Category Archives: Elbow

Help: My Elbow Hurts!

You may not play Golf or Tennis, but one thing is for sure: your elbow hurts when you lift things up. Even if you do not play golf or a racquet sport, you might have lateral epicondylitis, or “tennis elbow.” In general, this is the term for the painful irritation or degeneration of the tendons […]

Returning to the Tennis Court After a Lazy Winter

As winter fades away and the weather turns warmer, many of us jump right back into our favorite outdoor sports without any preparation, setting ourselves up for injury and frustration. Tennis is a physically demanding sport, so it is a great idea to ease into the new season with a sensible, sport-specific fitness plan. Tennis […]

Rehabilitating a Fractured Radial Head

The elbow is a complex joint formed by a trio of bones in your arm: the radius and the ulna in your forearm and the humerus in your upper arm. The part of the radius bone nearest to the elbow, called the radial head, can fracture after an injury from a tumble, during which you […]

Tennis Elbow: To Brace or Not to Brace?

Most people diagnosed with “tennis elbow,” technically called lateral epicondylosis, probably did not develop this problem by playing tennis—although, of course, tennis players are frequent sufferers. The lateral epicondyle is the bony area on the outside of the elbow, and the “–osis” refers to tiny tears in the adjacent tendons that have been caused by […]

By Hook or By Crook: Fixing “Student’s Elbow”

The technical name for “student’s elbow” is olecranon bursitis. The olecranon, the bony point of the elbow, is protected by a small sac of fluid called a bursa. Olecranon bursitis develops when an individual repeatedly leans on his or her elbow (as a student or draftsman might do when working at a desk) or when […]

Nursemaid’s Elbow: Avoid Swinging Your Child

Young children love it when you swing them by the arms. Unfortunately, this act and other seemingly harmless ones can lead to nursemaid’s elbow—a common injury where the elbow slips out of its joint. Often seen in children aged 1 to 4 years, this injury can also occur in babies. Young children are especially susceptible […]

Tee Off Against Golfer’s Elbow

You may have heard of tennis elbow, but golfer’s elbow is a less common problem that can affect not only golfers whose swings have imperfections but anyone who performs intensely repetitive tasks requiring wrist flexion, such as painting walls, hammering, typing on a keyboard or even cooking. It may also result from improper form during […]

How to Treat Nursemaid’s Elbow

You are walking hand-in-hand with your four-year-old when a skateboarder comes charging around the corner. You yank your child out of harm’s way, but she instantly howls in pain, clutches her arm and seems unable to bend it. She may have incurred “nursemaid’s elbow”, a dislocation of the joint commonly seen in children (more often […]

Treating Country Club Elbow

The term “country club elbow” evokes pleasant images of green lawns, polo shirts and tall glasses of iced tea. Unfortunately, this moniker refers to a far less pleasant condition: the combination of tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow—a chronic, painful syndrome associated with the two sports. The condition can cause a shooting pain down the forearm […]

Recovering After Elbow Surgery

Elbow surgery to reconstruct a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) is a common procedure performed on athletes who engage in overhead throwing activities, such as baseball, tennis and volleyball, and gymnastics. In these activities, the UCL can be stretched, torn or otherwise damaged from the constant stress of overhead motion. To mend a torn UCL, […]