Inner elbow pain: causes, treatment, and exercises for golfer's elbow
Learn about inner elbow pain, its causes and symptoms. Discover effective treatment to alleviate discomfort and improve mobility.
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Key takeaways:
1. Inner elbow pain often happens when you do more than what your body is ready for, particularly from activities involving repetitive gripping or lifting.
2. Rather than avoiding activity, staying active and gradually adapting through exercise is key to continue doing activities you enjoy.
3. Targeted stretches and strengthening exercises can help reduce inner elbow pain and improve flexibility (see videos below).
Hinge Health offers virtual physical therapy and more to help you manage elbow pain. Learn more.
Fully covered elbow pain relief
If you’ve ever hit your funny bone or sprained your elbow, you know how painful it is. Discomfort in that same area, even if you haven’t banged it, has a name: medial epicondylitis, or inner elbow pain. It’s relatively rare — it affects less than one percent of the population — but it can make it more challenging to do everything from playing sports to typing on your computer to cooking.
The good news is that most of the time, inner elbow pain responds to simple at-home treatments like stretching and strengthening exercises.
Read on to learn about inner elbow pain, what causes it and how to treat it, especially with tips and exercises from Hinge Health physical therapists.
What is inner elbow pain (golfer’s elbow)?
Inner elbow pain, also referred to as golfer’s elbow, is often confused with tennis elbow. But the two are very different. Your elbow has two epicondyles, which are bony protrusions that you can feel on either side of your elbows. Your tendons and other connective tissues attach to them.
When you have inner elbow pain, the tendon on the inside of your elbow is irritated. With tennis elbow, however, it’s the tendon near the bump on the outside of your elbow that gets aggravated, explains Dr. Aeder.
Inner elbow pain usually occurs in people in their 40s and 50s, but you can get it at any age, and it affects men and women equally. It usually occurs in your dominant arm.
Symptoms of inner elbow pain
Inner elbow pain often develops slowly over time. It can occur from a sudden increase in a certain activity (like shoveling a lot of snow during a major winter storm). Sometimes, inner elbow pain just shows up — the pain pops up one day and lingers, often getting worse with certain activities, like lifting more weight than your body is ready for at the time. In general, inner elbow pain symptoms include:
Pain that starts at your elbow and radiates through your forearm. “In general, this is the main symptom,” says Dr. Aeder.
Difficulty gripping or lifting objects.
Sharp twinges of pain when engaged in activities that involve elbow movement.
Pain during or after activities involving your wrist.
Numbness or tingling in your fingers.
A dull ache in your elbow when resting.
General weakness or stiffness in the elbow.
What causes inner elbow pain?
Inner elbow pain usually occurs when you do more than what your body is ready for. “It tends to be caused by any sort of activity that involves repetitive gripping,” explains Dr. Aeder. Here are some common causes of inner elbow pain:
Certain sports. You can experience inner elbow pain from golf because it requires you to grip the clubs so tightly. But other activities can contribute to it, too. These include tennis (gripping the tennis racquet very hard), or even throwing sports such as baseball, softball, or football.
Weight training. Certain movements during strength training can contribute to inner elbow pain — such as curling your wrists during a biceps exercise — if your body isn't used to these motions. Doing exercise therapy to stretch and strengthen your arms and wrists (see some moves below) can help you adapt.
Your job. If you’re on your computer all day, you can develop inner elbow pain simply by gripping your mouse tightly, says Dr. Aeder. Manual labor that requires forceful, repetitive movements like construction, plumbing, and carpentry can also cause it.
Physical therapy (PT) is for more than just recovering from surgery or injury. It’s one of the top treatments for joint and muscle pain. It helps build strength, improve mobility, and reduce pain. And it doesn't always need to be in person.
Hinge Health members can conveniently access customized plans or chat with their care team at home or on the go — and experience an average 68% reduction in pain* within the first 12 weeks of their program. Learn more*.
Exercises for inner elbow pain
Want expert care? Check if you're covered for our free program →- Wrist Flexor
- Wrist Bends
- Seated Wrist Pronation
- Seated Wrist Supination
- Towel Squeeze
- Elbow Curl
These inner elbow pain exercises are recommended by Hinge Health therapists to alleviate pain and strengthen the muscles in your wrists and arms, to keep the pain from coming back. This way you’ll be able to keep up with all the activities you enjoy, like golf and tennis, with less pain and discomfort.
