What Causes Elbow Pain？

What causes elbow pain？

Elbow pain is one of the common pain symptoms in the body. Most of the pain occurs on the inside and outside of the elbow when using the elbow, resulting in symptoms such as arm pain and wrist weakness. The most common condition that causes elbow pain is tennis elbow, which is often caused by people who exercise or overuse their elbow muscles and elbow joints. However, the cause of elbow pain is not limited to tennis elbow. Tendonitis, joint pain, fasciitis, etc. can all cause pain and weakness in the elbow. To treat elbow pain, in addition to soothing treatment, stretching can also improve the pain.

The human elbow is mainly composed of three groups of bones, the humerus in the arm, and the ulna and radius in the forearm. Between the arm and the forearm, there are also multiple sets of ligaments, which are responsible for controlling our elbows to make different movements such as straightening, bending, rotation, and eversion, and to prevent excessive movement of the elbows, resulting in muscle and ligament strains. Although our elbow position is not large, there are different types of elbow pain, which can be roughly divided into pain on the outside and inside of the elbow.

When there is lateral elbow pain, the most common cause is tennis elbow, where the fascia and fascia on the outside of the forearm become inflamed, causing pain from the wrist to the outside of the elbow. Most people who have pain on the outside of the elbow are due to repeated movements involving the wrist and elbow for a long time, which causes the elbow muscles and bones to rub, causing elbow pain, such as tennis players, porters, etc. Medial elbow pain is a common golfer's elbow. Most patients with golfer's elbow are due to inflammation of the tendon and fascia of the forearm. People who need to flex their fingers and clench their fists are prone to experience medial elbow pain and even wrist pain. Symptoms such as weakness.

In fact, there are many reasons for elbow pain, and there are different treatments for different causes of elbow pain. The medical name of tennis elbow is "lateral epicondylitis". It is caused by overuse of the muscles of the elbow, which causes elbow pain. It is also called tennis elbow because tennis players are at high risk of developing tennis elbow. Tennis elbow is caused by excessive use of forearm muscles and wrist muscles, resulting in inflammation and strain of fascia and tendons at the elbow. Usually the painful position appears on the outside of the elbow. When the elbow and wrist are moved, there will be pain. The feeling can even spread to the fingers. Some people who need to use the elbow muscles frequently, such as housewives, porters, athletes, etc., often need to use the elbow joint, so tennis elbow is also very common.

Elbow pain caused by golfer's elbow is like the opposite of tennis elbow, where the pain is mainly on the outside of the elbow, while the pain in golfer's elbow is mainly on the inside of the elbow. Elbow pain in golfer's elbow is caused by inflammation of the muscle group on the inside of the forearm. When moving the wrist, it is especially easy to cause pain on the inside of the elbow. Golfer's elbow is usually caused by overuse of the wrist, such as lifting heavy objects, repetitive fist movements, etc.

Elbow pain caused by radial tunnel syndrome is often confused with tennis elbow because the location of elbow pain caused by radial tunnel syndrome is similar to tennis elbow. It is often necessary to use the forearm to exert force, push and pull heavy objects, rotate the wrist and palm, make a firm fist, etc., all of which may cause the forearm muscles to be too tight, which will narrow the radial tunnel, thus compressing the radial nerve and causing elbow pain. . Many people confuse tennis elbow with radial tunnel syndrome, but tennis elbow usually has only one pain point, while radial tunnel syndrome causes pain that extends from the elbow to the wrist, and the pain range is wider than tennis elbow.

Elbow tunnel syndrome is when the ulnar nerve in the hand is compressed at the elbow, causing elbow pain. Since the ulnar nerve extends from the shoulder to the forearm, once the elbow tunnel syndrome occurs, the pain of the elbow will also spread to the forearm. The chance of cubital tunnel syndrome.

