You don’t have to be a golf player to be suffering from golfer’s elbow. Golfers elbow is a name given to the tendonitis injury when golfers experience pain in the inner forearm area at the elbow. However more common is the tennis elbow injury in which a golfer experiences pain on outer area of the lead elbow. Both golfers elbow and tennis elbow are forms of tendonitis injury often caused by overuse of the arm and forearm muscles, repetitive swing actions and strain persisting for prolonged periods.

  • Reasons for Golf Elbow Pain–

As with all other golf injuries, golf elbow pain is mainly attributed to excessive use of forearm muscles and overstress on tendons during the golf swing actions, especially during the impact followed by downswing. Also vigorous muscle contraction and extension during backswing and downswing causes tender tendons in the elbow to strain. Further stress will be added during the impact of club and ball, and more in case the impact is more with the ground than the ball. The shock produced during the impact is directly transferred to the tendons in the elbow. Inadequate rest to overworked muscles and poor swing mechanics add up to the golf elbow pain. Sudden deceleration of club during impact puts an overload on the medial elbow.

  • Symptoms for Golf Elbow Pain–

Tenderness and pain at the inner forearm elbow, made worse by flexing the wrist. The pain may spread down the forearm. Activities that use the flexor muscles like bending the wrist or grasping can make matters worse.

    1. Pain caused by lifting or grasping even light objects such as a coffee cup.
    2. Difficulty extending the forearm fully.
    3. Stiffness in moving the lower arm.
    4. Weakness in the hand and the wrist.
    5. Numbness and tingling may be experienced by few.

Golf elbow pain typically lasts for 6 to 12 weeks but the discomfort imparted because of the pain can continue for as little as 3 weeks or as long as several years.

  • Prevention Techniques for Golf Elbow Pain–

Bracing and strapping, modifying equipment and taking extended rests are some of the superficial preventive techniques that might help a golfer for a short term to avoid elbow pain but down the line only one thing works for golf elbow pain prevention and that is, stretching and strengthening exercises. Often under-estimated, stretching exercises work wonders for a golfer. Tight muscles and tendons needs to warm up correctly before being topped with strenuous golf swing actions. Flexibility of muscles is another factor that needs to be worked upon before pushing them beyond natural range of movement.

  • Treatment for Golf Elbow Pain –

When a golfer is first hit with the elbow pain, he should firstly restrict the overuse of muscles and repetitive actions causing pain. Then the famous RICER regime should be taken up, that is, Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevation and Referral. It is of the most effective way to treat soft tissue injuries; golfers elbow is one of them. For a healthy recovery, RICER regime should at least be followed for 48 hours. Further golf elbow pain treatment includes heat and massage routine for healing the injured muscles and tendons.

Survey shows that 10% of the common golf injuries are attributed to golf elbow pain and both amateurs and professionals suffer through them. Though there is no permanent prevention or cure treatment for golf elbow pain, apart from leaving golf altogether, a golfer must know what causes the elbow pain in order to prevent and treat it fittingly.