Golfer’s elbow is a painful condition that affects the inside of the elbow. Elbow pain can range in severity from a minor discomfort to excruciating pain that makes it difficult to move your arm. Whether your elbow pain is caused by an acute injury, overuse, or arthritis, a visit to Inspire Physio in Dee Why can help diagnose the cause of the pain and provide treatment to alleviate it.
What is Golfer’s Elbow?
Despite its name, golfer’s elbow (or medial epicondylitis as it is known medically) doesn’t just affect golfers or other participants in sports. The condition describes the pain on the inside of the elbow that may be aggravated by chronic and repetitive use of the muscles located in the forearm. Thus, activities such as swinging a golf club or occupations that involve repetitive, forceful actions, including plumbing and carpentry, can contribute to the condition.
What Causes Golfer’s Elbow?
The condition is pain and inflammation caused by the overuse or incorrect use of muscles. This can lead to excessive wear and tear which repetitive motions can exacerbate, causing stress or strain in the elbow. Golfers often experience symptoms with repetitive gripping motions, such as holding the club too tightly, incorrectly holding the club, and swinging the club repeatedly.
What are the Symptoms of Golfer’s Elbow?
Symptoms include pain, tenderness, swelling, and weakness on the inside of the elbow, but sometimes pain may also be felt in the hand, forearm and upper arm. The symptoms usually occur when you touch or move your wrist and some people find they can’t move their arm as well as they usually can, or have difficulty grasping objects tightly. The pain may ease when you rest your arm but it can be a problem at night and may disturb your sleep.
What is the Best Treatment for Golfer’s Elbow?
Sometimes the symptoms can go away on their own, but you will need to avoid the activities that gave rise to the symptoms—or at least minimise them to see if that improves your symptoms. If your symptoms persist, golfer's elbow can be treated effectively with physiotherapy.
With specific hands on treatment techniques, we will help to reduce your pain symptoms and get you moving again. We provide personalised physio exercise sessions to improve stability and biomechanics, as well as teach you how to prevent recurring pain and injury from conditions such as golfer’s elbow.
How Long Does Golfer’s Elbow Take to Heal?
With any injury or strain, it is important to be patient and give your body time to heal. It may take several months with no treatment, providing you refrain from the activity that caused your problem. Typically, the sooner you receive treatment, the quicker your body will recover.
Physiotherapy can be helpful in the treatment of golfer’s elbow. Exercises are the primary treatment that can help to stabilise the elbow joint as well as the neck, shoulder, thoracic spine and wrist, which are also impacted. Hands on treatment is also effective in mobilizing stiff joints, releasing muscle tightness, correcting posture, and easing pain.
Get in Touch
Golfer's elbow can be very painful and prevent you from doing your job, or doing the things you love to do. If you’re looking for physio in the Northern Beaches for golfer’s elbow or other mobility issues, contact us today to schedule an appointment.
