Patients may also feel muscle weakness when muscles or tendons are involved in elbow pain. This is particularly the case in biceps tendinosis, which combines pain upon flexion of the arm and weakness of the biceps muscle in the affected arm.
Paresthesias: We usually recognize paresthesias as tingling of the extremities. In this case, everything that changes perception, including tingling and numbness, indicates nerve involvement. For instance, in pronator syndrome, patients have their median nerve compromised and feel tingling all over the area where the median nerve runs.
Decreased sensation: It is essential to distinguish between abnormal sensations such as paresthesias or numbness and decreased sensation, as in reduction in pain or touch perception. For instance, in pronator syndrome, it can be difficult sometimes to distinguish between that and carpal tunnel syndrome. The distinction is usually made by decreased sensation because the sensory branch of the nerve does not go through the carpal tunnel.
Pain radiation: It is also essential to detect if the pain stays in the same spot or migrates to another place. When it migrates, it is called pain radiation. It is a usual symptom in diseases where the nerve is involved. For example, radial tunnel syndrome happens when the radial nerve is entrapped. In this case, patients usually feel pain in the outer region of the elbow. It is similar to lateral epicondylitis, and the difference is pain radiation, which goes down to the back of the forearm.
