Tennis Elbow

[ziggy]

Got a case of tennis elbow, haven't swung a club in 4 weeks, and it still tender. What do you all recommend as far as healing/ staying away from golf?

[Vinsk]

Hi there. I'm a Family Medicine physician. Just to be clear, tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) and golfer's elbow (medial epicondylitis) are different. Where is your pain exactly? Now both are treated pretty much the same but I'm asking as far what the future may call as far as imaging, injections. Icing the area for 20minutes at a time at least twice but preferably 3 or 4 times daily and taking an NSAID such as ibuprofen or Naproxen for several days. Gentle stretching exercises of the elbow and wearing a support brace can help as well. If you're still tender after 2 weeks of this I would recommend you get imaging done to make sure you haven't actually torn anything. You may do well with a cortisone injection directly to the area. This is where it's important to know if we're dealing with medial or lateral epicondylitis. Hope this helps. Take care.

[dennyjones]

10 hours ago, Vinsk said:

wearing a support brace

In the past, along with ice,  this has helped me.   I have had to go as far as a cortisone injection but eventually the pain disappeared.   

[Piz]

@Vinsk...How do you differentiate between medial and lateral epicondylitis?  Are the conditions flexor-specific?

[Vinsk]

3 minutes ago, Piz said:

@Vinsk...How do you differentiate between medial and lateral epicondylitis?  Are the conditions flexor-specific?

With your forearm facing up like you’re doing a dumbbell curl...when you flex is the pain on the inside or outside of your elbow?  There is also often point tenderness as well. If you press into the bony projection on the inside of your elbow and it induces pain that’s medial epicondylitis. Opposite for lateral. For now I’d try the above mentioned regimen of ice/compression (brace), and stretching. 

[RussUK]

19 hours ago, ziggy said:

Got a case of tennis elbow, haven't swung a club in 4 weeks, and it still tender. What do you all recommend as far as healing/ staying away from golf?

Having suffered from golfers elbow i know how annoying it is. The only way to recover from it is to stop doing the thing that aggrevates it i.e. playing golf.

I had to take about 3 months off golf. I wore an elbow band and had to take ibuprofen. When it improved the doctor cleared me to start chipping and putting to see if i had recovered then it was about a month before i was playing again. Its hard when you want to swing a club but you need to fight the urge.

[Piz]

Thanks @Vinsk.  

[JxQx]

They have exercises using a theraband flexbar for golfer and tennis elbow that help a lot. I noticed whenever I start getting pain in my elbows its usually tightness in my forearm or triceps that is causing it, some massage and stretching worked wonders.

[p1n9183]

Loved the PC game "Tennis Elbow", play with it until you get cured from your elbow?

[ziggy]

On 12/19/2018 at 8:42 PM, Vinsk said:

Hi there. I'm a Family Medicine physician. Just to be clear, tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) and golfer's elbow (medial epicondylitis) are different. Where is your pain exactly? Now both are treated pretty much the same but I'm asking as far what the future may call as far as imaging, injections. Icing the area for 20minutes at a time at least twice but preferably 3 or 4 times daily and taking an NSAID such as ibuprofen or Naproxen for several days. Gentle stretching exercises of the elbow and wearing a support brace can help as well. If you're still tender after 2 weeks of this I would recommend you get imaging done to make sure you haven't actually torn anything. You may do well with a cortisone injection directly to the area. This is where it's important to know if we're dealing with medial or lateral epicondylitis. Hope this helps. Take care.

def. lateral. I will try the icing/nsaid/band. and looks like I won't touch a club until March! ugh!!!!

[TN94z]

So I experience pain on the inside portion of my elbow from crossfit and pullups, etc.... What has helped me the most by a long shot is rolling out my biceps and forearms (I basically roll my entire arm as part of a warm up).  At least in my situation, the issues seem to stem from tightness in the bicep and forearm that causes the pain. I can roll them out with a barbell or use a floss band and lacrosse ball to roll them out. This almost always resolves my issue.

Edited December 27, 2018 by TN94z

[CarlSpackler]

Thanks for the info @Vinsk. I am dealing with tennis elbow now (pain outside) and it’s hurting down my forearm as well. 

[Maroon88]

On 12/19/2018 at 12:23 PM, ziggy said:

Got a case of tennis elbow, haven't swung a club in 4 weeks, and it still tender. What do you all recommend as far as healing/ staying away from golf?

I too am a physician (not primary care), and avid golfer.  I suffered from tennis elbow (lateral epichodylitis) several years ago and tried ice, heat, massage, NSAIDs and a brace.  Nothing was working.  One day a patient saw my brace and asked if I had "tennis elbow from playing golf".  She obviously knew what she was talking about.  I told her "yes", and that the brace was the last step until I got imaging.  She told me to try this exercise and it worked:

Hold your hands together in front of your sternum like your praying.  Hold your hands close to your chest while stretching your elbows out. Squeeze the palms of your hands together.  When you feel pressure (stretching) on the painful site your probably doing it right.  I did this a few days and the pain went away and never returned.

It was a case where patient helped the doctor. Fortunately she didn't bill me for her advice, LOL.

[RonK]

Looking for info on Tennis Elbow.

Tips, Success Stories, Experiences, Swing Theories on the cause, Swing remediation etc.

Edited January 6, 2020 by RonK

[Nagah]

I’ve suffered with it in both elbows at different times.

Guard or brace usually works well along with anti-inflammatories.

Side note- I noticed your a Hawthorn fan too.