Tennis Elbow and Golfer's Elbow (explained below) are very common complaints when someone develops elbow pain. In majority of the cases, the individual performs a specfic rotation coupled with a strong grip over and over again.
Individual's prone to elbow pain are not limited to sports, that is just the common term.
- Waitress/waitor
- Electrictians
- Power lifting/resistance training
- Thowers
...and many more!
This pain usually develops when a movement is repeated over and over such as using a screw driver or pouring coffee over, and over, and over again.
Patients often find that putting pressure over the area releases pain temporarily.
The muscles that attach to the outside of the elbow, specifically the extensors of the forearm and supinator become chronically tight and suffer microtears from the repetitive motions.
The muscles either never get a chance to heal, or the muscle is repaired incorrectly causing a contracture.
Contracture= deposit of calcium to strengthen an area.
The chonicity significantly effects the outcome, however, the treatment is relatively similar. Acute pain usually goes away faster than chronic pain.
Like most musculoskeletal disorders, we must identify the movement causing the pain and then adapt to create an effective treatment plan.
Treatment:
- Modify the painful movement (use two hands to pour the coffee).
- Lengthen the chronically tight and irritated muscles.
- Using isometric exercises often decreases the perceived threat.
- Myofascial release
- Strengthen the opposing muscle group with exercises for the forearm.
Medial epicondylitis is often found in throwing sports or high impacts with an externally rotated arm.
These actions cause tremendous pulling and tension on the medial/inside elbow.
The muscles included consist of:
- Common flexors of the wrist/forearm and pronator teres.
This is also a common referral pattern from pathology in the shoulder.
Assessing movement patterns and finding the weak points are important to full recovery.
IF your elbow hurts when golfing, it is important to get proper coaching.
The more specific you can be with where the pain is located and when it happens makes the biggest difference in an accurate diagnosis.
Finding the movement that is causing the pain becomes the most important part with regards to recovery.
Altering the biomechanics and changing movement patterns is the key to healing a repetitive stress injury.
We do this by:
- Modify the painful movement (key movement patterns).
- Lengthen the chronically tight and irritated muscles.
- Using isometric exercises often decreases the perceived threat.
- Myofascial release
- Strengthen the opposing muscle group with exercises for the forearm.