Tennis Elbow & Golfers Elbow
What are tennis and golfers elbow?
Tennis elbow, also called lateral epicondylitis, is characterised by pain on the outside of the elbow. In contrast golfers, elbow, also called proximal epicondylitis, results in pain on the inside of the elbow.
What are the symptoms of tennis and golfers elbow?
The main symptoms of tennis and golfers elbow is pain and tenderness around the elbow, which radiates to the forearm and wrist. The pain is often exacerbated when gripping or carrying objects and is associated with weakness in the forearm.
What causes tennis and golfers elbow?
Overuse of the muscles in the forearm can cause acute or chronic tendonitis in the elbow, causing pain. Specifically:
- Tennis elbow occurs when the tendons on the outside of the elbow become damaged. This occurs due to overuse of the muscles in the forearm that are responsible for bending the wrist backward, as is common in a tennis swing.
- Golfers elbow occurs in the same way as tennis elbow, but on the opposite side of the arm. It is caused by overuse of the muscles in the forearm that bend the wrist forward, as is common in a golfers swing.
Neither tennis nor golfers elbow are specific to these sports and can occur due to any overuse activity, for example, tennis elbow is common in tradies that swing a hammer with their forearm repetitively.
What treatments are available for tennis elbow?
Tennis and golfers elbow are often chronic conditions, which can last up to several months. As with most injuries, ice and over-the-counter analgesics can be used to treat the pain at home. For more severe pain, corticosteroid injections can be helpful, but they only offer short-term relief.
Your physiotherapist can assist in speeding up recovery from tennis or golfers elbow, through targeted stretching and strengthening exercises. If necessary, an elbow brace may be required.
Most importantly, your physiotherapist can help diagnose tennis or golfers elbow, so that the appropriate treatments and behavioral modifications can be put in place in order to get you swinging again.
