7 Most Common Forearm Pain Causes

As I type this, my forearms support my wrists, allowing my fingers to rapidly record my thoughts. When you flip your pancakes in the morning, your forearms tense and relax to firmly grip the spatula— after all, you do not want your batter to go flying. The forearms are an essential part of the everyday hand and arm movement. It is no surprise that pain in this area can be disruptive to everyday life.

The forearms are composed of the radius (the slightly shorter forearm bone that supports the side of your arm with your thumb) and the ulna (the longer forearm bone that supports the side of your arm with your pinky finger). Together, these bones extend from your wrist to your elbow.

The forearm also includes a series of muscles that rotate the forearm up and down and flex and extend the fingers. As such, forearm pain is any pain or discomfort in your arm between your elbow and wrist, which can result from several reasons.

If you are unsure about why you are experiencing pain, here are the seven most common forearm pain causes:

Forearm Pain Cause #1: Musculoskeletal defects

Although musculoskeletal seems intimidating, all it means is that it relates to the muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and joints in a specific area (basically all of the macro parts of your body). Within musculoskeletal causes, the reason for your pain can be further divided into position and biomechanical causes.

Positional causes result from repetitive actions such as typing, crutches, or constant handstands (poor acrobats!). These repetitive actions can cause nerves and blood vessels to be compressed throughout the forearm, leading to swelling and pain. Biomechanical causes, on the other hand, are reasons such as dislocations or sprains. In either case, consult physiotherapy North York for ongoing treatment.

Forearm Pain Cause #2: Trauma

Although we briefly delved into biomechanical causes above, we thought traumatic causes deserved a point of their own due to their common nature. A fracture is an example of a traumatic cause that can be the root of your pain.

Anything that directly injures your forearm can lead to fractures in the radius and ulna, resulting in swelling, pain, deformities, and bleeding. This is due to trauma in the area, which can be from vehicular accidents, sports accidents, or simply tripping and falling.

Sprains are another type of traumatic cause that can produce discomfort. Sprains are the twisting or stretching of a tendon (connects muscle to bone) or ligament (connects bone to bone), often due to moving the arm in a manner it is not meant to move.

Forearm Pain Cause #3: Carpal tunnel syndrome

This syndrome relates to musculoskeletal causes; however, the severity is enough to cause consistent pain. Carpal tunnel syndrome is identified by numbness and tingling within your hand.

It happens due to the compression of a nerve in your arm when the nerve canal in your wrist narrows. This is usually caused by overusing the hand and wrist when working.

Forearm Pain Cause #4: Ulnar nerve entrapment (cubital tunnel syndrome)

Similar to the theory of carpal tunnel syndrome, cubital tunnel syndrome is a result of nerve compression. The ulnar nerve begins in the neck and runs down the arm into the hand.

This nerve can become compressed along the way, causing numbness and tingling. This syndrome may be caused by an elbow fracture, break or dislocation, or fluid buildup and swelling.

Forearm Pain Cause #5: Disease

Diseases most likely need to be diagnosed by a medical professional who can first rule out any other cause of your forearm pain. They can then run a series of tests to determine whether or not the disease brings about your discomfort.

Several diseases can be the potential culprit: metabolic diseases and diabetes, for example, nerve damage causing pain and numbness. Tumours are also abnormally shaped and sized, allowing the compression of nerves along their path.

Hereditary diseases, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, for example, can also impact how sensitive your nerves are. They can even cause degeneration of the tissue in the area, justifying your pain.

Forearm Pain Cause #6: Inflammation

Your pain may not be from disease or trauma at all. Instead, it may be the result of inflammation. Inflammation can be due to an autoimmune cause such as Vasculitis— a condition where immune cells in your body attack your blood vessels, impacting the nerves.

Inflammation can also be due to infection. Many viruses can also inflame nerves— shingles, for example, resulting in pain that lasts the duration of the viral infection.

Forearm Pain Cause #7: Toxins

We grew up learning that toxins are bad for you. It may be the very reason you are experiencing pain and discomfort. When you ingest certain metals, such as lead and mercury, nerve damage can occur, resulting in arm pain.