Sign-in to Ask A Doctor - 24x7
OR
Sign in with Google
What Causes Pain And Swollen Veins In The Left Arm?
Question: My left arm has mild pain along the veins, especially around the wrist for past 10 days. The pain keeps shuffling between elbow and wrist, and the veins seem to bulge out a little. I work long hours on laptop (10-12 hours), and have also started driving recently. What could be the cause for this pain and what is the treatment?
Brief Answer:
Follow the advice. Observe how you stay after this.
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
First of all, the bulge may or may not be related to this. If there's no history of trauma/injury to the area, and if there's any prominent visible bulging, you should get it checked as it can be due to several reasons.
Feel free to upload/attach the picture of the area under a bright light so that I can review it in details.
Secondly, this pain can be related to those prolong work hours (if possible, take a break for the next few days). As your already feeling better after resting, take a few days more and also refrain from driving during this time.
Avoid seating down for prolonged hours. After every hour of seating simply get up and walk around the premises for 5-10minutes.
Also, it's extremely important to sit down keeping the spine in erect position (avoid too much reclining) and always ensure to position the laptop-screen in a 45dgree position for better visualization and less stress.
Additionally, take a mild pain-killer i.e. Tab PARACETAMOL thrice daily for the next 2-3 days.
Apply a hot-pack/warm fomentation gently over the affected area twice to thrice daily. Avoid any kind of massaging, just apply it thoroughly.
Just follow all these, take rest, and observe how you stay in the due course. It should get better after this.
If despite all these, there's no improvement / any further worsening of symptoms, then I'd recommend getting a quick check-up by any nearby Orthopedician for a thorough evaluation and management accordingly (you've not mentioned whether visited any specialist or general practitioner, ideally, specialists are the better choice in this scenario).
Please note medications like Gabapin NT are basically advised for neuropathic pain (nerve related) and for a prolonged duration.
So before starting them, it's better to obtain a specialist's (Orthopedician/Neurologist in this scenario) opinion and a few relevant investigations (serum Calcium, Vitamin B-12 level, MRI of the cervical spine) done.
Hope I have answered your query.
Take care
Regards,
Dr Arnab Banerjee, Critical Care Specialist
Follow the advice. Observe how you stay after this.
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
First of all, the bulge may or may not be related to this. If there's no history of trauma/injury to the area, and if there's any prominent visible bulging, you should get it checked as it can be due to several reasons.
Feel free to upload/attach the picture of the area under a bright light so that I can review it in details.
Secondly, this pain can be related to those prolong work hours (if possible, take a break for the next few days). As your already feeling better after resting, take a few days more and also refrain from driving during this time.
Avoid seating down for prolonged hours. After every hour of seating simply get up and walk around the premises for 5-10minutes.
Also, it's extremely important to sit down keeping the spine in erect position (avoid too much reclining) and always ensure to position the laptop-screen in a 45dgree position for better visualization and less stress.
Additionally, take a mild pain-killer i.e. Tab PARACETAMOL thrice daily for the next 2-3 days.
Apply a hot-pack/warm fomentation gently over the affected area twice to thrice daily. Avoid any kind of massaging, just apply it thoroughly.
Just follow all these, take rest, and observe how you stay in the due course. It should get better after this.
If despite all these, there's no improvement / any further worsening of symptoms, then I'd recommend getting a quick check-up by any nearby Orthopedician for a thorough evaluation and management accordingly (you've not mentioned whether visited any specialist or general practitioner, ideally, specialists are the better choice in this scenario).
Please note medications like Gabapin NT are basically advised for neuropathic pain (nerve related) and for a prolonged duration.
So before starting them, it's better to obtain a specialist's (Orthopedician/Neurologist in this scenario) opinion and a few relevant investigations (serum Calcium, Vitamin B-12 level, MRI of the cervical spine) done.
Hope I have answered your query.
Take care
Regards,
Dr Arnab Banerjee, Critical Care Specialist
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Arnab Banerjee
Answered by
Get personalised answers from verified doctor in minutes across 80+ specialties
