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Golfer's Elbow - Insider's Guide and Tips to Help You Resolve and Avoid it

Golfer's Elbow is not as common as tennis elbow but it can be just as troublesome. In this article, you will find out about the symptoms, causes and potential solutions to this problem.

You pick up your breakfast coffee and notice that the inside of your elbow hurts. It is not a bad pain so you ignore it. You turn the door handle as you leave for work and feel the same light pain as earlier. At the start of your meeting with that important client, you shake hands. Guess what, your elbow hurts again. Over the next few days, you become aware that the pain inside your elbow is still with you. Off you go to your doctor, Golfer's Elbow is diagnosed. "How can that be" you think to yourself, "I don't play golf ..."

That's right; you do not have to play golf to get Golfer's Elbow. You can have Tennis Elbow and not play tennis and you don't need to be a housemaid to get Housemaid's Knee! It is regarded primarily as an injury caused by repetitive overuse of the forearm. So the repetitive action of swinging a golf club can cause it. To reduce your chances of developing Golfer's Elbow, before playing a round of golf, make sure that you warm up your muscles before the first drive. Playing golf with cold muscles, especially winter golf, can lead to all sorts of muscle strains and injuries.

So how do you know that you have Golfer's Elbow? It is a painful condition that affects the inside of the elbow. Signs and symptoms may vary. Generally you will experience pain or discomfort when carrying out simple everyday tasks like picking up a cup, shaking hands or turning a door handle. In some cases, aching may increase in the evening causing you to wake during the night and experience stiffness of the elbow in the mornings. In very severe cases, almost any elbow movement can be uncomfortable. It is common to develop symptoms after either adopting a new activity, as your muscles are not yet trained for that activity or after increasing the duration or intensity of an established one.

For a firm diagnosis, consult a qualified doctor. This is highly advisable because there are also other causes related to diet, pathogenic organisms, toxins such as heavy metals, radiation (including that from mobile phones and air travel).

The medical name for Golfer's Elbow is medial epicondylitis and it is a form of tendonitis. Because of the repeated overuse of the muscles causing flexion of the forearm, small tears develop in these muscles and their tendons where they join the bones at the inside of the elbow. This causes inflammation and leads to the pain. It is associated with certain manual or household activities, racquet sports, bowling, and golf. It is a much less common condition than Tennis Elbow, which affects the outside of the elbow.

For treatment of Golfers Elbow, a doctor will generally prescribe RICE (rest, ice, compression and exercise). Rest and exercise may seem contradictory. The rest is only for an initial short period. If you rest your arm for too long, it will begin to wither so it is essential to do some exercise to keep the arm muscles from deteriorating. If your Golfer’s Elbow is particularly bad, you may be prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs and be given a cortisone injection.

Your doctor may even recommend physiotherapy. If you decide to try to cure your Golfer's Elbow for yourself, arranging a session or two of physio would be a good idea - in order to find out the right exercises. The wrong ones could prolong the condition and maybe even make it worse. The condition is chronic (long term) and can last from as little as a few weeks to as much as 3 to 4 years! Once the pain has subsided, there should be a gradual resumption of specific activities to strengthen the affected muscles, again for which a course of physiotherapy may be helpful.

During the rehabilitation of the elbow, the proper diet is also important. You should ensure that you supply your body with the essential tools for the proper healing and regeneration of healthy tissue. Your doctor or a dietician will advise you on that.

Prevention is clearly better than cure so ...

- Make sure that you eat a properly balanced diet
- Keep your arm muscles strong so they can absorb the energy of sudden physical stress.
- Learn the proper technique for activities that require forearm motion.
- After repetitive movements of the arms stretch the whole arm to avoid tension build up.

DISCLAIMER – probably not necessary but just in case ... this article is for information only, it is not intended as medical advice, that should be obtained from a properly qualified physician.

Dr Richard Myers

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