What is tennis elbow?
Lateral epicondylitis or tennis elbow is a painful overuse injury that affects the tendons in the back of your elbow. Although tennis elbow is common in tennis players, it can affect anyone who uses those tendons often.
People who frequently use hand tools, house painters, carpenters, and others who make a lot of repetitive hand motions may develop tennis elbow.
Medial epicondylitis or golfer's elbow is similar to tennis elbow, but it affects the inner elbow tendons to cause pain in the inner arm. Golfers are prone to golfer's elbow because they frequently grasp their clubs tightly, which can overload the tendons in the forearm.
But, anyone can develop golfer's elbow — it's common in tennis players and people who play other racket sports.
What are the symptoms of golfer's and tennis elbow?
Tennis elbow causes pain in the outer elbow, which may radiate down your arm. With golfer's elbow, the pain occurs in the inner elbow and forearm. With both conditions, you may experience wrist or hand weakness, stiffness, and a dull ache, even at rest.
Golfer's elbow can also cause tingling or numbness, usually in the ring and pinky fingers. You may find it challenging to perform routine tasks like turning a doorknob, picking up a pen, or even shaking hands if you have tennis or golfer’s elbow.
How are golfer's and tennis elbow treated?
Your Rogozinski Orthopedic Clinic provider performs a full physical evaluation and may perform diagnostic testing on-site to verify the cause of your elbow pain. Conservative treatment usually helps with tennis elbow and golfer's elbow.
It's important to allow your inflamed tendon a chance to heal, so you may need to wear a special brace. Oral anti-inflammatory medication can relieve your pain. Physical therapy, which Rogozinski Orthopedic Clinic offers conveniently on-site, can be very helpful in strengthening and stretching as you recover.
For severe pain, you may need minimally invasive surgery to remove scar tissue buildup around your painful tendon. Your provider customizes a plan to minimize your pain while rebuilding your full arm and hand function.
Tennis elbow and golfer's elbow are painful and irritating, but they respond very well to treatment. Rogozinski Orthopedic Clinic is ready to help, so call the office or click on the online scheduling link.
