Treating Golfers Elbow at home can be done effectively with rest and the correct treatment information. If you suffer from a recurring pain on the inside of your elbow there’s the possibility you may have a condition called Golfers Elbow or Medial Epicondylitis as it’s medically known.
Golfers Elbow is a fairly common condition and we see it in clinic regularly. It occurs when the muscles that flex the fingers and wrists become shortened and tight and with overuse they begin to irritate the point where they insert onto the medial epicondyle of the humeral bone.
What causes Golfers Elbow?
There are three large muscle groups that are responsible for moving the hand and wrist. The first one is pronator teres and this muscle rotates the hand and wrist which pulls the radial bone over the ulnar.
The next group of muscles are the finger flexors and these are responsible for taking the fingers from an open to a closed position.
Finally we have the wrist flexors and these muscles again run up the forearm and insert onto the medial epicondyle and they’re responsible for bending the wrist upwards.
Now with Golfers Elbow, what happens is for some reason the medial epicondyle becomes irritated and often it’s because of overuse, maybe through repetitive movements at work or through sport.
The inflammation causes pain because inflammation is a pain mediator and that pain causes a contracture in the muscles. Contracture means a shortening of the muscles. When the muscles become shortened, further use causes even more irritation. The condition becomes chronic and it becomes cyclical.
Treating Golfers Elbow can be a challenge as it’s a condition that can come and go. You get an initial irritation, then with rest it feels better but with further use contracture in the tissues starts again which causes more irritation.
It’s something that gets a little easier with rest but invariably as soon as you go back to sport or work again it flares up and it just doesn’t ever really resolve.
Treating Golfers Elbow effectively?
If you suspect that you have Golfers Elbow then get your symptoms assessed with our pain assessment tool.
Once you’ve identified the likely cause you’ll be able to download a treatment guide. It will tell you everything you need to know about Golfers Elbow (Epicondylitis). It will help you manage the pain and more importantly it will tell you how to rehabilitate this condition to stop it coming back.
Start your Pain Free Assessment Get the Treatment Guide
Watch the ‘Treat and prevent Golfers Elbow’ video here