Elbow Pain

Tennis and Golfers Elbow Treatments

Tennis and Golfers Elbow Treatments (Tendonitis)

The elbow is a strong hinge joint that allows flexion and rotation of the forearm.

The elbow is a strong hinge joint that allows flexion and rotation of the forearm.

TENNIS ELBOW (Lateral Epicondylitis) (extensors)

Tennis Elbow is a term for severe elbow tendonitis, or an inflammation, soreness, or pain on the outside (lateral) part of the upper arm near the elbow. It’s usually caused by a partial tear in the tendon fibers, which connect muscle to the bone. Symptoms include elbow pain that gradually worsens and radiates outside of the elbow to the forearm and to the back of the hand. Although, termed “Tennis Elbow”, anyone can experience this painful condition that results from constant and overuse of the tendon.

Patients with elbow tendonitis may not respond to the conventional treatments of wait, rest, and medicate for pain relief. For some patients still, this slow-track to healing is not in their schedule and they would much prefer getting on with their lives by fast forwarding the healing process. Consequently, they want and need a faster treatment.

THE ANNULAR LIGAMENT

This ligament connects and stabilizes the two bones of the forearm, the ulna and the radius. Activities that involve rotation of the elbow, such as screwing in a light bulb, turning a screw driver, using a cork screw, puts a tremendous stress on this ligament. It especially includes those activities in sports where throwing is involved, or where an implement is used to drive a ball.

Sometimes the pain in the annular ligament can refer itself down into the thumb, wrist and index and middle fingers, mimicking and sometimes leading to an incorrect diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome.

While an acute injury, like a fall, can be responsible for annular ligament injury, it is usually repetitive motion that does it.

GOLFER’S ELBOW (Medial Epicondylitis) (flexors)

“Golfer’s Elbow” is a term to describe elbow pain when flexing the wrist and hand, which are required in activities such as grasping, clutching, and typing. It gets itsname “Golfer’s Elbow” because the muscles and tendons required to hit a golf ball are the same ones used in the above named activity.

The ligament involved in Golfer’s elbow is the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) which holds the ulnar bone of the foreram to the bottom of the the upper arm bone (the humerus.) When this ligament is injured or weakened its pain can be felt on the inside of the elbow.

Once determined that it is weakness or injury to the tendons or ligament that is causing elbow pain, Prolotherapy with PRP and /or Stem Cell Prolotherapy (Cellular Prolo) can be administered and the pain can be resolved.

Read more about Prolotherapy Miami or Pain Management in Miami.

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