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Golfer's Elbow
Golfer's elbow is the counterpart to tennis elbow, affecting the tendons on the inside of the elbow — the muscles that flex the wrist and grip. It is less common than tennis elbow but behaves much the same way and responds to the same principles. As with tennis elbow, most people who get it have never played the sport it is named after.
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Does this sound like you?
Most people have several of these, not all of them.
- Pain on the bony point at the inside of the elbow
- Pain gripping, lifting or turning a doorknob
- Discomfort that can spread down into the forearm
- Tenderness to press on the inner elbow
- Occasional pins and needles into the ring and little fingers if the nerve is also involved
Why it happens
- Repetitive gripping and wrist flexion — trades, lifting, throwing
- A sudden increase in load, particularly pulling or carrying
- Golf or throwing technique that overloads the inner elbow
- Weakness through the shoulder and forearm
- Age-related tendon change from the forties onwards
What we would do about it
Roughly in this order — each step waits for the one before it.
- Progressive tendon loading, built up over months
- Isometric work early for pain relief
- Soft tissue work and dry needling through the forearm
- Shoulder and grip strengthening to share the load
- Technique and tool review for the activity that caused it
- Checking the ulnar nerve, which runs right beside it and is often involved
See a doctor first if
- Your pain followed a significant injury
- It is getting worse rather than settling
- It comes with numbness, weakness or unexplained weight loss
This page is general information, not a diagnosis. Symptoms overlap between conditions, so the right treatment depends on an assessment.
Inner elbow pain has a nerve running through it
The ulnar nerve passes right beside this tendon, and the two are frequently involved together. Sorting out which is which changes what we do about it. Ask a question first, or call us on 0403 907 587.
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Other arm conditions we treat
Related reading: the outer-elbow version, nerve symptoms into the little finger and wrist and hand conditions.
General information only, not advice about your own problem — nothing here replaces an assessment. Source: Medial Epicondylitis on Physiopedia.
