Tennis Elbow and golfer's Elbow (explained below) are not limited to athletes of those sports. They are, in fact, very common complaints when someone develops elbow pain. In the majority of cases, the individual repetitively performs a specific rotation coupled with a strong grip. In addition to tennis and golf, a few other common sufferers include:
Individual's prone to elbow pain are not limited to sports, that is just the common term.
- Restaurant servers
- Electricians
- Power lifters
- Resistance trainers
- Throwers
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.
- Use isometric exercises to decrease 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.
Being able to specifically describe where the pain is located and when it occurs dramatically assists with 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:
- Modifying key, painful movement patterns.
- Lengthening chronically tight and irritated muscles.
- Providing isometric exercises to decrease the perceived threat.
- Strengthening the opposing muscle group with exercises for the forearm
- Myofascial release: