Elbow Pain
Elbow Pain
The common culprit for your elbow pain is overuse and repetitive motions from work, sports, or hobbies. Your elbow is less susceptible to arthritis than your other joints. Injuries from a direct blow can cause bone spurs or fractures. If you hurt your elbow, seek injury treatment soon.
A complex joint, your elbow provides a wide range of movement, like reaching for things and bringing them closer. It also lets you rotate your hand and forearm. Because your elbow has so many moving parts, it’s not always easy to determine the exact place or cause of your pain. Rely on the pain management specialists with the most advanced diagnostic equipment at the pain center.
Types of Elbow Pain
During your elbow pain treatment, you will undergo a thorough physical examination to determine the exact type of pain. Our doctors distinguish between various pain types, including:
- Medial elbow pain. This pain occurs when the medial tendons of the elbow are exposed to internal tensile forces. It often results in overuse syndromes, such as medial epicondylar apophysitis, wrist flexor strains, and ulnar ligament sprains.
- Lateral elbow pain. Lateral pain may indicate Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) or Panner’s Disease. This pain can be caused by repetitive microtrauma to the radio-capitellar joint and poor blood circulation in the capitellum.
- Posterior elbow pain. Common causes of posterior pain include olecranon osteochondrosis, damage to the posterior olecranon, or olecranon bursitis. Locking the elbow in full extension and repetitive forced extension can lead to apophysitis of the elbow.
Causes of Elbow Pain
Many actions or conditions can contribute to your elbow discomfort. However, the most common causes include:
- Joint inflammation, commonly called bursitis
- Golfer’s elbow, known as medial epicondylitis, is a repetitive motion injury
- An inflammatory joint disease called rheumatoid arthritis
- Sprains from stretching or tearing of the ligaments
- Osteoarthritis
- Tendonitis
- Broken bones
- Tennis elbow, or lateral epicondylitis, another repetitive motion injury
- Injuries that result from throwing motions like baseball pitchers
- Cubital tunnel syndrome, when you stretch or put too much pressure on your ulnar nerve
Depending on the condition, you can experience the following types of elbow pain:
- Elbow joint pain
- Elbow nerve pain
- Elbow muscle pain
- Elbow bone pain