Elbow Pain
Pain in and around the elbow joint is very common and an injury we regularly treat at 4 Life Physiotherapy. Elbow pain can prevent you from enjoying your sporting activities, impact your ability to work and restrict you from performing everyday activities like opening jars or carrying bags.
To make an appointment for your elbow pain, click here.
Causes
While there are several different elbow joint injuries, the two most commonly seen at 4 Life Physiotherapy are lateral epicondylitis, commonly known as ‘tennis elbow’, and medial epicondylitis, often called ‘golfers elbow’. Both typically result from overuse of the muscles and tendons that surround the elbow joint and can result in pain on the inside or outside of the elbow joint and forearm, pain on gripping or lifting activities, weakness in the wrist, and in severe cases, swelling around the elbow itself. We also commonly see bursitis, dislocations, arthritic pain, stress fractures, tendinitis, nerve entrapment and general sprains and strains of the elbow.
Assessment
While often seen as relatively straight forward injuries to treat, our therapists understand that there can be a number of contributing factors to your pain, which is why we undertake expert orthopaedic diagnostic tests to find the root cause of your elbow complaints. We will inform you about your diagnosis and discuss the best treatment approach.
Treatment
The majority of elbow injuries we see at 4 Life Physiotherapy can be treated with conservative (non-surgical) physiotherapy management. Because we understand that no single treatment has been proven to be 100% effective in treating elbow injuries, your therapist will take an integrated approach and utilise a combination of different treatment techniques to ensure the optimal outcome is achieved in the shortest possible time. This will allow you to return to a pain-free life as soon as possible. Treatment typically includes treatments such as shockwave therapy, soft tissue release, joint mobilisation, acupuncture dry needling (if desired) and exercise.