Golfer’s Elbow, or Medial Epicondylitis, is characterised by a deep, aching pain on the inner side of your elbow that can interfere with even the simplest of tasks. It turns everyday activities like carrying groceries, turning a doorknob, or gripping a club into painful nightmares.
Sports therapy offers clear, focused strategies to address the root causes of Medial Epicondylitis pain. We concentrate on rebuilding the strength and endurance of your forearm so you can move confidently again.
Medial epicondylitis involves the tendons on the inner side of the elbow joint. These tendons connect the forearm muscles responsible for bending your wrist and fingers (flexors) to the bony bump on the inside of your elbow.
Like other tendinopathies, this is usually not caused by inflammation. Instead, it results from irritation and structural changes within the tendon tissue itself. These occur when the tendon is repeatedly overloaded without sufficient time to recover and adapt. The tissue becomes sensitive to force.
The pain is often concentrated right on that inner bony bump, or slightly below it. It typically worsens when you grip tightly, bend your wrist forward, or pronate your forearm. Understanding this specific pain pattern guides your treatment plan.
Golfer’s elbow often affects people whose activities involve repetitive wrist flexion and forceful gripping. Golf is a common example due to the strain placed on the forearm muscles during the swing, hence the name. It is also seen frequently in baseball pitchers and climbers.
However, the condition is just as common in non-athletes. Mechanics, carpenters, and individuals who use hand tools or lift heavy objects regularly often experience this strain too. The continuous, low-level load causes the tendons to fatigue over time.
This type of tendinopathy is an issue of demand overwhelming the tendon’s current capacity to perform. As therapists, we need to identify which daily and sport movements are contributing the most stress to the overall load.
The pain in your elbow is often amplified by tension that travels throughout the forearm. If the flexor muscles are chronically tight from overuse, they pull hard on their attachment point at the inner elbow. This constant mechanical strain irritates the sensitive tendon.
We also look closely at your grip strength and technique. An inefficient or excessively forceful grip places unnecessary strain directly on the elbow tendons. Building the endurance of your forearm muscles helps distribute this force more effectively.
Sports therapy assesses the entire arm, including the shoulder and upper back. By addressing tightness and building balanced strength, we reduce the total strain placed on the inner elbow tendon. This helps the area calm down and begin to heal.
Sports therapy provides a proactive approach, combining manual techniques with specific, controlled exercise. Complete rest is rarely the best solution for tendinopathy, as the tissue needs load to heal and strengthen.
Manual techniques like Sports Massage (Deep Tissue) are used extensively on the forearm muscles to reduce chronic tightness. For direct pain relief and tissue repair, we often recommend Shockwave Therapy or Ultrasound Therapy.
Acupuncture can target specific pain points around the elbow, and Cupping may be used higher up the arm to relieve muscle tension. We complement the strengthening exercises with Kinesiology Taping for support. The recovery plan is rooted in Tailored Rehab and nutritional Supplements.
For persistent cases of Golfer’s Elbow, Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) is a powerful, non-invasive method used to restart the stalled healing process. The focused acoustic waves are applied directly to the site of the common flexor tendon origin on the inner elbow.
ESWT is uniquely effective for this condition because it immediately and substantially reduces the pain signals transmitted by local nerve endings, allowing for better tolerance of rehabilitation exercises.
Simultaneously, the mechanical energy stimulates cellular activity, effectively dissolving any chronic fibrotic tissue that prevents healing, and promotes the creation of new, healthy collagen fibres.
This dual action – pain relief and structural regeneration – is crucial for restoring the long-term ability of the forearm tendons to withstand the heavy gripping and wrist flexion forces required in daily life and sport.
Returning to high-demand activities requires a careful, planned progression. For golfers or athletes, this might involve adjusting grip size or modifying your technique to reduce forearm strain. For hobbyists, we look at tool use or lifting mechanics.
We provide specific exercises that target the wrist flexor muscles. Building the strength and endurance of these muscles is key to protecting the elbow tendon. Stronger muscles share the load and prevent future irritation.
Learning to implement short, frequent recovery breaks during repetitive tasks is also important. This simple habit allows the forearm muscles to recover before they reach a critical point of fatigue.
Golfer’s Elbow can make your arm feel unreliable and weak. But your arm is designed for intricate, powerful movement. It simply needs the right support to overcome this period of strain and regain its confidence.
Sports therapy provides the expertise to ease the tension and guide the strengthening process. It is about returning to a place where lifting, gripping, and moving feel natural and pain-free. If elbow pain is limiting your life, let us help you restore your arm’s full potential.
