Elbow Pain

Many nerves travel through your elbow, forearm, wrist, and hand. If you injure your hand, wrist, forearm or elbow it can cause nerve damage. Symptoms of nerve damage may be mild, for instance mild numbness, tingling or odd temperature sensations. With severe nerve damage people can experience muscle dysfunction and paralysis.

Overuse and chronic swelling are the most common cause of nerve injuries. Surgery on the elbow, arm, or wrist can also temporarily disturb nerves in the arm. Swelling doesn’t allow proper blood circulation to nourish the nerves, and this affects how they function. One of the most common causes of overuse injuries is poor posture because that puts joints and soft tissues under abnormal strains.

If you have significant or recurrent abnormal nerve sensations (e.g. numbness, tingling) in your elbow, wrist, or hand contact Proliance Physical & Hand Therapy for an assessment. The good news is that most of the time physical therapy will be all you need to recover, but healing can’t start until the cause of your nerve damage is identified and you receive a personalized plan to eliminate it in the future.

One is a problem on the outside of the elbow, the other a similar problem affecting the inside of the elbow.

Tennis elbow is the common term for what medical professionals call lateral epicondylitis. It is caused by repetitive tasks done in a poor postural position, e.g. typing at a desk that is too high. The muscles that extend your wrist and fingers a attach to the bone on the outside of your elbow. While this problem can happen to tennis players, many repetitive tasks can cause it. Tennis elbow can cause severe pain when gripping, lifting or twisting the forearm, most notable on the outside of the elbow.

Golfer’s elbow is the common term for what medical professionals call medial epicondylitis. While similar in many ways to tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis), the pain is felt most severely on the inside of the elbow where the muscle tendons attach to the bone. Like tennis elbow it is often caused by overuse of the muscles that flex your wrist and fingers.

The good news is that most of the time physical therapy will be all you need to recover. Your Proliance Physical & Hand Therapy expert will always start with a careful evaluation in collaboration with your doctor to make sure we know exactly what the problem is. If your diagnosis is tennis or golfer’s elbow, your personalized treatment plan will likely include a combination of ultrasound, heat and ice, and rest to reduce swelling in the irritated tendons quickly. As the swelling subsides additional therapies to restore normal joint movement, break up scar adhesions, and restore healthy circulation will all promote healing.

At Proliance Physical & Hand Therapy our goal is to help you keep your elbow healthy and strong into the future, so if your elbow problems are the result of repetitive overuse, your therapist will also educate you on proper posture and techniques to manage work and repetitive activities, so the condition does not continue.

If you are experiencing pain and numbness in your elbow or tingling and numbness in your ring and little finger it can be an indication of cubital tunnel syndrome. This condition relates to pressure or stretching of the funny bone in your elbow. As with many elbow problems it can be caused by specific types of repetitive activity or incorrect posture as you do certain activities.

The good news is that most of the time physical therapy will be all you need to recover. Your Proliance Physical & Hand Therapy expert will always start with a careful evaluation in collaboration with your doctor to make sure we know exactly what the problem is. If your diagnosis is cubital tunnel syndrome your personalized treatment plan will focus on eliminating the pain and education about possible changes at your workplace and different ways to perform the tasks that are causing stress to your injured nerves.

The suffix “itis” means inflammation. Bursitis is inflammation of a bursa and tendonitis is inflammation of a tendon. If you are suffering from an achy or stiff elbow, pain when you move your elbow, swelling and redness around the elbow you may be experiencing one of these two conditions.

Bursa–A bursa is a fluid-filled sac between muscles or tissues to cushion and reduce friction. Your elbow has a bursa that can become inflamed due to abnormal joint movements, poor posture, or weakness of the muscles around your elbow.

Tendonitis–Tendons connect muscles to bones. Many muscles like your biceps have tendons that connect them to the bones around the elbow. If you have tendonitis in your elbow, you may feel it as pain deep in your elbow, often as a sharp stabbing sensation when you move in a way that irritates those inflamed tendons.

The good news is that Bursitis and Tendonitis can usually be relieved with therapy and don’t require surgery. However, a careful diagnosis in collaboration with your doctor is essential to determine that this is the problem and not something more severe. Since most bursitis and tendonitis is due to underlying abnormal mechanics of movement and weakness, your Proliance Physical & Hand Therapy expert will evaluate your movement to pinpoint the exact source of the trouble so they can develop the best treatment plan for your needs. Our goal is to get you back to the activities you love as quickly as possible, so your therapist will start with therapies to eliminate the pain and swelling then transition to exercises focused on strengthening the muscles around the elbow to prevent recurrence.

There are many different types of surgeries to repair the large number of tendons and ligaments in the elbow, fingers, hand, and wrist. All the structures that are tightly packed into these areas mean that swelling is common after surgery and the area can become very stiff with significant loss of motion. area. After surgery your physician will recommend physical therapy to ensure you recover as quickly and completely as possible from your surgical procedure.

Your Proliance Physical & Hand Therapy expert will work with you and your surgeon to identify the ideal combination of therapies. Our first goal is to reduce the inflammation and eliminate the pain. Then as quickly as possible your therapist will start working with you to restore your range of motion, increase your strength, and help you return to all the things you love to do that were impacted by your elbow problems.

At Proliance Physical & Hand Therapy our goal is to help you keep your elbows healthy and strong into the future, so your therapist will also educate and provide exercises you can continue after your therapy sessions at Proliance Physical & Hand Therapy have been completed.

At Proliance Physical & Hand Therapy our experts don’t just treat your symptoms. We take the time to understand the root cause of your pain so we can develop the optimum plan to promote healing. Your therapist won’t just help you get better, they will also provide education and exercises with the goal of helping you achieve a healthy, strong, and pain free lifestyle.