Elbow Pain: Causes and Treatment

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The most common causes of elbow pain are generally classified as overuse, injury or arthritis.  Despite all of the possible causes and the fact that they one can also lead to another, the outcome usually brings complications in doing daily activities.

What are the causes elbow pain?

• A golfer’s elbow is the pain along the inner side of the elbow and is a result of repetitive hand motion.
• A tennis elbow is the pain or a burning sensation occurring along the outer side of the elbow.
• A bursitis is the pain and swelling over the elbow joint due to the repetitious movement of the arm.
• Osteoarthritis is a joint pain and stiffness caused by aging joints, injury or obesity.
• Rheumatoid arthritis is the pain and swelling that can result in bone erosion and the deformity of joints.
• Sprains and strains is characterized by the pain, swelling, bruising of one or more ligaments/muscles, usually when an excessive force is being applied to a joint.
• Tendinitis is a pain and tenderness that is concentrated just outside the joint.
• Trapped nerves is when the nerves are compressed or trapped causing numbness and weakness sensation of the elbow.
• Stress fractures are micro fractures in the bone and is characterized by the swelling and tenderness around your elbow, usually due to overuse.

 

Effective treatment options for elbow pain:

• Doing exercises that are prescribed by a physiotherapist
• Acupuncture
• Elbow brace or support*
• When the injury/pain is still fresh, you can ice it by using an ice bag
• Pain killers and anti-inflammatory medication, but those are not generally advised for long-term use.
• Surgery, if the pain has not been resolved within the span of 12 months, this is for severe cases.

 

How to prevent elbow pain?

• When engaging in sports always do warm up and cool down.
• Use proper technique and equipment when playing sports.
• Do the correct strengthening exercises with weights.
• Try avoiding tasks that puts too much pressure on the muscles on your elbow.

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