The information contained in these videos is intended to be used for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice or treatment for any specific condition. Hinge Health is not your healthcare provider and is not responsible for any injury sustained or exacerbated by your use of or participation in these exercises. Please consult with your healthcare provider with any questions you may have about your medical condition or treatment.
Treatment for inner elbow pain
Most people can recover from inner elbow pain within about six to 12 weeks with at-home treatments. Here’s what Hinge Health physical therapists recommend.
Physical therapy. A physical therapist (PT) can recommend stretching and strengthening exercises, like the ones above, to improve elbow and wrist mobility, relieve symptoms, and strengthen surrounding muscles to take pressure off of the elbow. You can see a physical therapist in person or use a program like Hinge Health to access a PT via telehealth/video visit.
Ice. “I always recommend ice cupping, because ice can help relieve inflammation around your elbow bone,” says Dr. Aeder. To make an ice cup, take a small paper cup and fill it three-quarters of the way up with water. Freeze it, then, when you want to use it, peel out a piece from the bottom of the cup so that the ice is exposed. Then apply that to your elbow. (And use a towel to catch any drips from the other end.)
Self-massage. Dr. Aeder recommends that you simply place your thumb over the sore area, and massage it for 10-15 minutes to help increase blood flow and bring in healing nutrients.
Over-the-counter medications. Pain relievers such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve), and acetaminophen (Tylenol) can help with inner elbow pain. Sometimes topical medications such as diclofenac can also make you feel better. It’s important to make sure that you are safely able to take these medications, based on your medical history.
Arm brace. Wearing a brace may reduce pressure on the injured tendon in your elbow. You can use it while you work or play sports. Just make sure to use it so that the brace cushion rests on your forearm muscles (about three to four inches from the tip of your elbow bone).
Check your lifting technique. When lifting heavier objects, try lifting with your palm down (instead of palm up) to shift stress from the inside to the outside of your elbow.
How to prevent inner elbow pain
Although you can experience inner elbow pain from regular, everyday activities, there are steps you can take to help prevent it from occurring altogether, such as:
Warming up before activity. Dynamic stretches can prepare your wrists, arms, and elbow joints for a more vigorous workout or activity, especially one that involves consistent gripping.
Strengthening and stretching your arm muscles. Arm stretches and strengthening exercises can help take pressure off your elbow joint, reducing your risk of developing inner elbow pain with activity.
Checking your swing. If you golf, consider taking a few lessons from a golf coach to get feedback on your swing and grip. This can help prevent pain from setting in.
Listening to your body. Pain is tricky because it’s not always an accurate indication of damage. You don’t need to drop everything and stop moving at the first sign of a twinge in your inner elbow, but putting heavy loads on an already inflamed joint may make for a longer recovery. If you notice inner elbow pain, it’s okay to scale back to gentle movement to prevent your pain from getting worse.
Increasing exercise gradually. If you’re new to a sport like golf or tennis — or are planning an all-day task like painting your house — aim to start gradually, taking plenty of breaks to give your arms and elbows a rest. If you usually play one round of golf every few weekends, make sure you take breaks as needed or play at a more moderate intensity for part of the round. Over time, you can work up to more time spent playing or increased intensity.
PT tip: Mix it up
Mix up your activities throughout the day to prevent inner elbow pain. “It’s all about variety and not doing the same thing,” says Dr. Aeder. That might mean changing your paintbrush grip if you’re a painter, or using your mouse or keyboard differently throughout the day.
References
Maughan, R. J., & Shirreffs, S. M. (2019). Muscle Cramping During Exercise: Causes, Solutions, and Questions Remaining. Sports Medicine. doi:10.1007/s40279-019-01162-1
Pieters, Louise, et al. (2020, March). An Update of Systematic Reviews Examining the Effectiveness of Conservative Physical Therapy Interventions for Subacromial Shoulder Pain. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. doi:10.2519/jospt.2020.8498.
Alzahrani, Wael M. (2022, August).Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections as an Alternative to Surgery in Treating Patients with Medial Epicondylitis: A Systematic Review. Cureus. doi:org/10.7759/cureus.28378.
Elbow Tendinopathy (Tennis and Golf Elbow). (2022, October). UptoDate. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/elbow-tendinopathy-tennis-and-golf-elbow
Golfer’s Elbow. (2018, May). National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507002/