The elbow pain is probably not a something you thought you’d ever experience. That is until you’re living with a sore elbow.
Your elbow moves thousands of times daily, helping you accomplish numerous tasks. The elbow is vital to our anatomy. Tendons, muscles, cartilage, tissue, and bone come together within the elbow to create a versatile joint.
When your elbow is sore, it limits what you can accomplish with your arm. Physical therapy is a way to diagnose why there is pain and how to regain the function of your arm.
Causes for Elbow Pain
There are many reasons you may have a sore elbow. One of the most common reasons is repetitive elbow motion.
Usually, when someone sustains an elbow injury, people think of athletes. Many sports, such as baseball, golf, and tennis, use the same arm motion over and over.
But it’s not just athletes who deal with sore elbows. It can also afflict those whose occupation requires repetitive motion. Factory employees, carpenters, gardeners, and countless other jobs involve the same movement repeatedly.
Another cause of elbow pain is injury. Falling on your elbow or blunt force trauma to an elbow can cause an affliction.
And finally, an existing medical condition, like diabetes or arthritis, can contribute to an elbow issue.
Treating Elbow Pain
A physical therapist can use many strategies to treat elbow pain, depending on its reason. Hot/cold therapy, stretches, exercises, and compression are all used in treatment. With these methods, range of motion can improve and reduce pain.
Post-operative physical therapy can certainly improve recovery if your elbow ailment requires surgery.
Types of Elbow Afflictions
There are many reasons for elbow pain, and physical therapy can help with all of them.
Tennis Elbow
This is probably the most well-known elbow injury. The medical term for it is lateral epicondylitis, and it involves tendons.
A tendon is the tissue that connects muscles to bone. Some tendons run from the wrist to the elbow. When these tendons become inflamed, it results in elbow pain.
Some signs of tennis elbow are a weak grip, pain when twisting the forearm, and elbow stiffness.
Olecranon Stress Fracture
Injuries like this one are uncommon, but can still happen. It is a tiny crack in the bone at the tip of the elbow. Unlike an injury sustained in an accident, it happens gradually with repeated use. It may take years for the crack to develop.
Those with an olecranon stress fracture may experience elbow stiffness, numbness in the fingers, tenderness, and an inability to straighten the arm.
Flexor Tendonitis
Flexor Tendonitis is commonly known as “golfer’s elbow.” The symptoms can include pain, swelling of the elbow, and limited range of motion.
This affliction occurs when tendons at the end of the muscles around the elbow become inflamed. Over time, the tendons degrade. This results in pain from even slight elbow movement.
Osteoarthritis
Unlike the other injuries, this one is a form of arthritis. The cartilage surface of the elbow wears down or becomes damaged. It’s an elbow affliction that isn’t caused by repetitive use. It’s caused simply by aging, as normal wearing away happens over time.
A previous elbow injury can also cause osteoarthritis. This is true even years after the initial injury. When the elbow is injured, it may affect your everyday movement. It can cause the cartilage to wear down more rapidly.
Bursitis
There’s a fluid-filled sac surrounding and protecting your elbow. Very little fluid makes it a cushion and shock absorber between the bones and muscles. When that sac, called the olecranon bursa, becomes inflamed, painful swelling happens at the elbow joint, and bursitis flares up.
Relieve Your Elbow Pain
Let Kinetic Physical Therapy help you regain full use of your arm and ease the pain of your injury. Our caring physical therapists can show you how to eliminate elbow pain.
We realize that you have a lot of options when it comes to choosing where you receive physical therapy treatment. Remember, at Kinetic Physical Therapy, you can see the same therapist for every appointment. We value your business! Come for a visit soon!
