Symptom Checker

Forearm

Forearm Fracture

A few of the main symptoms people experience with a fractured forearm include:

• Swelling
• Bruising
• Inability to rotate arm
• Numbness or weakness in the fingers or wrist

Wrist

Wrist Arthritis

Symptoms of wrist arthritis include:

• Swelling
• Pain
• Limited motion
• Weakness
• Stiffness in the knuckle joints of the hand

Wrist Sprain

A few common symptoms experienced with a wrist sprain include:

• Swelling in the wrist
• Pain at the time of the injury
• Persistent pain when you move your wrist
• Bruising or discoloration of the skin around the wrist
• Tenderness at the injury site
• A feeling of popping or tearing inside the wrist
• A warm or feverish feeling to the skin around the wrist

Wrist Fracture

A broken wrist usually causes:

• Immediate pain
• Tenderness
• Bruising
• Swelling
• Deformity

Clavicle

Clavicle Fracture

The clavicle is one of the most commonly broken bones. Clavicle fracture symptoms include:

• Sagging shoulder (down and forward)
• Inability to lift the arm because of pain
• A grinding sensation if an attempt is made to raise the arm
• A deformity or "bump" over the break
• Bruising, swelling, and/or tenderness over the collarbone

Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

Thoracic outlet syndrome causes a multitude of symptoms including:

• Faint, aching pain in the neck, shoulder, arm, or hand
• Pain, numbness, or tingling on the inside of the forearm as well as the fourth and fifth fingers
• Swelling and/or redness in the arm
• Difficulty with overhead activities
• Limited range of motion

Hand

Arthritis of the Hand

A few common symptoms experienced by people with arthritis of the hand include:

• Pain, most commonly after periods of increased joint use
• Swelling
• Changes in surrounding joints
• Warm to touch
• Grating or grinding sensation in the joint area
• Small cysts

Dupuytren's Contracture

Dupuytren's contracture symptoms usually occur very gradually and can include:

• Nodules or small, tender lumps in the palm
• Tough bands of tissue
• Curled fingers

Hand Fracture

A few of the main hand fracture symptoms people experience are:

• Swelling
• Tenderness
• Deformity
• Inability to move finger
• Shortened finger
• Finger crosses over its neighbor when making a partial fist

Lumps or Ganglion Cysts

The most frequently experienced symptoms of hand lumps or ganglion cysts include:

• Visible lump
• Pain
• Tingling sensation
• Muscle weakness

Shoulder

Shoulder Instability

Symptoms of instability often occur when the arm is placed in certain positions such as reaching behind you. These symptoms include:

• Apprehension, or the feeling your shoulder is going to pop out of place
• Pain, especially with overhead activities
• A catching, locking, popping, or grinding sensation
• Weakness or stiffness

Frozen Shoulder

Frozen shoulder causes pain and stiffness in the shoulder and over time, the shoulder becomes very hard to move. Pain from frozen shoulder is usually dull or aching, and is typically worse early in the course of the disease. The pain is usually located over the outer shoulder area and sometimes the upper arm.

Dislocated Shoulder

The shoulder joint can dislocate forward, backward, or downward. Symptoms to look for include:

• Swelling
• Numbness
• Weakness
• Bruising

Shoulder Separation

A shoulder separation is not truly an injury to the shoulder joint and actually involves the AC joint. The most common cause for a separation of the AC joint is from a fall directly onto the shoulder. The injury can range from a little shift with mild pain, to quite deforming and very painful.
Rotator Cuff Tears (Shoulder Impingement)

The most common symptoms of a rotator cuff tear include:

• Pain at rest and at night, particularly if lying on the affected shoulder
• Pain when lifting and lowering your arm or with specific movements
• Weakness when lifting or rotating your arm
• Crackling sensation when moving your shoulder in certain positions

Fingers

Trigger Finger:

Symptoms of trigger finger usually start without any injury, although they may follow a period of heavy hand use. Symptoms may include:

• A tender lump in your palm
• Swelling
• Catching or popping sensation in your finger or thumb joints
• Pain when bending or straightening your finger

Finger Contracture

Finger contractures mostly involve symptoms such as:

• Pain
• Swelling
• Build up of scar tissue

Mallet Finger

The main symptoms of mallet finger include:

• Pain
• Swelling
• Bruising
• Droopy fingertip

Upper Arm

Biceps Tendonitis

A few of the most common symptoms of biceps tendonitis include:

• Pain or tenderness in the front of the shoulder, which worsens with overhead lifting or activity
• Pain or achiness that moves down the upper arm bone
• An occasional snapping sound or sensation in the shoulder

Biceps Tendon Tear at the Elbow

A few symptoms of a biceps tendon tear at the elbow include:

• Swelling in the front of the elbow
• Visible bruising in the forearm and elbow
• Weakness in bending of the elbow
• Weakness in twisting the forearm
• A bulge in the upper part of the arm created by the recoiled, shortened biceps muscle
• A gap in the front of the elbow created by the absence of the tendon

Thumb

Basal Joint Arthritis

A few common symptoms of basal joint arthritis include:

• Pain in the lower part of the thumb
• Dropping of objects
• Pain from weather changes
• Joint swelling
• Stiff or deformed thumb

Sprained Thumb

A sprained thumb typically involves symptoms such as:

• Weakened grasping ability
• Possible pain
• Bruising
• Tenderness
• Swelling

Thumb Fracture

The most commonly experienced symptoms of thumb fractures include:

• Severe pain at the fracture site
• Swelling
• Limited or no ability to move the thumb
• Extreme tenderness
• A misshapen or deformed look to the thumb
• Numbness or coldness in the thumb

Elbow

Tennis Elbow

A few common symptoms of tennis elbow include:

• Pain on the outer side of the elbow and down the forearm
• Swelling
• Redness
• Warm to touch

Elbow Bursitis

The most frequently experienced symptoms of elbow bursitis include:

• Swelling, often the first symptom to occur and may restrict elbow motion
• Pain, worse with direct pressure on elbow
• Red skin that's warm to touch

Osteoarthritis of the Elbow

Symptoms of elbow arthritis include:

• Pain
• Loss of range of motion
• "Grating" or "locking" sensation
• Joint swelling
• Numbness in ring and pinky fingers

Cubital Tunnel Syndrome

Symptoms can be minor at first but may worsen over time and can include:

• Loss of finger or hand strength
• Inability to straighten fingers
• Sharp, sudden pain when elbow is touched

Elbow Instability

Elbow instability may cause:

• Locking, catching or clicking at the elbow
• Sense of the elbow feeling like it might pop out of place
• Pain on the inside of elbow with overhead motions

Elbow Dislocation

Elbow dislocations may involve:

• Extreme pain
• Obvious deformity of the arm, possible odd twist
• Bruising

Elbow Fracture

There are many different types of elbow fractures. Symptoms can include:

• Swelling
• Deformity of the elbow
• Bruising or discoloration

Nerves

Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy

Early-stage RSD symptoms include:

• Severe, burning pain
• Sensitive to touch
• Swollen, reddish look
• Stiffening
• Warm and sweaty sensation

Late-stage RSD symptoms include:

• Skin slowly withering
• Skin becomes dry and shiny
• Loss of strength
• Strange hair growth
• Ridges in skin look flatter than normal

Erb's Palsy

Symptoms of Erb's Palsy include the following:

• Weakness in one arm
• Loss of feeling in the arm
• Partial or total paralysis of the arm

Burners and Stingers

A few commonly experienced symptoms include:

• Burning or electric shock sensation
• Arm numbness and weakness immediately following the injury
• A warm sensation