Elbow swelling

Content provided by Healthwise

Elbow swelling

Swelling is a common problem after an injury, and if it develops slowly, it usually does not indicate a serious problem. Swelling may limit the range of motion in your elbow, or your elbow may feel tight or stiff when you try to fully bend or straighten it. If range of motion or stiffness improves with home treatment, a visit to a health professional is probably not needed.

Swelling is more serious when:

• Severe swelling occurs within 30 minutes of an injury. This may be caused by:
  • A severe sprain, such as a torn ligament.
  • Cartilage that has torn or moved out of its normal position.
  • A broken bone (fracture).
  • A torn tendon or muscle.
  • Dislocation or separation of the elbow joint.
• It occurs with symptoms of impaired blood flow (pale, white, blue, or cold skin).
• It occurs along with pain, increasing redness, warmth, red streaks, fever, or puslike drainage. This can mean an infection has developed, such as:
  • Skin infection (cellulitis).
  • Pus-filled pocket (abscess) just under the skin surface or deep in tissue.
  • Joint infection (septic arthritis).
  • Bursa infection (septic bursitis).
  • Bone infection (osteomyelitis).

Swelling and pain that are not caused by infection or obvious injury may occur with other disorders, such as:

• Olecranon bursitis (Popeye elbow).
• Tendinopathy, such as tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis).
• Swelling of the joint lining (synovitis), such as from rheumatoid arthritis, gout, or lupus.

Swelling that does not improve with home treatment can mean that:

• An injury is not healing normally.
• An injury is worse than you suspected.
• A medical condition is causing the swelling or making swelling worse.

Treatment depends on the cause of the swelling.

Credits

Last updated:	April 03, 2007
Author:	Jan Nissl, RN, BS
Reviewed By:	William M. Green, MD - Emergency Medicine, H. Michael O'Connor, MD - Emergency Medicine
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Tracy Landauer