Golfer’s elbow is a painful condition that can often be mistaken for tennis elbow. While it is common among golfers, you don’t have to be a weekend duffer to develop it. You can treat golfer’s elbow with noninvasive measures, though you may need to see a doctor if the condition doesn’t improve.
Golfer’s elbow impacts the forearm, where your tendons attach to the inside of the elbow. Sometimes severe pain can radiate into your wrist. Like tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow is an overuse injury that stems from making the same movement over and over. The most common symptoms are stiffness and pain in the elbow and forearm.
Your doctor will diagnose you through a physical exam and by looking over your medical history. They may send you for an X-ray to ensure you don’t have a fracture. MRI can also be used for diagnosis.
Forceful motions using the fingers and wrist can lead to golfer’s elbow. Sufferers often repeat movements such as hitting or throwing without warming up properly. Some common causes of golfer’s elbow, in addition to playing golf, include the following:
You may be at greater risk of developing golfer’s elbow if you smoke, are over 40 years old or spend more than two hours a day performing a repetitive activity.
The first step in treating golfer’s elbow is to stop engaging in the activity that caused the injury. You can give up a hobby relatively easily, but if you believe your profession caused your pain, see your doctor to explore your options.
You can also use at-home methods to seek relief. Try the following:
If you want to avoid getting golfer’s elbow, consider these steps to help prevent you from developing it in the first place.
Before you work on strengthening your arms, it’s important to stretch. Stretching helps get your blood flowing and raises your muscle temperature, allowing more flexibility during your workout. Otherwise, you risk injuring yourself instead of building your strength. If you’re already injured, you can hurt yourself even further. We recommend trying basic hand and wrist stretches before moving onto strengthening exercises, such as:
Strengthening the muscles in your arms, wrists and hands is the best thing you can do to prevent a case of golfer’s elbow in the future. As with any part of your body, the more you use your forearms and help them build muscle, the more you’ll be able to do on a daily basis without risk of injury. These exercises are some of the best to help you gain strength in your forearms, wrists, hands and fingers:
For these exercises, you’ll need a dumbbell. While the weight of the dumbbell depends on your body and strength level, it should generally be between five and 20 pounds.
Finally, if you start to experience pain while exercising, stop! Take time to let yourself rest and recover. If you must continue with your exercises, try to slow down or find an easier variation that doesn’t cause you pain.
It takes about three to six months to heal golfer’s elbow through noninvasive methods. Not everyone sees results from this approach, however. If you engage in exercises and other therapy and don’t see a difference, OrthoBethesda can help. Contact us to learn more or set up an appointment.
Dr. Sridhar Durbhakula becomes first surgeon in the state to use new “mixed reality” navigation…
Dr. Marc Gruner, a fellowship-trained sports medicine physiatrist discusses orthobiologics and specifically Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP)…
Dr. Sridhar Durbhakula, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon, shares his perspective on robotic-assisted surgery and how…
Dr. Christopher Cannova, a fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon, shares his experience using ROSA Knee, a robotic…
Caring for a child is at the front of every parent's mind. Finding the right…
If you struggle with chronic plantar fasciitis, treating your heel pain is probably a daily…