. Not completely fine, but close. She's trying to avoid using her hands/arms as much as possible, but obviously 100% non-use isn't really feasible.

Our family doctor checked her out last Thursday, saying it likely wasn't an RSI, tumor or MS. She said something about acute inflammation, suggested taking Advil three times per day with meals and to come back in a week. The follow-up is tomorrow and things haven't gotten much better.

We'd like to ask about some specific things, but aren't exactly sure what. If I had to guess, I'd say it was a pinched nerve in her left shoulder. Anyone dealt with something similar?

I checked the archives, but couldn't find any shoulder/arm pain questions that seemed similar. Thanks!

It was more than a flesh wound.

Venadium — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:33:05 -0800

My turn: what movie have I been thinking about for the past 15 years or so? The only scene I can remember is some guy getting his hand chopped off in a cave or dungeon. Sometime around 1992-1994 or so, I was out grocery shopping with my parents. I ended up wandering into the store's video rental department, where they were playing this movie on the TV. The only part I'm able to remember in any detail was this: Some guy being held prisoner, chained, maybe had long hair. He gets led to this big rock, where they hold his arm down on top of the rock and chop his hand or arm off, with a sword or maybe a big axe. The cave or dungeon this took place in was very dimly lit (as caves and dungeons tend to be). I know that's not too much to go on but hopefully someone else has seen this.

Some part of my upper body is unhappy. Is it my arm, or is that a red herring?

subbes — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:13:09 -0800

"Cold" feeling along both sides of my forearm, becoming achy. Doctor's appointment already made, but now I'm researching for ideas on relief -- and nothing seems to quite fit the symptoms! I've developed aching and pain along the outer (pinky) side of my forearm and the inner (thumb) side. It sometimes spreads to the whole back of my forearm, and the feeling is just like the "cold" feeling you get from evaporative cooling, or a xylitol-sweetened mint.

My doctor cancelled on me, so I won't get to see her until the 22nd.

Until then, I took the blunderbuss approach to symptom relief (so I don't know what has worked here and what was coincidental):
- Icing of my upper torso (clavicle area and neck)
- Icing forearm, elbow and wrist
- Ibuprofen 600mg as needed (right now, 1x daily)
- Standing up straight with arms dangling at sides (complete relaxation of shoulders, arms, wrists and hands) seems to reduce the tingling. I still have to work, so I can't stand upright all day.
- Workrave (30 seconds pause every 5 minutes, and 5 minutes stretching every 25).
- Sleeping in wrist splints seems to change nothing. Wrapping the arm also does nothing helpful.

Diagnostic 'tests' at home:
- My wrist extensors and flexors don't feel any tighter than usual.
- Palpating the muscle on the outside of my elbow feels like a bruise. The inside of my elbow doesn't hurt any more than prodding a muscle normally would.
- Phalen's test (reverse prayer with back of hands together) - 25 seconds and I began to feel a tingle.
- EAST test (for TOS): 30 seconds before my wrists go "cold" and numb (the diagnostic test calls for 3 minutes, I can't last more than 1). Related: standing with my arms over my head for longer than a minute or two has caused me to faint, ever since childhood.

Questions:
Could these signs and results come from one cause, or are there possibly multiple things going on?
Are there any more avenues of self-care/home treatment to explore before my appointment?

(You are not my doctor.)

PainFilter

bad grammar — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:04:54 -0800

What have I hurt in my shoulder/arm, and what should I do about it? I know there are a lot of "shoulder pain" questions on AskMe, and most of them refer to rotator cuff injuries. I'm not sure that's what I have.

On Saturday I did a fair amount of heavy lifting (boxes filled with books). On Sunday the pain in my left arm and shoulder became apparent. I am able to raise my left arm in front of me, to my left, and across my body. I can't move my left arm back behind me and raise it without causing pain, and I can't "pull up" from my side with the left arm without causing pain. "Pulling down" motions also hurt. Moving the left arm from the elbow downwards does not cause any pain.

