Golfers Elbow | What is it?
Golfers elbow, also known as medial epicondylitis, creates pain on the inside of the elbow where the tendons of the flexor muscles connect to the elbow. This area is known as the common flexor origin as it connects five important muscles of the forearm that bend the wrist and fingers.
By contrast, tennis elbow describes pain on the outside of the elbow. If you think you may have tennis elbow, more information can be found here.
What are the common symptoms?
The most common symptoms of golfers elbow are:
– Pain and tenderness over the inside of the elbow
– Discomfort when lifting or gripping
– Pain when making a fist
– Discomfort lying on the elbow
– Tingling in wrist/hand (due to secondary irritation of the adjacent nerve)
Depending on the severity of the condition, you may not have all of the symptoms and some may be more extreme than others.
How did I get golfers elbow?
Golfers elbow is caused by relative overuse or repetitive strain which results in irritation of tendons that attach to the inside of the elbow. For this reason, it often presents in those who perform repetitive gripping actions such as tradespeople and certain sports such as golf (hence the name!).
Golfers elbow predominantly affects people between the ages of 45-64 as tendons are more susceptible to injury in middle age. It is also more common in women than men.
So what’s going on?
Tendons are thick bands of connective tissue that connect muscle to bone. When tendons are injured they can become inflamed (tendinitis) or they can develop small, degenerative tears and scar tissue(tendinosis). We most commonly use the term ‘tendinopathy’ to cover both scenarios.
When a tendon becomes painful in the first 3-6 weeks, we class this as the ‘reactive phase’. Typically when symptoms are more acute and irritable. If the tendon is over loaded again and again without adequate time to repair, the tendon falls into ‘disrepair’. Rather than acute inflammation, we start to see degenerative changes within the tendon. This is often when people come to see us as they feel ‘stuck’ in their recovery – neither rest or activity is helping.
How long will golfers elbow take to heal?
The good news is that the right treatment produces promising recovery outcomes for golfers elbow. Typically, the most positive outcomes come from a personalised gradual loading programme accompanied by shockwave therapy.
That being said tendons take time to heal – usually months, however this depends on the stage of tendon injury and how irritable it was in the first instance. Sometimes an ultrasound scan can be beneficial to observe the stage and extent of the injury.
For more information on treatment options, visit our treatment for golfers elbow blog.
If you think you could be experiencing golfers elbow, click here to book an appointment with one of our specialist physios.
