Elbow

What causes elbow pain?

Elbow pain often occurs when you overuse the joint by performing certain hand, wrist, or arm movements repetitively. Many activities and jobs, such as playing tennis or painting a house, involve repetitive motions that may lead to elbow pain.

Common injuries and conditions that cause elbow pain include:

Occasionally, arthritis may cause elbow pain. However, the elbow is much less susceptible to wear-and-tear cartilage damage than other joints, such as the knee.

What is the anatomy of the elbow?

The elbow is a hinge joint, which basically means that the motion of the elbow is limited to one plane or direction. The elbow consists of three bones. Those three bones are the humerus, radius, and ulna. The radius and ulna are the two bones that help makeup the forearm. These two bones are slightly curved and attached to many muscles in the arm. The ulna is larger and longer than the radius.

The inside area of your elbow, closest to your body, features the ulnar collateral ligament, which contributes much of the solidity and stability to the elbow joint..

What is the importance of the elbow?

The elbow is a very important part of the arm. The motion the elbow performs helps you with rotating the forearm, intricate hand motions, and increases power to the upper body. Elbow injuries are easily ignored and to most, may not seem as serious as an injury to the knee or hip. Unfortunately, if left untreated, injures to the elbow can have long-term effects. If you are injured, or are experiencing elbow pain, please follow up with one of our physician specialists.

What is the difference between tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow?

Tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow are two common sports injuries that involve tendon pain. The difference between the two conditions is the tendon that’s affected.

Tennis elbow causes pain on the outside of your elbow, where the tendons of your forearm attach to the bony bump of your elbow joint. Conversely, golfer’s elbow creates pain where the tendons attach on the inside of your elbow.

Despite their names, you don’t need to play tennis or golf to develop either of these overuse injuries. Many activities can lead to tendon pain in your elbow, such as:

• Lifting weights with an improper technique
• Throwing sports such as baseball or football
• Physical occupations such as plumbing and carpentry

Most of the time, you need to perform an activity for over an hour a day for many days before tennis or golfer’s elbow develops.

When should I see a doctor for elbow pain?

You should schedule an appointment at Orthopaedic Associates if elbow pain persists despite home treatment such as rest, ice, and over-the-counter pain medicine.

Orthopaedic Associates also offers urgent orthopaedic care for situations that require immediate medical attention, such as:

• Visible deformity in the elbow
• Inability to bend the elbow
• Broken bone sticking through the skin

The highly skilled team at Orthopaedic Associates’ urgent care clinic sees patients outside of normal business hours so you can avoid a trip to the emergency room. They also have an on-site MRI and an ambulatory surgical center for severe injuries, such as an open fracture.

If you or a loved one has elbow pain, don’t hesitate to call Orthopaedic Associates or book an appointment online.