What is Golfer's Elbow?

 

Golfer's elbow, also known as Medial Epicondylalgia is a musculoskeletal issue that usually happens 90% of the time in non-sports related injuries. People the age of 45-64 are more prone to this condition with females being more prone especially if they are going through hormonal changes with menopause. Injury is often related to tasks with repetitive hand/wrist movement and gripping which irritates the tendons that help you grip objects, and flex your wrists.

Signs

 

A few key signs that you might notice is local pain in/around the inner elbow on the tendon right above your funny bone.
Another thing that you might notice is that your grip strength is weaker and you have decreased range of motion in your wrist and elbow.

What to do?

 

There are a few things to do if this pain persists including finding the right health professional such as a Physiotherapist to help you with pain relief (soft tissue massage, trigger points and dry needling), optimize wrist biomechanics for load and staged rehabilitation of your elbow.
If left untreated there is a chance for the pain to become persistent chronic pain with long term implication of loss of range and strength in the affected elbow.

Load management is key to prevent re-irritation of the affected structure. When things are acutely irritated it is actually not a great idea to stretch the tendon nor put direct compressive force on the tendon.

Conclusion

 

Physiotherapists are experts on assessing your condition and based on the findings, give you guidance on what exercises and self-management strategies may help as well as providing you information on what exercises and day to day tasks may aggravate your condition. A treatment plan may consist of manual therapy for pain relief and exercise therapy for improving load tolerance of tendons and muscles. You will be given advice on activity modification and other tips to aid your recovery to take place quicker.

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​​​Had enough of feeling the pain with your day to day tasks? Daniel is ready and waiting to help you with your recovery. If you would like to make an appointment, click here to make an online booking, or call (07) 3211 8775 to speak with our friendly reception staff.