Common causes of elbow pain
The most common causes of elbow pain are tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow. Tennis elbow is pain from the tendons on the outside of the elbow, and golfer’s elbow is pain on the inside.
It can start as a result of sport but more commonly after repetitive work or overuse. Less common causes of elbow pain include arthritis or gout. As well as being painful both causes usually result in a loss of movement in the elbow.
When should I seek medical help for elbow pain?
These problems can normally be managed in the first instance without the need to attend hospital. However, if you have any of the following symptoms, you should seek medical help more urgently:
- Red skin, swelling and pain over the elbow with a fever and general feeling of being unwell
- Pain and difficulty moving your elbow after an injury
- Severe pain and a snapping sensation in the front of your elbow when heavy lifting
Types of physiotherapy treatment for elbow pain
Some physiotherapy treatments such as massage, electrotherapy and acupuncture have very little value in treating elbow pain and are not recommended.
Steroid injections should also be avoided in tennis or golfer’s elbow. Although they offer good short term relief it is more likely that the pain will come back and last longer overall (than if no injection was given).
If you have tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow you should initially try to reduce or modify aggravating activities for two to four weeks. physiotherapy Marbella
Examples of activity modification include:
- using a computer mouse instead of a laptop trackpad
- putting a thicker grip on your tennis racquet