Introduction
Golfer’s elbow, also known as medial epicondylitis, is a type of repetitive strain injury that affects the tendons and muscles on the inside of the elbow. It is called golfer’s elbow because it is a common injury among golfers, in America, it’s often called pitcher’s elbow as it is very common in throwing athletes. But it can also affect anyone who performs repetitive gripping or twisting motions with their wrist and arm. It’s particularly common in those with manual jobs joiners, builders, or anyone gripping tools or fetching and carrying.
If you have golfer’s elbow, you may experience pain and tenderness on the inside of your elbow, especially when you use your forearm and wrist. You may also have difficulty gripping or lifting objects, or feel weakness in your arm. The good news is that golfer’s elbow can usually be treated effectively with physiotherapy and self-care.
Top Tips for Golfer’s Elbow
Here are some tips that can help you manage your golfer’s elbow:
1. Avoid aggravating activities
Avoid activities that aggravate your symptoms, these tend to be activities where you are gripping and twisting. It’s relatively easy to avoid activities that you do in your leisure time but what if it’s your job that’s aggravating it – not so easy? If this is the case chat with the people you work with, see if you can avoid certain jobs for a while or maybe reduce your hours or take some time off.
2. Stretch and strengthen your forearm muscles
Stretches and loading exercises are essential to return the tendon to good health but these need to be managed very carefully. As too much will aggravate and make the problem worse. By following a staged exercise program with careful guidance you can improve tendon strength and health, which can help relieve your symptoms and prevent future injuries.
3. Support
Using a brace can help reduce the load through the tendon by limiting wrist movement as flexing your wrist will aggravate the problem. It’s not something that I advise all the time but it can be really useful in the early stages to settle acute pain. Elbow straps may also be of benefit find out more in this blog.
4. Apply ice
Apply ice to your elbow for 15-20 minutes at a time, several times a day, to reduce pain and inflammation.
5. Modify your activities
If your golfer’s elbow is caused by a specific activity, such as golf or weightlifting, try to modify your technique or posture to reduce the strain on your elbow. A really easy thing you can do is to avoid over-gripping, we often grip things much harder than is needed so relax your grip a little and this will offload the area slightly.
6. Seek professional help
If your symptoms persist or worsen despite self-care, or if you have other medical conditions that may affect your recovery, seek the help of a physiotherapist or doctor. Have a look at my Golfers Elbow Program which has everything you need to resolve this problem fast and prevent it from returning in the future.
How to avoid making your Golfers Elbow WORSE!
This is a challenging problem to settle down as the same things that make it better can also make it worse!
The real challenge with golfer’s elbow is managing the load. This problem has happened because you have overloaded a tendon that is not very healthy. The key to treatment is to settle the acute pain before returning the tendon to good health. The way to do this is to gradually load the tendon. But too much load and you will increase your pain and cause another flare up, too little load and the tendon remains unhealthy and degenerate and may cause you problems again. It’s the same with stretches, stretching is useful in returning the tendon to good health and resolving the issue but if you stretch too early or too hard it can irritate and make the problem worse. This is where expert guidance is essential.
Conclusion
If you’re experiencing golfer’s elbow, remember, early intervention and treatment can help prevent further damage and promote a faster recovery. In my Golfer’s Elbow Program, I carefully guide you through the whole process. First, we work to settle the acute pain – fast. Before moving on to strengthening and improving the tendon health, in a way that won’t flare it back up. Have a look at the course, there are a couple of chapters that you can preview for FREE that will get you started, these can be found in the course contents. Get started today and be back enjoying your pain-free elbow in no time.
I hope you found this blog post helpful. if you know someone who may benefit from this information, please share it with them. Together, we can help more people overcome golfer’s elbow and stay healthy and active.
Take care, Helen
Helen Manders BSc (Hons) MCSP HCPC
