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Golfers Elbow (Flexor/Pronator Tendonopathy)
INJURY OVERVIEW
| Not as common as Tennis Elbow, but is seen in golfers and also any other sports that place a lot of strain on the tendons that cause wrist to bend (palm to forearm) and pronation (turning your palm face down). Seen in tennis where players place a lot of top spin on their shots, and also in everyday activities that increase the tendon stress – building, lifting etc. |
INJURY IN-DEPTH INFORMATION
| This injury affects the muscles on the underside of your forearm. These muscles group together to form a common tendon that helps them attach to your elbow (on the inside of the joint). If this tendon gets regularly loaded beyond what it can cope with, it will start to degenerate and the process of Tendinopathy will begin. See ‘tendinopathy’ in the ‘general injuries’ section for details on this process. |
COMMON SIGNS & SYMPTOMS
| Pain inside elbow
Pain on gripping Pain on passive stretch of the flexor and pronator tendons |
HOW IS IT ASSESSED
| -Clinical examination to isolate this as the main cause of symptoms.
-If necessary, ultra sound scanning will reveal the pathology in the tendon (this is only needed if more medical forms of treatment are needed). |
GENERAL TREATMENT
| – manual therapy to help release any soft tissue tightening around the area, and to help with joint mobility
– progressive strengthening program to load the tendon without causing pain – if the pain is severe and persistent, injection therapy can be used. – acupuncture techniques can also help with pain and the soft tissue management mentioned above. |
WHICH HEALTH PROFESSIONAL TO CONSULT
| PHYSIO X | MEDIC X | PODIATRY |
Put an ‘X’ next to each health professional that most commonly deals with this injury.
i.e. tennis elbow would be Physio and Medic as injections are common, whereas for muscular LBP it would be Physio and not Medic as they would just refer them to a Physio.