How Chiropractic Care Can Help with Elbow Pain

Does your elbow hurt when you open a jar, pick up a full laundry basket, or swing a racquet or golf club? Although some elbow injuries improve on their own after a few days, others linger and may begin to affect your work or leisure activities. Luckily, chiropractic care can ease your pain and reduce stiffness and other symptoms.

What Causes Elbow Pain?

The elbow joint joins the upper arm bone to the bones in the forearm. The hinged elbow joint makes it possible to extend, rotate, and straighten your arm. Injuries or conditions that affect the bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons in and around the joint can cause elbow pain.

In addition to pain, you may also experience:

• Swelling Around the Elbow
• Stiffness
• Difficulty Moving the Elbow
• Weak Grip
• Numbness
• Tenderness

Pain may be constant, or you may only notice it when you move your arm.

Overuse Injuries

Overuse injuries are a common cause of elbow pain. These injuries happen when you move your arm the same way over and over again. An overuse injury can be caused by swinging a hammer, typing, weightlifting, or throwing a ball. Overuse injuries cause inflammation and tiny tears in the muscles, ligaments, and tendons in the elbow joint.

Living in Arizona, we see a lot of tennis and golf elbow, the most well-known types of elbow overuse injuries. These injuries are caused by tendonitis. Tendonitis occurs when tendons that attach muscles to bones become irritated and inflamed. Golfer's elbow (medial epicondylitis) causes pain on the inside part of the elbow, forearm and wrist. The outer part of the elbow, forearm, and wrist hurts if you have tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis). These injuries don't just affect tennis players and golfers, but can happen to anyone.

Bursitis

Bursitis occurs due to inflammation of the fluid-filled sac called a bursa. Bursae help the bones glide together smoothly when you move a joint. Swelling may occur as fluid builds up inside the bursa.

Other Causes of Elbow Pain

Pinched nerves in the elbow, arthritis, strains, sprains, or fractures may also cause elbow pain. In some cases, elbow pain can be caused by a problem in another part of the body. Issues in your shoulders, upper or neck may trigger pain that is felt in the elbow. For example, pain caused by rotator cuff tendonitis may extend from your shoulder to your elbow.

Relieving Elbow Pain with Chiropractic Care

Your chiropractor evaluates your entire body to determine the cause of your elbow pain. Once a diagnosis is made, your doctor creates a treatment plan designed to ease your pain. One or more of these therapies may be included in your treatment plan:

• Adjustments. Correctly aligning the joints in your arm, shoulder, or spine improves movement and relieves pressure that triggers pain. Your chiropractor safely adjusts joints or the vertebrae in your spine with an activator device or hands-on movements.
• Soft Tissue Therapy. Massage, a type of soft tissue therapy, loosens tight muscles and tissues in the elbow. Massage also improves blood circulation; eases pain and relieves inflammation. Trigger point therapy can be helpful if elbow pain is caused by a trigger point (knot in a muscle). Your chiropractor releases tight muscle fibers in the knot by applying controlled pressure.
• Active Tissue Release (ART). ART is a specific soft tissue therapy that breaks up scar tissue and adhesions responsible for elbow pain and stiffness. In addition to causing pain and limiting joint movement, scar tissue and adhesions may stress tendons and increase the risk of tendonitis. During the therapy, your chiropractor applies pressure to the soft tissues of the elbow while you move the joint.
• Cold Laser. The Erchonia cold laser, increases mitochondrial turn over, reduces inflammation and increases blood circulation.
• Dry Needling. Small, painless acupuncture-like needles, that are inserted around the elbow and in ligaments. These needles increase the healing to the area and also reduce pain.

Tired of living with elbow pain? Chiropractic care offers the perfect treatment option. Contact TLC so that we can help you live your life again, without pain!