Injuries Athletic Therapists Treat: A Monthly Series
Welcome to our monthly series!
Our goal is to share with YOU how Athletic Therapy can help you recover from common injuries you or a loved one may be experiencing. Each month will showcase and discuss a new condition athletic therapists see and treat each day
Enjoy!
Golfer Elbow & Tennis Elbow
One of the best things about living in the Okanagan is enjoying four distinct seasons and being able to be physically active with sports all year long. However, one of the downsides to being so active all year long is the increased risk of repetitive strain injuries and in this series we are going to discuss the most common elbow injuries athletic therapists treat.
Commonly called ‘golfer’s elbow’ and ‘tennis elbow’ in the sports world, they are more specifically known in the sports medicine world as medial epicondylitis and lateral epicondylitis, respectively. Generally describing pain on the inside (medial) or outside (lateral) of the elbow due to an overuse of the elbow, forearm or wrist. They are common in sports such as tennis, golf, swimming, fencing, pitching in baseball, squash and racquetball or any activity where repeated forearm flexion and extension movements are occurring.
It is useful to explain a bit of the anatomy of the forearm and elbow to help understand how and why this injury occurs. Every person has a collection of muscles on the front and back of their forearm. The collection of muscles on the palm side of the forearm are known as the forearm flexors and on the back, the forearm extensors. As the forearm flexors and extensors cross the elbow the configuration changes from muscle into tendon to eventually insert onto the bone, just above the elbow joint on the upper arm. This is typically where a client will point to to show where they most experience pain.
Other symptoms may include:
As mentioned above, medial and lateral epicondylitis is an overuse, repetitive strain injury to the forearm flexor and extensor muscles and tendons, respectively. Too much stress and microtrauma on the muscles and tendons combined with not enough rest or healing time, results in the injury. Thankfully, most patients are well-managed with non-operative treatment and activity modification.
Is elbow pain keeping you from your favourite activities? Seeing a sports injury expert like an athletic therapist to get properly diagnosed and on your way to recovery just may be what you need. Book a FREE 30min Discovery Visit with us today by going to: https://okanaganathletictherapy.com/free-discovery-visit/ to see how we can help!