Jonathan Wilhoite Blog: How to Fix Golf and Tennis Elbow

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

How to Fix Golf and Tennis Elbow

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Medial and lateral epicondylitis, or golfer’s and tennis elbow, are conditions which can affect you beyond your performance on such sports. This is a painful, unpleasant information which will significantly affect your everyday life — as you brush your teeth, pick up the kids, type on a computer or perform any other simple day-to-day activity.

Despite the conditions’ names, tennis and golfer’s elbow do not affect athletes exclusively. Lack of shoulder stability and overuse can be a problem for anyone.

If you’re wondering how to fix golf and tennis elbow, the first thing you need to know is how to properly diagnose it, so you can be sure that you’re indeed struggling with these conditions.

How To Diagnose Golfer’s Elbow

The condition called Medial Epicondylitis is characterized by pain in the medial epicondyle — the bony bump which is located at the area in the inside of one’s arm. If you were to hold your elbow out, the pain would be right on the bottom of your joint.

That small protuberance is very important for your arm’s functioning. It is attached to the ulnar collateral ligament — the ligament which is replaced when you have Tommy John surgery performed –, along with the muscle which turns the palm downward and flexes your forearm at the elbow. It is also attached to the common flexor tendon, that attaches to most flexors in your forearm.

The medial epicondyle is very important for your forearm and elbow to function properly. ME patients frequently complain about pain which starts at the medial epicondyle and, at times, spreads down to the forearm, causing weakness in their wrist and hand, stiffness in their elbow, and sometimes tingling or numbness in the pinky and ring finger, due to a compression of their ulnar nerve.

How To Diagnose Tennis Elbow

Later epicondylitis happens on the other side of the elbow, where your tendons and muscles attach to another bony protuberance — the lateral epicondyle. Symptoms include pain squeezing or gripping with your hands, general pain on the outside of your elbow, and weakness in your grip strength.

Treatment

Tennis and golfer’s elbows are more misuse injuries than overuse ones. They result from low shoulder stability and increased force through your wrist and forearm, as the body compensates for such instability.

Treatment consists basically of rest, pain relievers, icing and stretches. On more serious cases, surgery may be required. Of course, these methods don’t generally address the cause of the pain, simply protecting you from the symptoms instead.

In order to treat the cause and prevent the ailment from returning, you should strengthen your shoulder and increase their stability, while you release the tightness in your wrist and forearm, helping treat both. If you want to know how to fix golf and tennis elbow, check out these four types of releases along with two strength moves which will help you achieve that.

Triceps Release

Lie on your side, and place a lacrosse ball or foam roller under your triceps, at tight and tender location. Extend and retract your forearm, bending it at your elbow. Perform 10 to 15 repetitions on each tight and tender spot.

Bicep Release

Place a lacrosse ball right elbow your elbow crease. If you don’t have one, you may want to use your other hand to apply pressure on the biceps. Extend your elbow out back and forth, flexing it until you notice the discomfort in the area begins decreasing. Move the ball along the sore spots in your arm.

Forearm Extensor Release

Extend your wrist backward and feel for the muscles which contract, so that you can find the right ones.
First, you want to flex and extend your wrist, maintaining a pressure which is comfortable to you. Twist your forearm, rotating it in and out, and repeat along the length of that muscle group until your muscles feel released.

Then, while you maintain a comfortable pressure, flex and extend the wrist up and down through the whole range of motion. Repeat it along the length of that muscle group as well, until they feel released enough.

Forearm Flexor Release

Begin by placing one or two fingers on the muscle which is located on the inside of the elbow. In order to find it, flex the wrist forward and feel your elbow to find the muscles which contract.

First, maintain a comfortable pressure and begin rotating your forearm in a twisting motion, in and out. Repeat it along the the length of that muscle group until you feel they’re released.

Then, maintain a comfortable pressure and actively flex and extend the wrist up and down through the entire motion range. Repeat it as you need to, along the length of that muscle group, until they feel released.

Downward Dog Push Up

Get in a push-up position, then raise your hips, forming the shape of an upside down V. Make sure your back and legs are as straight as possible, and that your heels are close to the ground.

Splay both hands and have them facing outwards, then push into the floor with both arms straight. This will activate your lats. Keep your shoulders down and back. Then, bend at the elbows, and lower your head to the floor. Push back to the initial position.

Kneeling Angels

You can perform this exercise with the use of a resistance band, or, if you prefer, with a cable machine. Kneel on a pad under the cable machine or anchoring a resistance band overhead. Keep your chest upright and your shoulders down and back, engaging the abs. Keep your feet hip width apart, behind you.

Begin with your arms raised and your elbows forming a 90-degree angle, like a goal post. Draw the elbows down in to the sides, squeezing the shoulder blades together, and restart the movement after raising your arms to the initial position.

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