Tennis or Golfer's Elbow Pain | Best Pain Management in New York

How your elbow works

The elbow joint is the site where the long bone at the top of your arm (the humerus) meets the two bones of your forearm (the radius and the ulna). It’s a hinge joint, which means that you can bend your arm. The upper part of your radius can also rotate on the smooth surface of the capitellum, a part of your humerus, which helps you to twist your forearm.

Causes

Most elbow pain has a very simple cause and clears up within a few days. The pain usually comes from strained or inflamed soft tissues such as tendons. You can normally treat this pain yourself with over-the-counter painkillers and a few days' rest, and you may not need to see your doctor.
It’s important not to rest for too long as lack of movement causes your joint to stiffen and the muscles around your elbow to weaken, which increases the chance that you'll have further symptoms. Simple exercises can help to reduce the risk of future problems. Long-term elbow pain can be caused by arthritis.

Elbow arthritis

Your elbow can be affected by various types of arthritis just like any other joint in your body. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and it can affect just the elbow or a number of joints. It has many causes and can happen if you've injured your elbow in the past, for example if you've fractured the joint. Rheumatoid arthritis also commonly affects the elbow.

Elbow stiffness

Elbow arthritis can also cause stiffness. While stiffness doesn't cause pain it can make your elbow feel uncomfortable. Losing any range of movement is called stiffness.
Stiffness can happen due to problems with your elbow joint itself, or the muscles, ligaments or covering of the joint.
Stiffness can be caused by:

• osteoarthritis
• fractures around your elbow
• inflammation in the joint (e.g. if you have rheumatoid arthritis)
• abnormal bone formation, where bone forms in the muscles around your elbow following an injury or operation, we don't know why this happens
• soft tissue contractures, which happen when the covering tissues around the elbow shrink, this can sometimes happen following injury.

Diagnosis

Golfer's elbow is usually diagnosed based on your medical history and a physical exam. To evaluate pain and stiffness, the doctor might apply pressure to the affected area or ask you to move your elbow, wrist, and fingers in various ways. It is important for you to know which muscles are involved and how to relieve Elbow pain with the help of pain management NYC.

Most elbow problems can be diagnosed and treated after a simple examination, and you probably won’t need any special tests. Your doctor may occasionally suggest you have an x-ray, which can show abnormal bone formation and areas where the joint surfaces have worn away. Sometimes they can show small pieces of loose bone in your joint. Very rarely an ultrasound scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan may be needed to rule out or confirm a diagnosis.
If your doctor thinks you have cubital tunnel syndrome (where your ulnar nerve is trapped), they’ll do a nerve conduction test. This can help confirm the diagnosis or show how severe the compression is. Small electrodes are placed on your skin to stimulate the ulnar nerve. They can measure how fast the nerve impulse moves, and the length of delay will give an idea of how badly the nerve is being squeezed.

Sometimes elbow pain can carry on for longer than expected, or you may have other symptoms besides pain and stiffness. In this case it’s best to speak to your doctor. They may suggest you have an x-ray or other tests to check for the cause of your symptoms and, depending on the problem, may recommend treatments such as Pain Management in NYC or Stem Cells injections.