Golfer’s elbow is many things. It’s an injury to the medial epicondyle tendon in the elbow. It’s a sports injury. It’s a work injury and a repetitive motion injury. Thus, the condition is a bit more complex than its name implies.
Golfer’s elbow is the common name for the medical condition medial epicondylitis. It’s less common than tennis elbow, but up to 20% of all epicondylitis cases are golfer’s elbow. One thing that physical therapists can do for you is help you learn more about what golfer’s elbow is and what causes it. Another important way these specialists can help is by providing effective medial epicondylitis treatment.
What can cause golfer’s elbow?
Part of learning what golfer’s elbow is involves learning its causes. Physical therapists can help you improve your knowledge about many aspects of this condition, including its causes. Some of the common causes of medial epicondylitis include:
- Lifting weights with improper technique.
- Failing to warm up before doing elbow exercises or movements.
- Working with vibrating tools.
- Doing forceful, repetitive movements at work.
- Having improper golf swing mechanics.
- Using improper technique when throwing in baseball, football or softball.
Here’s how physical therapists can treat your golfer’s elbow
After you learn more about what golfer’s elbow is and what has caused your injury, you’ll want to start treating it. Physical therapists are perfect for this because they’re musculoskeletal system experts. This means they are trained to treat injuries to all the parts that make up your elbow.
Some of the treatment methods your physical therapist can use to help your golfer’s elbow include:
- Soft tissue mobilization that can help reduce movement restrictions in the forearm and biceps muscles and tendons.
- Functional dry needling designed to break up myofascial trigger points and reduce pain.
- Joint mobilization intended to improve mobility in the affected elbow joint.
- Therapeutic exercises that can stretch and strengthen the muscles that move and support the affected elbow.
Border Therapy Services can help treat your golfer’s elbow
Want to learn more about what is involved in golfer’s elbow treatment? Our Border Therapy Services team is ready and willing to help you learn everything you need to know about this condition and its treatment. We offer free screenings that can help us learn about the severity of your golfer’s elbow. Additionally, our physical therapists excel at building individualized therapy plans intended to reduce pain and prevent the recurrence of this injury.
Things keeping you at home? That’s OK! Our physical therapists can help you get golfer’s elbow care from home when you use our virtual therapy or at-home care services.
Contact us today for more information about how we can treat elbow problems or to schedule an initial appointment.