Elbow pain

Alternative names:

pain in the elbow

Home care:

For tennis elbow, reduce playing time or time spent doing the activity that aggravates the elbow pain. Warming up slowly, stretching exercises, and applying ice after playing may help.

For bursitis, rest, ice, maintaining mobility, and strengthening (RIMS) are usually helpful. When first detected, the patient should apply ice for a half an hour, then leave it off for the next 15 minutes. Continue the cycle for 6 to 8 hours. Be careful not to freeze the skin. Then give the elbow complete rest for at least 2 days and do not return to the activity that caused the problem for at least 3 weeks. After the initial rest period, the person should begin to gradually strengthen the muscles around the elbow through exercise.

For strains, rest and analgesics will help.

For arthritis, physiotherapy (physical therapy) and analgesics may help.

For infections, antibiotic treatment under your health care provider's direction is recommended.

Call your health care provider if:

• there is a prolonged case of tennis elbow that doesn't get better with home care. (Only rare cases need a doctor's help.)
• the pain is due to an injury, and there is obvious deformity, or the pain prevents any use of the elbow.
• there is fever, swelling and redness, or inability to use the joint.

What to expect at your health care provider's office:

The medical history will be obtained and a physical examination performed.

Medical history questions documenting elbow pain in detail may include:

• distribution
  • Are both elbows affected (symmetrical)?
  • Does the pain shift from elbow to other joints?
  • Is the pain over the outside bony prominence of the elbow?

• time pattern
  • Did the pain begin suddenly and severely?
  • Did the pain begin slowly and mildly and then get worse?
  • Is the pain resolving spontaneously?
  • Did the pain occur following an injury?

• other
  • What other symptoms are also present?

The physical examination will include a thorough examination of the elbow.

Intervention:
For chronic tennis elbow, a pain reliever and corticosteroid (cortisone-like drug) injected into the painful area may be prescribed. Usually no more than 3 such injections are performed. Surgery should be a last resort.

After seeing your health care provider:
If a diagnosis was made by your health care provider related to elbow pain, you may want to note that diagnosis in your personal medical record.