Sometimes the cause of elbow pain is not necessarily in the hand, sometimes even the discomfort of the neck can cause elbow pain. With increasing age, or incorrect posture and other factors, the spine and cervical spine will be compressed. Over time, there may be problems such as disc herniation, bone spur hyperplasia, and lumbar intervertebral stenosis. Because the nerves in the neck extend to the hands, if there is a problem with the health of the neck, it will also affect the mobility of the hands, especially if the nerves in the neck are affected, the problem of elbow pain is very common, and sometimes there is even elbow pain. Symptoms such as numbness, tingling, and weakness.

Elbow pain caused by elbow joint inflammation mostly occurs in middle-aged and elderly people. First, due to the degeneration of body functions, second, after years of activities of the elbow joint, it is easy to cause abrasion of the cartilage between the bones, causing the bones to collide with each other, causing the elbow joint to become inflamed. In addition, some diseases related to the elbow joint, such as rheumatoid arthritis, elbow swing, etc., can cause elbow pain, so once elbow pain occurs, you should conduct a detailed examination to find out the cause of the pain.

We need to relieve and treat the root cause of elbow pain. In the face of initial elbow pain, it is generally recommended to take pain-relieving drugs and physical therapy. If there is still no significant improvement after a period of time, it is necessary to choose targeted treatment. In the early stage of elbow pain, cold compresses can be used to relieve elbow pain. If the situation persists, it is recommended to find a doctor for a detailed examination and choose a more suitable treatment for elbow pain. Most patients will be prescribed analgesics by doctors to relieve elbow pain. If necessary, doctors will also prescribe anti-inflammatory drugs to improve inflammation of fascia and tendons that cause elbow pain. If the effect is not great, patients with elbow pain can also choose to use the injection method, injecting painkillers, steroids and other drugs directly into the affected area of the elbow pain, which can help relieve the pain and improve the inflammation of the elbow fascia and tendons. This reduces elbow pain. In addition, patients with elbow pain can also use some analgesic ointments and patches to reduce elbow pain. However, like cold compresses, pain-relieving drugs alone may not directly solve the cause of the pain, and may cause elbow pain. keep recurring. At the same time, physical therapy can also be used to relieve the pain of elbow pain, improve the mobility of the elbow, and alleviate the inflammation of the elbow tendon through a series of simple limb activities and exercises. Usually the movements are relatively simple, and the patient can perform it at home. If necessary, different methods such as cold compress, hot compress, electrotherapy, hydrotherapy and ultrasound will be used to make the effect of physical therapy more obvious. In addition, if there is a patient who needs surgery to treat elbow pain, a period of physical therapy is required after the surgery to improve the mobility of the elbow and make the elbow move more freely.

So how to prevent the occurrence of elbow pain symptoms? In the final analysis, the cause of elbow pain cannot be separated from the overuse of the elbow muscles, or exercise in the wrong posture, which causes inflammation of the fascia, tendons, and muscles of the elbow, and the nerves of the elbow are compressed, so that when the elbow moves Pain occurs. Nowadays, people have a very high chance of having elbow pain. Because many people who work in the office use computers for a long time, their elbows will continue to exert force. Therefore, to prevent elbow pain, we must start paying attention to it in our daily life. Elbow pain can be caused by incorrect posture while typing on the keyboard, listening to the phone, or sleeping. We should avoid flexing the elbow for a long time. For example, when using the computer, the elbow should form a 90-degree angle with the arm, so as to reduce the pressure on the elbow and reduce the chance of elbow pain. In addition, doing warm-up before exercising can make the body's joints get a "warning signal" and prepare for the next intense exercise. If you do intense exercise without enough warm-up, the elbow joint will not have enough elasticity, which will easily lead to muscle, Fascia strain, etc., causing elbow pain.

Many people need to use their elbow joints for a long time because of work, which will cause joint strain and elbow pain over time. The most common is that porters often overwork their elbows because they often move heavy objects, resulting in joint inflammation, fascia inflammation and other problems. If you want to avoid the problem of elbow pain, you can use trolleys, suitcases and other tools to carry heavy objects, then you can avoid carrying it with your bare hands, which will lead to the problem of elbow joint strain. In addition, if the problem of elbow pain is serious, you should seek medical attention immediately, and wear suitable elbow brace under the guidance of the doctor, which can reduce the chance of the elbow pain getting worse.