Elbow Pain

Elbow pain is often due to making the same movements over long periods, which is why problems like golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow are such common conditions. Holsman Physical Therapy team has 17 locations throughout New Jersey and New York City, where their team provides outstanding services to patients with elbow pain, using expert manual therapy techniques and advanced passive treatments. To schedule a one-to-one elbow pain consultation, call Holsman Physical Therapy or book an appointment online today.

What causes elbow pain?

Your elbow might be painful for numerous reasons, including acute musculoskeletal injuries or chronic degenerative problems.

Injuries that cause elbow pain include dislocations, fractures, strained tendons or muscles, and sprained ligaments. Athletes often experience elbow sprains if their sport involves throwing or using a racquet.

Wear-and-tear injuries are caused by making the same movements repeatedly for long periods — years in many cases. You might incur this type of injury playing sports that involve using your elbow repeatedly, like golf or tennis. Or you might sustain similar damage because of the work you do.

Wear-and-tear injuries include:

• Bursitis (inflammation of the bursae that help protect the joint)
• Lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow)
• Medial epicondylitis (golfer’s elbow)
• Cubital tunnel syndrome (trapped ulnar nerve)
• Radial tunnel syndrome (trapped radial nerve)
• Stress fractures

Tennis and golfer’s elbow are both forms of tendinitis (inflammation of the elbow tendons) but they don’t just affect people who play sports.

Chronic elbow pain could be due to arthritis — inflammation in the joint most often caused by worn cartilage (osteoarthritis) or an autoimmune disorder (rheumatoid arthritis).

How is elbow pain diagnosed?

When you visit Holsman Physical Therapy, you have a one-to-one consultation where your therapist thoroughly assesses the cause of your elbow pain.

You may need diagnostic imaging procedures to confirm or rule out specific conditions and let your therapist see the elbow’s internal structures in detail.

Once they’ve made a diagnosis, your therapist creates a personalized treatment plan to optimize healing and restore elbow function.

How does physical therapy relieve elbow pain?

The Holsman Physical Therapy team offers advice on resting your elbow and performing activities without straining the joint. They also use various physical therapies to help ease elbow pain and improve joint function. These include:

• Taping and strapping
• Active range of motion (AROM) exercises
• Active assistive range of motion (therapist-assisted AROM)
• Isometrics (muscle contraction without joint movement)
• Isotonics (muscle contraction with resistance)
• Soft tissue mobilization
• Maitland/Kaltenborn mobilizations
• Progressive resistive exercises
• Stretching/flexibility exercises
• Cryotherapy or cold therapy
• Heat therapy
• Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)
• Whirlpool hydrotherapy
• Laser therapy
• Occupational therapy

Elbow pain treatment may also include iontophoresis. This uses a mild electrical current to deliver anti-inflammatory medication into the sore area.

If you have pain in your elbow, call Holsman Physical Therapy to schedule a consultation or complete the online booking form today. The practice has locations in Lyndhurst, Fair Lawn, Cedar Grove, Caldwell, Bloomfield, Maplewood, Newark, South Orange, Clifton, Paterson, Kearney, Jersey City, and Rahway, New Jersey, and the Crotona and Van Nest neighborhoods in the Bronx and the Cypress Hills neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City.