This is driving me nuts. A few weeks ago I was messing around, shadow boxing and throwing punches (hitting only air) and I think I caused some kind of injury. I have severe pain in the elbow, forearm, and around the right pectoral muscle/underarm, but it kinda crept up on me gradually over a couple of days. No pain was felt at the time of shadow boxing.

Since about a week ago I've been on pain killers/anti-inflammatory pills prescribed by my doc. Today I went back and he doubled the dose, plus gave me some more pills. I'm on Naproxen (500mg) and now Amitriptylene (10mg).

Does this kind of pain sound like it would come from throwing punches? I have had nothing like this before. Maybe I over extended or something, I'm not sure. What I want to know is what I can do to minimize the pain and help it recover faster.

Pain is worse at night and when I wake up in the morning. Resting my arm helps, but the pain comes back quickly as soon as I start using it. It's hard not to use it, even brushing my teeth and pulling on a pair of socks makes it hurt like a *****.

Any advice?

PS: having been a musician (guitarist) for about 28 years made me think it was tendinitis or carpal tunnel syndrome, but my doctor kinda ruled it out. He thinks the pain is coming from my neck, maybe a nerve problem.

This is very likely a nerve problem, so seeing a neuroligist is advised.
Usually this complex pain where the whole side or arm is hurting because of nerve problems.

R.I.C.E Rest Ice Compression Elevation learned that in college health class. Give it a try, i did and it worked

I will be back home after the gym and will try and answer this from my own experiences with this type of problem...

ICE

Awesome. Thanks for the replies.

And Iceman, thanks for responding to my PM.

I will be back home after the gym and will try and answer this from my own experiences with this type of problem...

ICE

nice to see ICE in the training section. now thats what im talking about!

i went 9 rounds today in sparring and im feeling it in my elbows. i went 4 hard rounds, then 3 easy working with someone who is new, then 7 rounds of heavy and double end bags, before going another 2 in sparring after i was already dead tired. we were gonna go 3 but it was obvious we were spent so the coach stopped us before the last round, which would have been my 10th...

john, my other concern is my nose. my right nostril is invariably bleeding after every session, even if i barely get touched. my first fight is in january and if it gets stopped on a bloody nose, im'a flip out at somebody. i dont want to get stopped unless im dead or knocked out cold on my feet, let alone on account of a little bloody nose that I don't even feel....

so far i've tried salt water to cordorize my nose with salt water after my recent sparring sessions when i get home. i put salt in a cup with warm water and snort it through my nostril and then spit it out until there is no more traces of blood in my spit.

i think the bleeding is getting better, but do u have any other suggestions? i also put some vicks up my nose to lubricate it and open up the breathing before sparring... thanks in advance for tips!

nice to see ICE in the training section. now thats what im talking about!

I PM'd Ice and asked for help because I was sure he has some knowledge of my kind of injury, probably more knowledge than anyone here.

From personal experience i'd say forearm pain and pectoral pain can happen. But the elbow part most likely means you over extended your punches while shadow boxing. You have to be careful with that, you don't want to "snap" your elbow.

I PM'd Ice and asked for help because I was sure he has some knowledge of my kind of injury, probably more knowledge than anyone here.

o i c... good thinking!

do you tend to snap your punches in shadow boxing? that could acount for some pain. you want to be relaxed but not like a noodle, otherwise you can hurt ligaments.

Don't swing so hard, probably overextended.

do you tend to snap your punches in shadow boxing? that could acount for some pain. you want to be relaxed but not like a noodle, otherwise you can hurt ligaments.

Yep, I was throwing with quite a bit of snap and focusing on speed and power.

Thanks again everyone for the replies. I'm pretty much convinced now that this is what caused my problems.

This is driving me nuts. A few weeks ago I was messing around, shadow boxing and throwing punches (hitting only air) and I think I caused some kind of injury. I have severe pain in the elbow, forearm, and around the right pectoral muscle/underarm, but it kinda crept up on me gradually over a couple of days. No pain was felt at the time of shadow boxing.

Since about a week ago I've been on pain killers/anti-inflammatory pills prescribed by my doc. Today I went back and he doubled the dose, plus gave me some more pills. I'm on Naproxen (500mg) and now Amitriptylene (10mg).

Does this kind of pain sound like it would come from throwing punches? I have had nothing like this before. Maybe I over extended or something, I'm not sure. What I want to know is what I can do to minimize the pain and help it recover faster.

Pain is worse at night and when I wake up in the morning. Resting my arm helps, but the pain comes back quickly as soon as I start using it. It's hard not to use it, even brushing my teeth and pulling on a pair of socks makes it hurt like a *****.

Any advice?

PS: having been a musician (guitarist) for about 28 years made me think it was tendinitis or carpal tunnel syndrome, but my doctor kinda ruled it out. He thinks the pain is coming from my neck, maybe a nerve problem.

Sounds like you SNAPPED a jab and sort of popped your elbow (??). I have had similar problems in both arms....used to be my right elbow, now it is my left. I was sparring the other day and my elbow felt several times like it got electrocuted. It used to be where if someone hit my right arm and made it jerk backwards towards my face it would hurt BADLY...then it would take about one round or so and it would get numb and it would be fine. The two items that helped were, first, ALEVE and then when that started to not work anymore I used a product I got from GNC, made by PHARMASSURE called "Joint Formula." Worked well, I need to get some more. I sparred 449 rounds so far this year and want to get close to 500 by Dec 31...but if I don't get some Joint Formula I dont think I will make it.

Outside of that, I would say u need to rest it, maybe try some Icey Hot if its not a joint, tendon, ligament type of thing (i.e., in the muscle mainly)

If you are injured seek medical advice from professionals! If it is just training pain then as rthe old adage goes:

NO PAIN, NO GAIN!!!!!!!

Sounds like you SNAPPED a jab and sort of popped your elbow (??). I have had similar problems in both arms....used to be my right elbow, now it is my left. I was sparring the other day and my elbow felt several times like it got electrocuted. It used to be where if someone hit my right arm and made it jerk backwards towards my face it would hurt BADLY...then it would take about one round or so and it would get numb and it would be fine. The two items that helped were, first, ALEVE and then when that started to not work anymore I used a product I got from GNC, made by PHARMASSURE called "Joint Formula." Worked well, I need to get some more. I sparred 449 rounds so far this year and want to get close to 500 by Dec 31...but if I don't get some Joint Formula I dont think I will make it.

Outside of that, I would say u need to rest it, maybe try some Icey Hot if its not a joint, tendon, ligament type of thing (i.e., in the muscle mainly)


Awesome. Thanks John. :fing02:

Its your ulnar nerve or median nerve. Hard to know which. If there is pain in your pinky then its the ulnar nerve if there is pain in your thumb then its your median nerve. If you have no pain in either than who knows.

You snapped your elbow shadow boxing most likely. Since it hurts in the morning I would say unlar.

Here is a link to help with treatment.

http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00069