To perform regular activities, the elbow contributes a lot. Sometimes, a few causes can lead to elbow pain that can make it difficult to move your arm due to swollen tendons and other soft tissues. Sometimes, the pain can be severe due to different reasons. To determine the causing factor of elbow pain, your healthcare provider may perform an Elbow and Forearm Ultrasound as it helps to get detailed images of soft tissues. 

This article will help you learn what can cause elbow pain and how an ultrasound is critical for such a condition. 

What is Elbow Pain?

Numbness in the elbow or pain can interrupt the movement of your arm. Strained and inflamed soft tissues can lead to mild to severe pain. An injury or underlying conditions can cause pain in your elbow. When you have pain in the elbow, make sure you avoid too much rest, as lack of movement can cause your joints to stiffen and weak muscles around your elbow. 

You can get help from a physical therapist to perform simple and basic exercises as they help to reduce the risk of potential problems. 

What are the Potential Causes of Elbow Pain?

Multiple reasons can cause elbow pain. Long-term pain in your elbow is often caused by arthritis—strained and inflamed soft tissues, including ligaments or tendons. Arthritis is a condition that involves symptoms like pain and swelling in your elbows. An elbow joint can also be the reason that can cause stiffness. An injury or operation can affect the soft tissue or form scar tissue. 

What is Elbow Arthritis?

The most common form of arthritis is osteoarthritis. It develops when a bone loses cartilage that covers the joints. It is a thin layer that protects bones when they meet. It increases the risk of bony spur growths within the joint and leads to a high amount of fluid amount in joint space. 

Different types of arthritis can develop and affect multiple joints in the body. Rheumatoid, gouts, and psoriatic are the common arthritis types that can cause swelling and pain in joints.

When you feel pain for weeks in your elbow, it does not go away on its own, you should get medical help as it can be a sign of chronic condition. 

How Elbow and Forearm Ultrasound is Beneficial?

Long-term elbow pain is a sign of arthritis and other chronic conditions. An injury can also lead to pain and swelling in the joints. To evaluate the damaged soft tissues, an ultrasound is effective as it gives highly accurate results that help doctors get detailed images. It involves sound waves that go inside the body and create images on the computer screen. An ultrasound is also useful to identify degenerative changes related to tendon-overuse syndrome, says NCBI.

Healthcare providers use a probe to send sound waves inside the body. It is a safe, fast, and non-invasive diagnostic technique that helps to get real-time images. 

The Bottom Line

Having pain and swelling in the elbow indicates damaged soft tissues or other types of injury. Bruising, swelling, and pain are the most common symptoms that you should not avoid. An elbow and forearm ultrasound helps to detect the potential problems. RIZ Ultrasound offers quality services in Glasgow. We use advanced equipment to determine the cause of elbow pain and offer effective results. You can book your appointment with us as we provide ultrasound services in Glasgow at Unbeatable rates.

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