Fortunately, the most common types of elbow pain are not serious and will resolve within 6 weeks. Elbow pain is most commonly associated with an overuse movement like the repetitive nature of playing golf or tennis. Treating elbow pain with Rest Ice Compression Elevation (R I C E) and avoiding aggravating activities such as overloading activities or over extending ROM movements will typically improve elbow pain over time.
When is Elbow Pain serious?
If an elbow is red, hot or swollen or the description of pain is exquisite pain, or if the pain is not going away or worsening, then this is serious elbow pain and should be referred to your local hospital emergency department quickly. Broken bones, dislocations and or neurovascular injury are serious conditions causing elbow pain and require urgent attention.
What are the types of Elbow Pain?
People often describe the types of Elbow pain differently.
Pins and needles or burning pain with associated numbness and tingling may be an ulnar nerve condition of the upper limb. The origin of the location of the condition may be coming from the elbow, shoulder or neck. Straightening your elbow, or relieving pressure on your shoulder or neck may improve or relieve this type of pain. This is typically not an emergency condition but if it occurs frequently then early intervention by a health professional such as a physiotherapist will optimise your recovery outcome.
Sharp pain is often exercise induced pain. Pain is often proportionate to the exercise load, ie more exercise more pain. Using the VAS pain scale, where 0 is no pain and 10/10 is the worst imaginable pain, you should monitor sharp pain from onset to be sure it is not worsening over time, especially when you are not exercising. If sharp pain is associated with a loss of ROM or strength then early intervention by a health professional such as a physiotherapist will optimise your recovery outcome.
Aching Pain is often an inflammatory response. This type of pain may be due to a response to overuse injury or a systemic inflammatory condition. If pain remains longer than 6 weeks, then early intervention by a health professional such as a physiotherapist will optimise your recovery outcome.
What are the causes of Elbow Pain?
Overload (repetitive load or singular heavy lift) usually affects muscles of the elbow
Over stretch – a range of motion beyond the Elbow ROM limit usually affects the ligaments of the elbow
Impact injury- a fall onto or a direct blow on the elbow may cause bruising, haematoma or boney fracture, affecting structures such as the muscles, tendons and bones of the elbow
Pulling injury – the forearm may be pulled away from the elbow leading to dislocation of the elbow joint
Laceration – injury resulting in a laceration injury or something that penetrates or cuts the skin may be serious depending on the location, depth and length of the penetration, cut or laceration.
Systemic conditions such as auto-immune disease, gout or rheumatoid arthritis may cause elbow pain. If you experience a red, hot or swollen elbow joint for no apparent reason, you may need referral to a doctor to check if you have a deeper problem needing examination.
What Conditions Cause Elbow Pain?
Fracture
Falls are often associated with fracture injury. Falling off a bike or a skateboard while on a hard surface like concrete directly onto the elbow may cause immediate fracture at the site of impact. Similarly if the subject is elderly or suffers osteoporosis the risk of fracture is higher.
Dislocation, complete or partial
Pulling the arm of a child or infant or forcing an elbow into hyperextension or lateral or medial forces on an elbow may cause partial or complete dislocation injury.
Distal Biceps Tendon Tear or Rupture
Often associated with a pop or a click and immediate pain and loss of strength is a partial or complete distal biceps rupture. Risk is increased for men aged between 40-55 and where activities require an eccentric biceps contraction.
Distal Triceps Tendon Tear or Rupture Snapping Triceps Syndrome
This is a rare condition that targets men aged between 40-55. The tricep tendon partially or completely ruptures causing a snapping sensation at the elbow with immediate loss of strength.
Tendonitis of the Elbow
Inner elbow tendonitis see golfers elbow, outer elbow tendonitis see tennis elbow
Tennis Elbow
Tennis elbow is tendonitis of the wrist extensor muscles. The tendons of the wrist extensor muscles are located on the outer aspect of the elbow. Repetitive overuse of these muscles, without giving them time to recover, causes a gradual build up of inflammation and pain. Aching pain is associated with tennis elbow and it gets worse with repetitive wrist extension activities like playing tennis, playing computer games or carrying young children.
Golfers Elbow
Bursitis of the elbow (often called olecranon bursitis or students elbow)
Ulnar Nerve Entrapment
Cervical disc bulge
Brachial Plexus Entrapment
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Best Physiotherapy Treatment if Your Elbow is Sore or Hurts
Tennis Elbow Treatment (Lateral Epicondylitis) outer elbow pain
First of all, you must identify what is causing your pain and fix what is causing it. If you were to look at your wrist while pretending to hold a tennis racket, think about all the things you may be doing like this. Often it may be something you don’t think about because you are distracted, like playing computer games or holding young children. The waiter’s tip stretch is often a go to relief of pain and an elbow compression strap will also make you feel better quickly. R I C E, stretching and gentle progressive exercise are the steps to full recovery.
Golfers Elbow Treatment (Medial Epicondylitis) inner elbow pain
If you have an aching pain on the inside of your elbow near the bump, chances are you may have Golfer’s Elbow. Golfer’s Elbow is tendonitis of the muscles that flex or bend the wrist. The easiest way to stretch this muscle is to straighten your elbow while pulling your wrist back. Using a table or wall may be a good way to help you perform this stretch. For a full recovery, try to minimise the over use exercise, maximise your recovery with gentle stretching R I C E and perform gentle progressive exercise toward a full recovery.
Nerve Compression (Ulnar Nerve or Cubital Tunnel Syndrome)
If you experience burning pain, pins and needles or numbness in your shoulder, elbow or wrist, chances are you may have a nerve compression injury. Depending on the location of the compression, the condition has a different name, but effectively the ulnar nerve is the most common nerve that gets compressed somewhere along the path from your neck to your little and ring finger tips. Nerve mobilisation stretches, posture changes, ROM stretches, night splints and other physio supports may help reduce the symptoms of this condition.
Elbow bursitis
A good diagnosis is important to differentiate elbow bursitis from other conditions such as a bacterial infection, gout, rheumatoid arthritis or some other systemic or chronic auto immune condition. You can always try R I C E and avoid activities that aggravate the condition, like leaning on your elbows, as a safe way of managing elbow bursitis. A doctor may recommend anti inflammation medicine or even aspiration of the fluid build up using a syringe and needle.