Maybe you golf….Maybe you just have elbow pain…Either way read on!
Golfers elbow is a form of tendonitis that effects the wrist flexors, this causes pain at the inside of your elbow especially when gripping items. This muscle becomes overworked when you bend your wrist forward (towards the palm side of your hand) or grip. This causes microtears and irritation in a group of muscles called your flexor wad. This can be caused by excessive wrist motion with your golf swing (or holding other equipment: hockey stick, fishing pole, lacrosse stick). If not treated it can cause continuous pain or even significant tearing of these muscles.
Cubital valgus is a position which causes the forearm to be rotated out, away from the body, while the upper arm is angles in towards the body, this causes excessive torque and stretch through the inside of your elbow which can lead to additional irritation at the medial elbow. This is often seen in golfers who over compensate their swing with excessive wrist and elbow motion.
So confirmed, you have pain at the inside of your elbow….what do you do now?
Focus is going to be on stretching the muscles that are tight while strengthening the surrounding muscles to give the irritated one, and the elbow, some extra support. A wrist flexor stretch is great and should be completed all the time, in between work meetings, holes in golf or really whenever you’re experiencing pain. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds frequently throughout the day. Additionally wrist exercise should be completed 2 to 3 times during the day, during meal times is a great reminder. Exercises should never be painful. If they are, start with no weight and just get things moving. As you start to feel better you can add a 1-2lb weight, waterbottle or hammer. Check out our exercise guide to get moving safely with pictures for reference.
Additionally, massaging the tight muscle is crucial to loosen things up. Similar to when you get a knot in your back/neck, the same thing can happen with the muscles of your forearm, making it challenging to use and move them. If needed, start with some heat and then start to give yourself a nice deep tissue massage. You might feel like you are bouncing over some “tight ropes” in there- thats a tight muscle! Typically your muscles should feel pretty smooth and glide easily under your fingers as you massage. Hold pressure for 10 seconds on any tight and tender spots to increase blood flow. Try to massage at least once a day- The end of the day during TV commercial breaks can be a good time to get this in.
Finally changing how you're doing things is crucial to prevent it from recurring. Any time you experience pain try to be aware of what you're doing. Pain is your body's warning sign that it doesn't like what you're doing. If that activity is golfing, video your swing to see if you notice and compensatory movement at your elbow or wrist as this could irritate things. If its opening a jar use some adaptive tools to help, try an EZ open jar opener or a rubber jar gripper to decrease the force required by your muscles.
Therapy is crucial to help assess what specific muscles are causing the issues. Your therapist will take objective measurements to know exactly how things are moving as well as test grip strength to see if there are deficits. They will then give personalized exercises and stretching to relieve your symptoms. Cupping can be beneficial to improve blood flow and promote healing. Work station and activity analysis can help get to the bottom of what is causing your pain. Therapy does not have to be extensive, in just a few sessions they can teach you what you need to know to get you moving in the right direction and decrease your pain.
Baytide Health strives to write blogs that are easy for everyone to understand and feels like you're chatting with a friend. Learning and caring for your body should be easy, convenient….and enjoyable! Specifics questions or suggestions of topics? Send us a message! We write for you!
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