Golfer’s Elbow, Tennis Elbow, Elbow Pain…Oh My!
Last week we put together a little series on our Instagram about elbow pain!
Given that it was Masters week and it has been [relatively] warm here in Rochester, we had been thinking about golf!
…and you can’t be a PT thinking about golf without having the term “Golfer’s Elbow” float around in your brain.
But what is Golfer’s Elbow??
Golfer’s Elbow, or medial epicondylitis, is a form of tendonitis that affects the medial, or inside, portion of the elbow. There is a tendon called the “common flexor tendon”, into which several muscles (your wrist and finger flexors…muscles that help you close your fist) attach.
But wait a sec…let’s back up. What is tendonitis?
Tendonitis (also spelled tendonitis because language is weird) is an “overuse” injury in which repeated stress to a tendon causes inflammation.
So, medial epicondylitis is inflammation of the tendon that attaches to the medial epicondyle (bone) on the inside of the elbow.
Phew. You can go ahead and get your DPT degree now!
Tennis Elbow, on the other hand, is the same thing, but on the outside of the elbow…also known as lateral epicondylitis.
Some of you may be thinking…"But my elbow hurts and I don’t play golf or tennis.”
That, my friends, is what we call getting a raw deal.
Seriously though, most people that are inflicted with these issues don’t play golf and tennis. They are just somewhat common in those sports due to the repeated stresses placed on the elbow.
You could have grumpy elbows from typing, writing, hammering, lifting, or basket weaving.
The list goes on…
…but what they all have in common is use of the upper extremities. This repeated stress can lead to aggravated tissues (muscles, tendons) if they tissues aren’t prepared to handle the stress.
So how do we fix these issues?
Glad you asked!
1) First and foremost, we treat the area that hurts. While the elbow may not be the root cause of the issue (this will make sense in a second), the elbow is what hurts so it only makes sense that we treat it directly to make it feel better! Using techniques such as massage, taping, gentle stretching and isometrics, bracing, and heat/ice can be very effective at calming down symptoms in the short-term. We also want to make sure that the elbow can move well, which we touched on here.
2) We need to look outside of the elbow, because the elbow doesn’t work by itself. When was the last time you saw an elbow walking down the street alone? Answer: Never. If the wrist, hand, shoulder, shoulder blade, spine, and ribcage can’t move well and tolerate stress, then maybe more stress is being placed on the elbow!
3) Build strength and resilience. Once we get symptoms to calm down, we want to build resilience to prevent the issue (or other issues) from coming back up!
We posted several examples of exercises we might use with a client who is coming in for elbow pain, so if you’re dealing with these issues please be sure to check out the posts!
Better yet, click here to send us an email and you can talk directly to one of our doctors about your elbow pain.
How’s that for a better deal?
