Golfer’s Elbow
About Our Treatment for Golfer’s Elbow
If you’re worried you're showing golfer's elbow symptoms, don't ignore your pain until it prevents you from living a normal life. If you visit a physician or specialist immediately for your golfer's elbow symptoms, you have a better chance of a full, successful recovery. At Greater Maryland Pain Management, we have a team of experienced physicians on call to review and diagnose cases of golfer's elbow in Odenton, Crofton, Annapolis, Edgewater, Prince Fredrick, Leonardtown, Catonsville, and the greater Maryland area. We’ll run whatever diagnostic tests are needed to find the underlying cause of your symptoms and determine if it is golfer’s elbow. Once we make a diagnosis, we work closely with you to find an effective, long-term solution for your golfer’s elbow symptoms.
What Is Golfer’s Elbow
If you’ve been Googling “What is golfer’s elbow?" because you've never heard of the condition before, keep reading. Golfer's elbow is a condition in which the tendons in the forearm muscles are sore, stiff, and inflamed. This occurs at the point where these muscles attach to the bone on the inside of the elbow. While tennis elbow affects the outside of the elbow, golfer's elbow affects the inside. The condition can affect anyone who repeatedly uses their wrists in the same action, whether in their leisure time or as part of their work duties. People with golfer's elbow have pain, tenderness, stiffness, weakness, and a numb or tingling feeling near the elbow or radiating down the arm towards the hand.
Learn About Golfer’s Elbow Symptoms
Golfer's elbow symptoms can occur suddenly or gradually over several months or a year. If your symptoms prevent you from working, exercising, playing sports, or participating in your activities or hobbies, it's time to visit a physician for a diagnosis. Don't ignore golfer's elbow pain signs in Annapolis, MD and contact a physician if you have any of these symptoms:
- Pain or tenderness at the inner part of the elbow
- Pain that extends or radiates along the forearm from the elbow to the hand
- Increased pain with certain movements, like stretching out your arm, lifting heavy objects, or stretching
- Stiffness of the elbow joint or muscle
- Trouble bending your arm or moving your elbow
- Trouble making a fist
- Weakness in the hands or wrists that makes it hard to lift or carry objects
- A numb or tingling feeling that radiates from your elbow down through your fingers
- Heat or inflammation around the elbow
Know the Risk Factors & Cause of Golfer’s Elbow
The most common cause of golfer's elbow is repetitive stress or movements. This can occur due to your job or hobbies, or when you frequently play racket sports, throwing sports, or weight training. People who have to make forceful, repetitive movements as part of their job are more likely to develop golfer's elbow. Risk factors for golfer's elbow also include age, weight, and lifestyle habits like smoking. If you show risk factors of golfer's elbow in Edgewater, MD, it’s time to look into getting an evaluation.
How We Diagnose Golfer’s Elbow
We use a few different methods to diagnose golfer's elbow. Making sure we have an accurate and timely diagnosis will give you a better chance of golfer's elbow relief. These are the diagnostic techniques we use when a patient shows golfer's elbow pain signs:
- Physical Examination – We’ll ask you to perform certain movements so we can evaluate your range of motion and dexterity. We may press on certain parts of your arm or elbow to determine if they seem hot, inflamed, or stiff. We will review how your elbow, wrist, and fingers behave when we manually manipulate them.
- X-Ray – An X-ray can help us identify the location and cause of your condition. We can find signs of a fracture, tendon tear, arthritis, or bone spur.
- MRI – An MRI can help us identify nerve damage, muscle and bone deterioration, and other conditions that could be causing golfer’s elbow symptoms.
How to Treat Golfer’s Elbow
Once we have made a diagnosis, we will discuss your options for golfer's elbow treatment in Leonardtown, MD. When you come to us wondering how to treat golfer's elbow, we’ll discuss these treatment options:
- Interventional Procedures – We aim to develop a personalized, comprehensive golfer’s elbow treatment plan for each patient, and we consider each person's symptoms, lifestyle, overall health, needs, and goals. Our goal is to provide safe, effective, and fast golfer's elbow relief so that our patients can return to their normal lives, pain-free.
- Medication Management Plans – If medication offers long-term golfer's elbow relief, we will develop a personalized medication management plan. We might recommend traditional pain medication, drug therapies, diet and lifestyle modification, nutrition advice, and vitamins and supplements. We’ll also discuss holistic, drug-free treatment options.
- Nerve Blocks Treatment – If you suffer from elbow pain due to a compressed nerve, we'll suggest nerve block treatment. We use a minimally invasive, non-surgical procedure that only takes about 15 minutes to relieve nerve pain. Our patients almost instantly have relief from their nerve pain with no downtime.
- Trigger Point Injections – If you have elbow pain and inflammation due to muscle or tendon stiffness or damage, we can offer relief with trigger point injections. In just a few minutes, a trigger point injection can relieve muscle spasms, stiffness, and pain and restore range of motion and dexterity.
- Prolotherapy – We might suggest prolotherapy if you have muscle or tendon damage. Prolotherapy uses safe, minimally invasive methods to stimulate the body's natural healing processes. These injections can encourage cell and tissue regrowth and the healing of muscles, nerves, tendons, and skin.
Contact Us to Find Golfer’s Elbow Relief
When you call us at Greater Maryland Pain Management, our board-certified physicians will work closely with you throughout the diagnostic process so you know what to expect. If we confirm you are exhibiting golfer's elbow symptoms, we'll discuss how we can help you find relief with targeted, safe, and effective treatment methods. Just call us or request an appointment online through our website to learn more about our golfer’s elbow treatment in Odenton, Crofton, Annapolis, Edgewater, Prince Fredrick, Leonardtown, or Catonsville, MD.