Why Is Tennis Elbow a Common Golf Injury?
Tennis elbow is caused by repeated movements of your forearm while holding a tennis racket or golf club. Over time, the muscles and tendons around the elbow become irritated and inflamed. This causes pain and discomfort when you swing a golf club or hold a tennis racket. You may notice swelling at the joint and feel tightness in the muscles. Your doctor will likely recommend rest and anti-inflammatory medication if you suffer from tennis elbow.
Cure
According to WebMD, doctors may perform surgery to alleviate severe cases of golfer’s elbow.
If a damaged tendon has to be removed or reattached to a bone, your doctor may suggest these options. The region surrounding the elbow will benefit from better blood flow as a result of the procedure.
In most cases, surgery is a last option.
After three to six months of treatment with ice, rest, stretching exercises, and moderate strength training, surgery is generally a possibility, according to WebMD. During that time, your doctor will tell you to avoid playing golf and other activities that give you difficulty. A three- to six-month recuperation time is typical after surgery.
Do Golfers Get Tennis Elbow?
Golfers do develop Tennis Elbows quite often. In fact studies and surveys suggest they suffer this injury more often then Golfer’s Elbow! In the video above, I offer my perspective of how and why Lateral elbow pain / (Lepicondylopathy) seems be the greater challenge for golfer’s.
What’s The Difference Between Tennis And Golfer’s Elbow?
| Golfer’s Elbow | Tennis elbow |
| Golfer’s Elbow is an injury that happens when the tendons of the forearm muscles that close your wrist into a fist become inflamed. These tendons attach to a bony knob called the medial epicondyle, located just above the inside of your elbow. Medial epicondylitis is caused by repetitive strain on the tendons, usually while swinging a club. Symptoms include pain, swelling, tenderness, weakness, and loss of grip strength. There are several treatments available, including rest, physical therapy, corticosteroid injections, anti-inflammatory medications, braces, and surgery. | Tennis elbow is also known as lateral epicondylitis, golfer’s elbow, tennis player’s elbow, or simply “tennis elbow”. It is caused by repetitive strain on the forearm extensor muscles, specifically the extensor carpi radialis brevis and the extensor digitorum communis. These two muscles are located on the outside of the upper arm, just below the shoulder joint. When you extend your arm, these muscles pull your forearm back toward your body. Over time, repeated extension causes inflammation and damage to the tendon sheath surrounding the muscle. This results in pain, swelling, and tenderness along the outside edge of the elbow. |
How Do Golfer’s Get This Injury?
- When you play tennis, your body should be aligned properly. If not, you could get injured. When you swing a golf club, your body needs to be aligned properly. Otherwise, you could injure yourself. Golfers often refer to the outer side of their arm as their “Tennis Elbow” because it hurts when they hit the ball. But if you keep your arm straight, your elbow will stay out of harm’s way.
- I’m not sure why they chose to write about golf, but I guess they wanted to show that even though it might seem like a simple game, there are many different ways to play it. For example, when someone hits the ball, they could hit it straight down instead of trying to get it to go in a certain direction. Or, they could try to hit it as far away from them as possible.
- The impact shock travels through your arm and hits your wrist, causing it to bend forward. Your wrist will then go into an extended position, which the Wrists Flexor Muscles will try to oppose (eccentric contraction), but you won’t feel any pain because your brain doesn’t register it yet.
- While the muscles of the forearm are already stretched out in an extended (and often hyper-extended) position. Stretching those flexor muscles and their attachment ‘insertion’ tendons at the wrist! (Medial epicondyle) – Setting up the golfer for a case of Tennis Shoulder!
Do Golfers Suffer Tennis Elbow More Often Than Golfer’s Elbow?
It seems like there is a lot of confusion about what golfer’s elbow actually is. There are two types of golfer’s elbow. One type is called medial epicondylitis, which affects the muscles at the front of your forearm. The other type is lateral epicondylitis, also called tennis elbow, which affects the muscles behind your wrist. Both conditions cause pain in the elbow joint. But, while medial epicondylitis usually occurs when you’re using your arm to swing a club, lateral epicondylitis tends to occur when you’re swinging a racquet. Golfers’ elbows are caused by repetitive motions that put stress on the joints.
It seems like tennis elbow is becoming more prevalent among golfers. A lot of golfers are getting tennis elbow because they swing the club too hard. If you’re not careful when swinging your clubs, you could get tennis elbow.
There are many reasons why golf injuries occur. One reason is because golfers often swing their clubs too hard. Another reason is because golfers tend to swing their clubs too fast. A third reason is because golfers swing their clubs too far back. These three factors combined cause golfers to hit the ball too hard, too fast, and too far back. When golfers hit the ball too hard and too far back, they put themselves at risk of getting injured. If you’re not careful when swinging your club, you could end up hurting yourself.
Medical research shows that there is not enough evidence to say what causes tennis elbow. There is also not enough information about how to treat it. However, there is some information available about prevention. One study showed that using an anti-inflammatory medication like ibuprofen before playing tennis could reduce inflammation and help prevent injury. Another study showed that icing after exercise may help decrease swelling and stiffness.
Why Do Golfers Suffer Lateral Epicondylitis Epicondylosis More Often?
Tennis elbow is more prevalent in the population than golfer’s elbow. Most occupations require repetitive motions and many jobs involve manual labor. Thus, the likelihood of developing tennis elbow is higher than golfer’s elbow due to the increased number of repetitions required.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner! It’s the golfer’s elbow. (The golfer’s elbow side of your forearm/wrist/elbow.) The wrist flexors are stronger, more adaptable, and have a higher endurance threshold than the wrist extensors. So when you swing, your wrist flexors will be working harder and longer than your wrist extensors. Your wrist extensors tend to get injured first because they’re weaker and less flexible.
It’s the weaker and less adaptive wrists that are on the frontlines. So, if you’re right handed, your left side is the lead side, and your left wrist is the first point of contact. If you’re left handed, then your right side is the lead side and your right wrist is the first point contact.
Golfers often hit the ball with a bent arm, called a “Fat Shot” because it travels farther than a normal shot. To get the same distance, you need to swing harder, which puts more stress on your body. That’s why golfers tend to have stronger arms than other athletes.
The biceps brachii muscle is responsible for extending your arm at the shoulder joint. When you extend your arm, the biceps brachii pulls your forearm towards your body. This helps you hold objects like your phone or keys. If you bend your elbow, the biceps brachiis will shorten and pull your forearm away from your body. This allows you to pick something up off the ground or put something down.
It’s not just a recipe for chronic micro-trauma leading to frayed tendons and degeneration, if you’re unable to adapt your movement patterns. It’s also a recipe for an ever-present risk of tearing any of those tendons or their muscle attachments.
Why Golfers Should Take Tennis Elbow More Seriously
Tennis elbow is an injury caused by repetitive stress on the tendons that run down your forearm. It usually happens after you’ve played tennis for awhile. You may not even notice it until you start feeling pain while playing tennis. It hurts like crazy! It feels like someone is stabbing you with a needle every time you move your arm. If you’re lucky, you’ll get better within a few weeks. But if you’re unlucky, you might need surgery.
I think the bottom line is the muscles and tendons are not as strong and resilient as other areas of the body. So when they get injured, they heal slower.
Although the Golfer’ s elbow muscle and tendon are strong and resilient, Tennis Elbow is more limiting because it causes pain and limits your ability to play tennis. If you decide to keep playing with Tennis Elbow, you will need to make adjustments to your game.