Tennis elbow vs golfer’s elbow in Mendrisio: differences, clinical tests and advanced solutions for elbow pain

Elbow pain is a common and often underestimated condition. Many people struggle to tell the main causes apart, particularly tennis elbow and golfer's elbow, and end up treating the problem in a generic or ineffective way. Understanding the differences is fundamental in order to set out the right course of care, especially when the pain is not linked only to sport, but also to repetitive everyday movements.

In Mendrisio, TI-FISIO tackles elbow pain with a complete clinical approach, which starts from a functional assessment and goes all the way to preventing recurrence.

In everyday language people often talk about “tennis elbow” or “golfer's elbow”, but these terms do not really explain what is actually happening. The confusion between lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow) and medial epicondylitis (golfer's elbow) arises because both conditions involve pain in the elbow area, often without any obvious injury.

In reality, these are two different clinical pictures, which affect different structures and respond to specific mechanical loads. The pain can also appear in people who do not play sport: office work, manual activities, prolonged use of the mouse, gym training and repetitive work are extremely frequent causes.

The distinction between tennis elbow and golfer's elbow is first of all anatomical.

In tennis elbow, the pain is felt on the outer side of the elbow and is linked to overload of the extensor muscles of the forearm. It is typical of prolonged gripping, wrist extension and activities that require fine control of the hand.

In golfer's elbow, on the other hand, the pain appears on the inner side of the elbow and is associated with the flexor and pronator muscles. It is common in people who repeatedly bend the wrist, twist the forearm or handle loads badly.

Understanding whether the pain belongs to tennis elbow or to golfer's elbow makes it possible to avoid generic treatments that often bring only temporary improvement.

Limiting the problem to sport is one of the most common mistakes. Today, a large percentage of patients develop pain in tennis elbow or in golfer's elbow because of work and everyday activities.

Among the most frequent factors:

• prolonged use of the mouse and keyboard
• fixed postures held for many hours
• manual work with tools
• gym training with badly distributed loads
• repetitive household activities

In these cases, the elbow becomes the point where compensations that arise higher up or lower down are discharged, such as in the shoulder, the wrist or the hand. For this reason, a local assessment is not enough.

Telling tennis elbow and golfer's elbow apart relies on specific clinical tests, which make it possible to provoke the pain in a controlled and reproducible way.

Among the most widely used tests:

• resisted wrist extension test for tennis elbow
• resisted wrist flexion test for golfer's elbow
• assessment of grip strength
• selective palpation of the tendon insertions
• functional loading test

These tests are never interpreted in isolation. The pain they provoke must always be related to the person's functional context and to the quality of movement.

One of the most important aspects in the management of tennis elbow and golfer's elbow is the global assessment. The elbow is rarely the only structure responsible for the problem.

At TI-FISIO, the assessment includes:

• checking the mobility and stability of the shoulder
• analysis of the biomechanics of the wrist
• assessment of grip strength and endurance
• observation of compensations during functional movements
• analysis of posture and of the kinetic chain

Elbow pain is often the consequence of an unstable shoulder, a stiff wrist or an inefficient grip. Working only on the painful spot means ignoring the real cause of the overload.

In the treatment of tennis elbow and golfer's elbow, pain control is an important stage, but it is not the final goal. Specific tools can be used to support the rehabilitation programme.

These include:

• Dry Needling, useful for reducing muscle tension and modulating pain
• neuromuscular taping, to improve the perception of movement and reduce the load on irritated structures
• targeted manual techniques
• specific progressive loading exercises

These tools do not replace active work, but they improve the quality of movement and make it possible to work more effectively.

The real difference in the treatment of tennis elbow and golfer's elbow is made by therapeutic exercise. The tendon needs load, but a correct, progressive and well-dosed load.

The work includes:

• specific strengthening exercises
• eccentric and concentric control
• improvement of endurance
• retraining of the functional movement
• intelligent load management

Skipping this stage or bringing it forward too aggressively is one of the main reasons for recurrence.

A fundamental part of the programme concerns the prevention of relapses. Without a change in the factors that generated the problem, the pain tends to come back.

In the prevention of tennis elbow and golfer's elbow, work is done on:

• ergonomics of the workstation
• height of the desk, mouse and keyboard
• technique in sporting movements or in the gym
• distribution of loads
• management of recovery times

Small corrections, if well targeted, can drastically reduce the risk of recurrence.

The programme TI-FISIO offers for elbow pain is not based on standard protocols, but on a thorough clinical assessment and on personalised work. Whether the pain lies in tennis elbow or in golfer's elbow, the aim is to restore function, confidence and continuity in movement.

Every intervention takes into account:

• work demands
• daily habits
• sporting activity
• individual characteristics

If you suffer from elbow pain and are not sure whether it is tennis elbow or golfer's elbow, contact TI-FISIO in Mendrisio for a targeted assessment and a programme built around you.

+41 91 940 10 20

info@ti-fisio.ch

Via Ceresio 42, Pregassona.

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+41 (0)91 229 69 80

mendrisio@ti-fisio.ch

Via Giuseppe Motta, 6a, Mendrisio