Golfer’s Elbow Treatment

This condition is commonly seen in people who perform repetitive tasks with their hands, such as mechanics, homemakers or sportsperson like golfers, tennis, badminton players or bowlers.

Golfer’s Elbow can present in 2 stages:

Early (inflammatory stage)

• Pain comes after repetitive activity, gets better with rest shortly but keeps coming back

Late (degenerative stage)

• Persistent pain during activity/play, usually worse after activity
• Pain during day-to-day activities like opening a jar or brushing teeth
• Eventually severe enough to affect daily activity/playing

Causes

• Overuse of forearm muscles called the wrist flexor-pronator group
• As the tendons of these muscles all connect to a common point in the elbow, the load on this common point becomes tremendous when it undergoes repeated or excessive stress.
• Without sufficient rest or rehabilitation, the tendon loses its ability to tolerate load from daily use, resulting in persistent pain.

Common Signs and Symptoms

• Pain gripping, opening a jar or wringing dry your towel.
• The prominent bony bump located along the inner side of the elbow is usually tender if pressure is applied.

How physiotherapy can help

• Depending on the stage of the disorder, your physiotherapist will customise a programme and guide you in the management of your elbow pain. It is crucial that you follow through the programme for optimal result.
• You may be advised to modify your activities.
• Treatment involves strengthening exercise, massage and ultrasound therapy to facilitate pain relief. Strengthening exercise is the gold standard of physiotherapy treatment for golfer’s elbow.

Let our physiotherapists help you with your condition.