Forearm Muscle Problem

[mike]

Although my muscle strength in my arms has not been normal since my accident, I have not had until recently any pain in my arms. I have just begun to get tightness and soreness in both forearms. My strength does not seem to be affected, but my flexibility has been. I was wondering if others may have experienced this sort of a problem starting so suddenly. As in other parts of the country it has been very cold here and don't know whether that might have had an effect. Any thoughts.

[Buck_Nasty]

Do you have a manual chair? If so, maybe it's a combination of
pushing your chair and the cold. If not then it probably is just
the weather. I have a friend who has the same symptons when
it gets real cold. He is a c4 and he says his muscles feel locked
up and his mom has to do a range of motion exercise before he
can move them on his own. Hope that helped.

Matt

[CapnGimp]

I get more pain and tight muscles in my back/abdomen (what little there is) when cold weather hits. Made the mistake of riding my handcycle Monday in 40 degree weather for a couple of hours. ALMOST didn't make it home. My wrists and hands were froze and I couldn't move them, my lower jaw was so cold I couldn't talk plain, lol.
I had to ride it into my room and hold my hands over a ceramic heater for 10 minutes before I could get out and into my wheelchair. I still hurt like the dickens. Got a heating pad on my right shoulder/upper back now.
I had kicked the daily pain since summer with vigorous exercise on the handbike. Since mid Nov, I haven't been able to ride outside but twice. Indoor trainer is boring, but believe you me, I'm gonna get back to using it now. The last few months were great with bearable pain. I feel it was the exercise that ran it away, and I'm gonna live with boredom on the trainer :)

Try to find a way of exercising all the muscles you have that function. It sure helps. A good heating pad and a massage/heat device also helps. I got one from wal mart. A Dr Scholls model dr7535. I also put damp towels in the microwave and heat them and place on the bad spots, REALLY helps. Put a dry cloth/washrag between your skin and the hot towel to prevent burns.
When you go out, dress warmly! Once the ol bonZ get cold, the stiffness sets in.
Good luck, hope you figure a way to help it.