In terms of everyday activity, I can put on a T-shirt without pain, but pulling up my trousers with my left arm is agonizing. I'm learning to do it one-handed. Lying down on my back in bed also hurts unless I lie absolutely flat.

In terms of the degree of pain, this is the worst pain I have felt in recent years (I have not had sports injuries). It is knife-like and makes me feel sick for a moment.

I am 37, Asian/white, female, reasonably fit, but much stronger in the legs (I walk a lot) than in the upper body. I haven't done any upper-body workouts for several years, aside from housework and minor lifting at work (I am a librarian). I am thin and not very muscular.

Should I try to not use this shoulder and arm for a few days and see if it goes away? I am taking Advil and using a cold pack though I'm not sure where to put it; right now the cold pack is in my armpit so I can type. I would prefer to keep going to work, as long as I don't lift anything.

I have a reference to an orthopedic surgeon, though the patient didn't like him much (I have the impression that nobody likes orthopedic surgeons, since they torture their patients). Is it worth trying to get an appointment? I also have a primary care physician. I will be going on vacation in 2 weeks.

ARM programming, where do I start?

wolfkult — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 15:04:14 -0800

How do I get started programming ARM chips? I'm looking for recommendations for a kit and/or book about ARM programming. I'd like to try a few beginner projects then try some of my own code but have no idea where to get started.

Background: I have a Master's in Electrical Engineering and did some PIC and 68HC11 assembly in school as well as C++. Since school I've worked at Intel and now a smaller chip company and am actually working on an ARM core right now but my job is far removed from coding -- I do custom circuit design (L1 memory array), a little layout and some design automation work (perl, TCL, etc).

I'm simply bored and looking for a new hobby.

my dominant hand is no longer dominant. help!

melodykramer — Tue, 27 May 2008 02:23:47 -0800

i was in a very bad car accident this weekend and smashed my dominant hand and my non dominant shoulder. i've been told my dominant hand may not regain full functionality. any tips on getting through the next few weeks/months? any good car accident recovery stories? the car rolled 3 times and i am very lucky and thankful to be alive.

aside from my hand and shoulder, i am not physically injured. i shielded my head with my left hand as the car rolled. every time the car hit the ground, my left hand scraped the ground and now looks pretty, pretty, pretty gross.

of course i am visiting all sorts of ortho + hand surgeon people, but i'm quite concerned about my left dominant hand. i write a lot for work and pleasure and was 100 percent left sided.

compounding that is a bad tear in my right shoulder. the combo makes me armless except for my right hand, which has no range of motion while my shoulder recovers.

i am home with my parents but want to be as independent as possible. any tips/advice for the 1 armed lady? :P (this took forever to type.)

Help me fix my Popeye arms

penciltopper — Sat, 17 May 2008 14:19:39 -0800

Standard adult male body, but I have skinny upper arms. Suggestions for a workout to add some mass, specifically from elbows up? I'm generally OK with my physique as it is - everything's the size and shape it should be for a mid-30's male, if a little soft from a sedentary lifestyle - except for these "Popeye arms" of mine (somehow, my forearms seem bigger than my biceps, etc. - it's like I got the upper arms from someone else's smaller body).

I'm going to start a regular cardio & toning routine to tighten things up and get some more energy, but I'd like to target this area for build-up, without getting too crazy about bodybuilding.

I figure if I could shift the couple extra inches from my waistline to my upper arms, I'd be happy.
How to do?

