Elbow tendonitis is a phrase that likes to be thrown around in health care. A lot of patients have come into the clinic with complaints of pain and discomfort at the elbow that their primary care doctors have diagnosed as tendonitis and have offered a cortisone injection. Although a common diagnosis, tendonitis is often just a general term used to describe any unknown pain that a doctor attributes to “overuse”.
The inflammation of the thick fibrous cords that attach muscle to bone. These cords are called tendons. The condition causes pain and tenderness just outside a joint.
Elbow tendonitis (also commonly referred to as “tennis elbow”) is the condition described as pain and tenderness occurring on the outer part of the elbow. It is caused by overuse of the muscles and tendons in the forearm attached to the elbow.
Tendinitis can occur in any tendon. But it's most common around shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees and heels.
Common symptoms of elbow tendinitis include:
Typical physical therapy consists of soft tissue treatment followed but strengthened using eccentric movements.
Additional treatment options include:
Typical physical therapy exercises to strengthen the muscles and tendons in the forearm, stretching and range-of-motion exercises. These exercises aim to improve flexibility and reduce stiffness in the elbow.
Common exercises to help with elbow tendonitis include:
When traditional therapy techniques fail to solve the problem, CHECK THE NECK! A lot of times what we find in the clinic is when traditional therapy does not solve the problem, there is some type of nerve component stemming from the neck. Figuring out what you are personally sensitive to and how that influences the rest of your body could be vital in solving your pain problem long term. Through skilled testing we can rule in/out components that could be influencing your current pain and help figure out your personal sensitivity.
The problem with traditional therapy is that it focuses on passive modalities and symptom management which often misses the mark on finding the root cause of the pain. Following your session you should have extreme clarity of what the problem is and how to address it. If the pain becomes inconsistent and lingers despite doing traditional rehab, you need to rethink your game plan.
If you have tried traditional therapy and are still experiencing pain in your elbow, we can help. If you’re sick of getting the runaround and want to see if we might be a good fit, click here to schedule a free phone consultation with our team of West Springfield Physical Therapists.