Tennis Elbow / Golfer’s Elbow with Physiotherapy


By: Alejandra Gomez – Physiotherapist

What is it?
Lateral Epicondylitis, also known as “tennis elbow”, and medial epicondylitis, also known as “golfer’s elbow’’, are two of the most common overuse injuries of the elbow. The injury is known as a tendinopathy, meaning it is an injury to the tendon. The tendon is the part of the muscle that attaches to the bone and in this case, the upper arm bone known as the humerus. Do not let the name “tennis” or “golfer’s” elbow confuse you as the injury can occur to anyone not participating in these sports. In fact, most of the time it is simply from doing a repetitive task for an extended period of time such as computer use, lifting, gripping or shovelling snow.

What are the common symptoms?
• Pain produced by pressure on the area involved
• Pain produced by the use of the forearm muscles attached to the site of injury
• For lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow), the site of pain will be around the lateral elbow bones (epicondyles)
• For medial epicondylitis (golfer’s elbow), pain will be felt in the medial bony prominence, medial to the elbow

How can Physiotherapy help?
Physiotherapists can help you by going through a subjective and objective assessment where we gather information about your symptoms and examine your elbow and wrist. Here’s the algorithm physiotherapists follow to treat these conditions.

• Reliable Diagnosis
• Education on current injury
• Prognosis of recovery
• Pain management through various techniques and stretches
• Exercises to increase strength of muscles involved
• Home exercise program for recovery

QubeCore Sports & Rehab offers physiotherapy in North Vancouver for a wide range of injuries and conditions. To book your physiotherapy treatment, please call the clinic or book online with one of our physiotherapists.

Leave a Reply