Definition

By Mayo Clinic Staff

Arm pain can have many different causes. These may include wear and tear, overuse, injury, a pinched nerve, and certain health conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or fibromyalgia. Depending on the cause, arm pain can start suddenly or develop over time.

Arm pain may be related to problems with the muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments and nerves. It also may be related to problems with the joints of the shoulders, elbows and wrists. Often arm pain is caused by a problem in your neck or upper spine. Arm pain, especially pain that radiates into your left arm, can be a symptom of a heart attack.

From Mayo Clinic to your inbox

Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health. Click here for an email preview.

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail.

April 27, 2023

See also

  1. Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM)
  2. Angina
  3. Brachial plexus injury
  4. Brachial plexus anatomy
  5. Broken arm
  6. Buerger disease
  7. Carpal tunnel exercises: Can they relieve symptoms?
  8. Carpal tunnel syndrome
  9. Carpal Tunnel Tune-Up
  10. Claudication
  11. Cold and flu viruses: How long can they live outside the body?
  12. Coronary artery spasm: Cause for concern?
  13. Fibromuscular dysplasia
  14. Flu shots
  15. Flu: When to see a doctor?
  16. Herniated disk
  17. What is a herniated disk? A Mayo Clinic expert explains
  18. Bulging disk
  19. Hidden Heart Attack
  20. High-dose flu vaccines: How are they different from other flu vaccines?
  21. Infographic: How heart-healthy people can suffer a heart attack
  22. Influenza (flu)
  23. Myocardial ischemia
  24. Paget's disease of bone
  25. Polio
  26. Porphyria
  27. Recurrent breast cancer
  28. SCAD 2 Social Media as a Lifesaving Link
  29. Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD)
  30. Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD)
  31. Thoracic outlet syndrome
  32. Carpal tunnel symptoms: Role of nonsurgical treatment
  33. Carpal tunnel syndrome surgery: Immediate and long-term results