It sounds like six pack disease. I'm talking about tennis elbow, and holding your hand like you would hold a six pack is pretty painful,and can be VERY painful. It usually hurts in your forearm more than your elbow, but that is where the pain starts. Is this what you have got? If it is, well, you need to ice it regularly, and when any swellling goes down and you think healing has begun, you can start alternating between heat and ice. Sounds stupid, but its what the experts do, and it works. As it heals, you need to massage your forearm muscle deeply several times a day to increase blood flow. You can take advil for inflamation, or something stronger like lodine.
The lousy thing about this is it can go on and on, and just when you think its cleared up it comes back worse than before. I ended up finally getting a cortizone shot in my elbow, and that was an experience I hope I dont have to do again. Ive had several cortizone injections over the years, but I had a reaction to this one, and was in immense pain for 3 days, then it was fine. I got it from building a deck and doing a lot of hammering that I wasnt used to, and then some hard racing on top of that did me in. I fought it for 6 months before I got the injection. Take care of it early!
tri-mx'er