The orthopedic surgeon casts extra healing ...

bsdfish — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:59:03 -0800

I broke my humerus and now have a great big cast. I am concerned about the fact that I can feel some movement at times. Specifically, if I try to rotate my elbow (not the curl/uncurl motion, but side-to-side), I feel like the arm moves but in reality it doesn't (observably move). That makes me worry that the bones may be moving ... in which case how can they heal together? Also, do the cast covers for showering work? I fractured my arm 10 weeks ago, and had a plate put in. Two days ago, I refractured it, but the surgeon (same one who put the plate in) decided that external fixation would be sufficient, to avoid the risks of surgery. That sounds great to me, as radial palsy is a disaster. However, I am a little uncomfortable about the fact that my arm can feel like it's moving when I exert some muscle pressure, even though it's not. I'm obviously trying not to do it, but occasionally, it happens. Wouldn't the small motion prevent healing? Or is nothing moving and it is all in my head?

Also, I see a lot of waterproof cast covers for sale. Are they any good? The cast goes all the way up my arm, to almost the armpit, so it may be tough to get a good seal; on the other hand, showering will really suck w/ trash bags unless I figure something better out.

I actually have an appointment with another orthopedist in 2 days (follow-up for the previous fracture), so I'll see him and get a 2nd opinion, and ask him these questions. But what does the hivemind know?

How can I strengthen my throwing arm in 4 weeks?

neuron — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:21:28 -0800

How do I strengthen my throwing arm for softball in 4 weeks? I have a normal 40-something-year-old arm. I played recreational softball last year and am starting up again this year. I've decided that this year I'd like to be able to throw the ball all the way from 3rd base to 1st, and I'd like to be able to make a long throw without tearing something. How can I strengthen my shoulder for this?

What I have readily available is 10 and 15 lb dumbbells, plus of course pushups. How important is throwing practice?

Do ARM's really save you money?

rouftop — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:27:47 -0800

Have you used a 7/1 or 10/1 ARM to your financial advantage? My wife and I spoke with a lender today who presented an argument that longer-term ARM's (7/1 or 10/1 terms) were potentially a very good investment. In this case, it was a 7/1, that increased 4 points from years 8-11 and capped there. (So this is not a subprime fiasco where interest rates go up 10%+ after 1-2 years or anything like that.)

His view is that if you're disciplined, you can use that money toward home improvements to increase your equity, or invest in stocks (risky) or even CD's (not risky) and get a better rate of return on your money over those years. And the chances that we'd sell or refinance before 7 years are so high that the fear of the ARM "coming due" are pretty unlikely. (His stats claimed that 99% of all homebuyers sold or refinanced in the first 7 years.) Finally, even if it did come due, we'd have more equity so refinancing would still lower our payments.

Our view is that we certainly can be disciplined about the extra money (not a problem for us) but that interest rates are pretty low right now. They might go down, sure, and then we could refinance, but once we hit historical lows for interest rates we're going to want to be in a fixed-rate loan because the chances of refinancing 7 years later with better rates is small to zero.

But I also feel we're thinking inside the box. We're first timers so we don't fully grok the nuances of things like having more equity when you do refinance, etc.

So... has anybody here successfully employed this strategy with their home purchases? Or found it not to be as great as advertised?

Transferrable Mortgage?

joecacti — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:33:27 -0800

Is there a type of mortgage that can move with me if/when I move? I have an ARM that will change next February, but the way the mortgage index is moving, it's possible I won't end up paying any more. But it got me to thinking: Is there a mortgage available that could be transferred to another house? A kind of way to continue building equity in the long haul? Are there 30 year fixed mortgages that allow transfers of real property?

Pay Option ARMS in SF Bay Area?

mikeand1 — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:38:47 -0800

How can I found out how many homes in the San Francisco Bay Area (East Bay in particular) were financed with Pay Option ARM mortgages? I've seen recent reports that a large number of Pay Option ARM mortgages are due to recast in the next few years, which will likely result in a substantial amount of defaults and further lowering of home prices.

I've also heard that these mortgages were fairly commonly used to finance home purchases in affluent areas, as compared with so-called sub prime mortgages (which tend to be concentrated in low-income areas).

I'm currently in the market for a home in the East side of the SF Bay Area -- Berkeley, Kensington, El Cerrito, and the nicer parts of Oakland, like Rockridge, etc. I'd like to know how the recasting of these mortgages over the next couple years is going to impact this market, which so far has not been as hard hit by the sub prime defaults as other areas.

