Relieve Elbow Pain

Contributed by: Marquette Physical Therapy

---

Don't miss a thing with The Hive Women and Buzz from The Hive!

CATCH THE BUZZ

---

June is here and it’s time for what I like to call “country club” sports: tennis, swimming, and golf. I often see an increase in elbow pain with the beginning of this season. Tennis and Golfer’s elbow are commonly known terms, but I wanted to clarify what exactly these diagnoses are and what you can do about it. 

Let’s start with the basics. All muscles attach to bone through tendons. Tendons can get irritated which is called tendinitis. The muscles that move the wrist into flexion and extension attach to the elbow. Tennis and Golfer’s elbow are essentially tendinitis of these tendons attaching the wrist to the elbow.

Tennis elbow is irritation of the wrist extensor tendons. These attach to the lateral elbow so the official name is lateral epicondylitis.

Golfer’s elbow is irritation of the wrist flexor tendons. These attach to the medial elbow so the official name is medial epicondylitis. 

Now, you can get tennis elbow from playing golf and golfer’s elbow from playing tennis. Someone just came up with layman’s terms for these diagnoses based off of the most common occurrences. 

So what can be done when you begin experiencing these symptoms? 

1. Rest - stop doing activities that flare the pain for > ½ day 

2. Ice - for 15-20 min to decrease the pain if you’re in a flare-up

3. Soft tissue mobilization - along wrist extensors and flexors 

4. Strength Training - studies show that tendons need load/stress to heal. So just resting it won’t cut it. You can start with isometrics and work your way to eccentric movements which is the best way to heal a tendon. See video for more information.

5. See a Physical Therapist! They will be able to be more specific and thorough in their treatment plan.