thickened bursa ?

"J" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I"ve had a painful bump on the underside of my forearm,
about 1.25 inch below the tip of the elbow (for over a
month). Noticed in the bath and the tissue around it was
swollen (but does not look nor feel like fluid to me).

Saw (walkin clinic) doc # 1 - who said it might be a
sebacious cyst (he barely looked at it) - I've had one
before and this is not at all like one. He recommended
antibiotic/cortisone cream which I put on for two nights
and that made it hurt worse.

So from thereon, I wrap it with a tensor bandage to buffer
the pain/pad the area. This also keeps the swelling down
but not the pain. The pain is on "contact" with surfaces
etc and interferes significantly with day to day
activities.

Doc #2 - physiatrist who treats me for osteoarthritis
problems /shoulders said it definitely feels "bonelike"
and sent me for an x-ray. The x-ray result was called to
me "nothing seen on the bones".

When there's less swelling, the bump appears reddened but
not hot - approximately an inch in diameter. This does not
impair my elbow from bending.

Is bursa bone? Would it be usual for thickened bursa to
not show up on an x-ray?

If you look at the last picture here
handuniversity.comtopics.aspOpen ↗ the
man has two bumps on the underside of his arm Mine seems
to be where his second bump is (the one to the right)

Could a general surgeon scrape the bump off?

I cannot see the physiatrist for 3 or 4 months (due to her
busy schedule) and do not have a primary care physician -
mine retired none taking new patients in our area and I
would need the physiatrist to refer me to a surgeon, so if
the above seems to fit and a general surgeon could do it,
I would fax her the request to refer me to a general
surgeon, so I can get rid of this nuisance.

If you have a painful bump that you want addressed, a
general surgeon would be an appropriate choice. Pick one and
make an appointment. In the meantime, look up olecranon
bursitis, see if it rings any bells.

HMc

In a previous article, J <[email hidden]> wrote: ->I"ve
had a painful bump on the underside of my forearm, about
1.25 inch ->below the tip of the elbow (for over a month).
->Noticed in the bath and the tissue around it was swollen
(but does not ->look nor feel like fluid to me). -> ->Saw
(walkin clinic) doc # 1 - who said it might be a sebacious
cyst (he ->barely looked at it)

Skin problems are notoriously easy to misdiagnosis. Even
dermatologists can get it wrong. I would suggest that you
to a dermatologist, if you can't see a GP. I had a hard,
nodule like bump about 1" above my elbow, and my GP quickly
diagnosed it, but I forget what he called it. He gave me
the option of seeing if it would go away on it's own, or
having a surgeon remove it. The reason for waiting, was
basically because he warned me that skin that around the
elbow is thick and doesn't heal very quickly. My bump was
probably smaller than yours, so I opted to wait some
months. But it never totally went away, so I had the
surgery. And he was right, it took many weeks to heal, and
it left a very noticable scar, that took over a year before
I started to notice it starting to fade. However, yours
being below the elbow, you won't be able to see it as
easily I see mine, so once healed, you'll probably forget
all about it. 🙂 Good luck.

Howard McCollister said:

If you have a painful bump that you want addressed, a
general surgeon would be an appropriate choice. Pick one
and make an appointment. In the meantime, look up
olecranon bursitis, see if it rings any bells.

I did and I posted it. I faxed the physiatrist today
requesting a referral . We don't get to "pick and make an
appointment" with specialist's here. I just hope I don't get
there and he tells me "it's bursa which is bone related and
he can't do it" - because it takes months to get in to a
specialist here. And I would have to start all over again
asking for a referral to an orthopedic surgeon.

I don't care about scarring. Just want to be able to
properly use my arm again. Thanks to you and the other
replier. J