Elbow Care: What Causes Pain on Each Side

Elbow care begins with which side is painful, because the two common conditions sit on opposite sides and behave differently. Pain on the outside, worse on gripping or turning a handle, is usually tennis elbow. Pain on the inside, worse on gripping with the wrist bent down, is usually golfer’s elbow. Both are tendon problems driven by load.

One check belongs before either diagnosis. Numbness or tingling in the hand alongside elbow pain suggests the neck or a nerve at the elbow, and treating the tendon alone will not settle it. Grip is the load that keeps most elbow tendons irritated, which is why reducing sustained gripping for a few weeks often achieves more than any single treatment applied to the elbow itself.

For more information about elbow care, contact the Bukit Damansara (KL) main center: WhatsApp+60 17 269 1873 Call+603 2093 1000

Key Takeaways on Elbow Care

• Find out what is loading the tendon. Elbow problems usually come from repeated load the tissue has not been prepared for, or from a grip and wrist technique that concentrates strain at one point. A careful assessment replaces guessing with a specific finding.
• Start conservative care early. Tendon problems that are addressed early are usually simpler to manage than those left for months.
• Do not treat the elbow in isolation. Elbow function depends on the shoulder, wrist, neck and posture as well, so these are checked too.

How Elbow Pain Is Assessed and Managed

The assessment looks at whether the problem is muscular, tendinous, joint-related or nerve-related, and at the shoulder, wrist and upper back that load the elbow. Depending on the findings, care may include gentle, non-rotatory chiropractic methods, physiotherapy such as therapeutic ultrasound or shockwave therapy, a graded tendon-loading program and ergonomic changes, without medication or injections.

Arranging an Assessment for Elbow Pain

To arrange an assessment for elbow pain, see the Bukit Damansara contact page and the Bandar Sri Damansara contact page, or call either center directly:

• Bukit Damansara (KL, main center): Call +603 2093 1000 or WhatsApp +60 17 269 1873 to see the Bukit Damansara / KL center.
• Bandar Sri Damansara (KL): Call +603 6262 5777 or WhatsApp +60 12 455 6939 to see the Bandar Sri Damansara center.

Why Early Care Matters

Mild elbow pain often settles within a few days with relative rest and icing. Pain that lasts more than a few days, or keeps returning with certain activities, usually indicates a load problem that needs addressing. Left alone, conditions such as bursitis or tendonitis can become persistent, and athletes who return to sport too soon risk a longer setback.

Injury and Overuse

Elbow problems usually follow either a traumatic injury, often in sport, or repetitive strain from gripping, lifting or carrying. Overuse problems are not caused by a single event; they build as repeated movements irritate the tendon faster than it adapts, and they are often ignored until they worsen.

The elbow is a hinge joint formed by the humerus, radius and ulna. The lateral epicondyle on the outer side anchors the muscles that extend the wrist and fingers; the medial epicondyle on the inner side anchors the muscles that flex the wrist and fingers and grip.

• Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) is pain on the outer part of the elbow.
• Golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis) is pain on the inner part of the elbow.

For either condition, modifying the aggravating activity during recovery matters, because continuing to strain the affected muscles tends to prolong the problem.

Avoid Aggressive Stretching of an Irritable Elbow

Stretching an irritable tendon hard, or pushing through pain on medication, can aggravate it. Loading needs to be graded to what the tendon tolerates, which is why exercise is introduced in stages rather than all at once.

What the Evidence Shows About Injections for Tennis Elbow

In a randomized trial of 198 people, a corticosteroid injection looked best at six weeks, with 78 percent rated a success against 65 percent for physiotherapy and 27 percent for wait-and-see. By 52 weeks the order had reversed: 94 percent for physiotherapy, 90 percent for wait-and-see and 68 percent for injection, and 47 of the 65 people whose injection had initially worked had relapsed (Bisset L, et al. BMJ. 2006;333(7575):939).

A later randomized trial of 165 people compared corticosteroid injection with a placebo injection. At one year, complete recovery or much improvement was reported by 83 percent of the corticosteroid group against 96 percent of the placebo group, and recurrence was 54 percent against 12 percent (Coombes BK, et al. JAMA. 2013;309(5):461-469).

That does not mean an injection is never reasonable. It means the short-term relief has a measurable cost at a year, and that loading the tendon properly is what tends to hold. Evidence for stem-cell and other regenerative injections in elbow tendon problems remains limited, and it is worth asking for the evidence before agreeing to one.

How to Reduce Elbow Pain at Home

• Reduce the activities that aggravate the elbow, especially sustained gripping.
• Apply ice for up to 15 minutes at a time, with a cloth between the ice and the skin, allowing time between sessions.
• A counterforce strap or elbow sleeve may reduce strain during activity; a strap needs to fit correctly to be useful.

What Care May Include

• Chiropractic joint work for the elbow, wrist, neck or upper back where movement is restricted.
• Physiotherapy, which may include ultrasound, electrical stimulation (interferential current), ice or heat to settle irritable tissue.
• Exercise therapy, progressing from isometric holds to slow, heavier loading and then task-specific work, guided so that it does not aggravate the tendon.
• Bracing for a period if movement is aggravating the pain.