Can anyone tell me how I can find out how many homes purchased in the East SF Bay Area the past few years were financed with Pay Option ARMs, and when these loans originated?

Thanks,
Mike

How to play guitar with 90% of an arm

escabeche — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 22:00:52 -0800

My arm broke. Is there a guitar I can still play? I broke my left elbow pretty badly about a year and a half ago. It's much better now, but my arm doesn't do everything it used to; I can't, for instance, bend it enough to touch my left shoulder, and I can only supinate my left palm about 10 degrees past the vertical. There aren't many life situations where I need to do these things, but there is one: playing guitar. I can still play, but the effort required to get my left arm bent around the neck and my fingers on the frets starts to really hurt my wrist after about fifteen minutes. And getting an A-barre down is impossible; I just can't turn my wrist that much. Does anyone have any ideas for how to get my guitar hobby back? Should I learn to play a left-handed guitar? Lap steel? Just give up guitar and work on bass? (I can play an electric bass with no discomfort at all.) Are there kinds of guitar that require less wrist torsion to play?

I am wondering why my right arm randomly goes numb for no reason at all. I don't lift anything heavy or anything of that sort, so what could it possibly be?

cheero — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 18:21:38 -0800

I am wondering why my right arm randomly goes numb for no reason at all. I don't lift anything heavy or anything of that sort, so what could it possibly be? Some of my friends seem to think these are early signs of a possible stroke or a heart attack but I can't really buy that since I am 22 years old, fairly relaxed with a normal amount of a stress than any college student would have. I also take no medications, I live a fairly normal lifestyle.

It's my secret X-men ability.

flod logic — Tue, 29 May 2007 09:44:52 -0800

MutantFilter: For as long as I can remember, I've had what I thought was a muscle missing in my upper right arm. I've never seen anyone else with this, nor have I been able to figure out if that's it for sure. Anyone who knows something about anatomy want to take a look at this? (Pictures included.) I've always had this "line" or indentation running across part of my upper arm where it looks like a muscle should be, but isn't. Until now, I've figured some muscle must be missing because I can poke that part of my arm and feel the bone in there, but looking at muscle diagrams and stuff hasn't helped to figure out which one(s) are missing, exactly.

Other people have suggested that it's not a muscle missing after all, mainly because I would have a limited range of motion in my arm or other movability issues with it if it were.

Pictures here, here, and here.

Any ideas as to what this is?

Will my arm continue to heal on its own?

onlyconnect — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 13:36:35 -0800

A few weeks ago while playfully wrestling around at a family gathering, I was basically tackled and a knee landed on my arm, pinning it to the ground. I did not have blinding pain or anything, but for a few days after that my arm and shoulder were pretty sore, and I've had trouble reaching behind my upper back with that arm. If it seems like it's getting a little better with time (though I'm still having trouble reaching around with it to my upper back), do I need to see a doctor or will it just get better on its own? I know that You Are Not A Doctor, or that You Are A Doctor But Are Not My Doctor. And I know that the easiest advice to give me here is to go to a doctor to be safe. But, because my health care plan is a bit heavy on the red tape side, if it's likely that the doctor is just going to tell me to wait it out anyway, I'd rather not waste my time.

Since the wrestling thing I've used the arm to lift cans of paint, luggage, some shrubbery, and to take a pitchfork to the backyard garden plot, so the arm is definitely pulling its weight in my everyday life. It is mainly just this one motion -- up and to the back -- that is still bothering me, and I notice it mainly because I use that motion every morning to dress myself (ladies, you know what I mean), plus there is maybe a little bit of residual shoulder soreness. I think that these have been decreasing since the incident.

So, if things seem to be slowly getting better, do I still need to see a doctor and play it safe? Or do other people have these sorts of minor incidents all the time and just wait it out and things go back to normal?