Do you have elbow pain that just wont go away? Does it interfere with your daily life and / or gym life? Continue reading to help distinguish between conditions, fix your pain and when to seek help!
It’s important to know that Nutrition and Hydration play a major role in tendon pain and chronic injuries like tennis elbow, golfers, elbow, shoulder pain, bicep tendonitis, etc
Before digging into any of the following injuries, ensure you are giving your muscles and tendons the fuel and hydration they need to properly heal and recover. The most important areas to think about for recovery are:
- Drinking enough water
- Getting enough Protein in your day
- Electrolytes
- Essential Amino Acids (EAA)
- Creatine
Tennis Elbow
“Tennis elbow” (lateral epicondylitis) is the irritation where your forearm tendons attach to the outside of your elbow — often caused by overuse, poor mechanics, or gripping under tension. Specifically, overuse causes damage to the common extensor tendon and extensor carpi radialis brevis muscle. This happens because irritation causes inflammation leading to microtears of the tendon.
Tennis elbow is a very common injury that often occurs through the ages 20-40 and is equal between males and females. Risk factors include repetiive microtrauma/overuse when performing wrist extension, supination and pronation. Some common causes include:
- Lifting with bent wrists or poor wrist alignment
- Repetitive mouse or typing work
- Grip-heavy training (rows, pull-ups, deadlifts)
- Sudden increase in training volume or load
- Carpenters/plumberes/electricians
What to look for:
Typically there will be no swelling or burising with tennis elbow. Instead, you will notice localized tenderness to touch just distal and anterior to the lateral epicondyle (lateral aspect of the elbow). You may notice decreased grip strength.
Differential Diagnosis:
Not sure if its tennis elbow? It could be elbow athritis depending on age, cervical radiculopathy pain referral, rotator cuff conditions, and/or radial nerve compression at the elbow.
What you can do about it:
- Reduce Aggravating Load Temporarily avoid exercises that cause pain — especially heavy grip or wrist extension work (e.g., deadlifts, pull-ups, curls with poor wrist control).
- Start Eccentric Loading Research shows slow eccentric wrist extensions help tendon healing.
- Hold a light dumbbell (1–3 lb).
- Support your forearm on a table, palm down.
- Use your other hand to lift the weight, then slowly lower it over 3–5 seconds.
- 2–3 sets of 10–15 reps, daily.
- Don’t Forget the Neck & Shoulder Poor shoulder stability or tightness in your neck can increase stress at the elbow. Strengthening the upper back, improving posture, and adding light shoulder control work often relieve pressure on the forearm over time.
When to Get It Checked
If pain persists longer than 4–6 weeks, or if it’s interfering with your lifting or daily function, it’s worth getting assessed. Sometimes the root issue is higher up the chain — wrist, shoulder, or nerve-related. A chiropractor or physiotherapy assessment is a great place to start.
Golfers Elbow
Golfers elbow (medial epicondylitis) occurs from the repeititve use of flexor and pronator forearm muscles that cause microtraumas, inflammation and possibly microtears where the common flexor tendon of forearm attaches.
Approximately 1% of adults will have golfers elbow in their lifetime. Typically between teh ages of 20-60, but can occur at any age, and a greater incidence in males than females (2:1). Risk factors include repetiive work or sport activity, for example:
- Atheltes who throw overhead, factory workers, manual labourers, office workers
- High hand grip forces for >1hour per day
- Working with vibrating tools
What to look for:
Swelling or redness is rare, but tenderness over medial epicondyle (medial aspect of elbow) is present. Passive range of motion causes pain although active and resisted range of motion are typically within normal limits. Grip strength will be decreased.
Differential Diagnosis:
Not sure if its golfers elbow? It could be arthritis, ulnar collateral ligament injury, cervical radiculopathy or ulnar neuropathy, osteochondritis, or thoracic outlet syndrome.
What you can do about it:
- Reduce aggravating load temporarily avoid exercises that cause pain – especially heavy grip or wrist felxion work.
- Start grip training – Finger flexion and extension, draw alphabet, squeexe ball, spread fingers gainst a thick rubber band
- Dont forget the neck and shoulder – poor stability or tightness in neck can increase stress at the elbow.
When to get it checked:
If pain persists longer than 4–6 weeks, or if it’s interfering with your lifting or daily function, it’s worth getting assessed. Sometimes the root issue is higher up the chain — wrist, shoulder, or nerve-related. A chiropractor or physiotherapy assessment is a great place to start.
Still not sounding like you?
It’s time to book an appointment with one of Limitless Performance’s healthcare providers to help diagnose your concerns, guide your rehabilitation, and get you back to lifting heavy with confidence and a higher quality of life.
