Golfer’s Elbow
What is Golfer’s Elbow?
The correct medical term for Golfer’s Elbow is Medial Epicondylitis and it is characterized by pain which affects the inside of elbow and it is associated with work-related activities.
What causes Golfer’s Elbow?
There are many other activities that can result in Golfer’s Elbow such as working out at the gym or simply working in front of a computer for prolonged periods. Each of these activities use the same muscles (wrist flexors and forearm pronators) repetitively and can result in the inflammation of common flexor tendon of the wrist where it attaches at the inside of the elbow (medial epicondyle). The causes of Golfer’s Elbow are similar to tennis elbow but pain and tenderness are felt on the inside (medial) of the elbow, on or around the joint’s bony prominence.
What are the symptoms of Golfer’s Elbow?
Symptoms include tenderness and pain at the medial epicondyle, made worse by resisted flexing of the wrist and forearm pronation . The pain may spread down the forearm. Activities that use the flexor muscles like bending the wrist or grasping can make matters worse. Sufferers find they have difficulty extending the forearm fully (because of inflamed muscles, tendons and ligaments) and the pain typically lasts for 6 to 12 weeks; the discomfort can continue for as little as 3 weeks or as long as several years.
What treatments are there for Golfer’s Elbow?
Things you can do yourself
The best way to relieve Medial Epicondylitis is to stop doing anything that irritates your arm, therefore, the most effective conventional and alternative treatments for Epicondylitis are all based on these simple principles:
- Rest the arm until the pain disappears
- Massage to relieve stress and tension in the muscles
- Exercise to strengthen the area and prevent re-injury
- Use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen (always seek the advice of a medical professional) which will help address the inflammation and the pain while you are resting the injury
- Follow up with exercise and massage to speed healing.
Rehabilitation Treatment
Physiotherapy treatment including:
- Myofascial release of the forearm flexors and pronator teres
- Cross frictions to the tendon
- acupuncture
- Electrotherapy
- Neural (ulnar) and flexor muscle stretches
- Progressive conditioning exercises
- Sports Massage
- For stubborn cases of Epicondylitis your doctor may advise corticosteroid injections, which dramatically reduce inflammation, but they cannot be used long-term because of potentially damaging side effects.