Duration

The term “golfer’s elbow” does not mean that only golfers or athletes suffer from this disease. In fact, the “golfer’s elbow” occurs relatively rarely in athletes, usually as a result of a mislearned technique. Since the golfer’s elbow is caused by chronic mechanical overstrain, craftsmen, mechanics, road and construction workers or secretaries are particularly affected.

In the course of the disease, painful wear and tear occurs in the insertion area of the flexor muscles of the wrist. The golfer’s elbow also frequently occurs in older patients. Examinations show here under circumstances strongly pronounced degenerative (arthrotic) changes in the elbow joint.

The forearm flexor muscles are suspended at the end of the humerus on the inside. With it, the person can bend the elbow as well as the wrist and fingers. The muscle attachment tendons of this muscle group are thus stressed during many movements.

The causes of a golfer’s arm are usually due to overloading or incorrect loading of the affected arm. The reasons for this can be many and varied; a golfer’s arm does not only occur after playing golf, but can also be triggered by other activities. Typical triggers are strong strains on only one arm, for example when climbing, especially when the movements are not technically executed properly. In everyday life, a golfer’s arm can also occur, often the trigger here is to operate a computer mouse for hours on end. Why these strains lead to an inflammatory process in the muscle attachments is not fully understood, but the mechanical irritation of the tissue plays a major role.

Diagnosis of a golfer’s elbow

The diagnosis can usually be made on the basis of a medical history and a simple physical examination. The doctor will trigger typical pain points by applying pressure. It is important to make sure that there is no injury to the bones or elbow joint causing similar symptoms.

Additional tests will also be carried out, such as the provocation test: With the elbow joint stretched, the wrist is extended and the arm is supported on a table with the ball of the hand. In the case of the golfer’s elbow, the pain at the inner elbow increases. In this test, the flexor muscles on the forearm are subjected to maximum stress.

The tendons at the inner elbow are subjected to increased tension. The diseased tendons react to this with increased pain. To rule out other diseases, an X-ray can be taken to see whether the pain is caused by, for example, old fracture consequences.

Among the occupational groups at risk are those who have to use the forearm flexors intensively. These are especially craftsmen, mechanics or construction workers. Because of the severe pain of the golfer’s elbow, which is becoming more and more frequent when performing everyday activities and is sometimes so severe that even lifting light objects becomes a torture, the patient visits a doctor.

Patients often also complain about the pain radiating into the muscles of the forearm. During the clinical examination of the golfer’s elbow, a strong pain of pressure and touch on the tendon attachments concerned is to be induced. Pain causes a restriction of movement in the elbow joint, but this is relatively rarely caused by degenerative/wear-related changes.

As part of the medical examination, the doctor performs so-called resistance tests on the golfer’s elbow. The patient has to make a fist and push it up or down against force. In case of a disease of the tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow, this test increases the pain in the elbow joint.

Often, the entire forearm musculature is very tense and, under certain circumstances, slight sensory disturbances can occur, which can be noticeable, for example, by a tingling sensation. They are usually not caused by a cervical syndrome (cervical spine syndrome) or local nerve damage. When pressure is applied to the original zones of the finger and hand reflexors, a strong, stabbing pain occurs.

Due to the pain of the patient, there is also always a movement restriction of the elbow joint. However, this is only in very rare cases due to degenerative changes and is rather pain-related.During an ultrasound examination, the physician can detect swelling in the area of the tendon attachment, whereas X-ray examinations of the elbow joint only very rarely and usually in more advanced stages reveal pathological changes. In cases in which the golfer’s elbow has already reached a chronic stage, the X-ray image may possibly show calcification foci in the area of the tendon attachment, or small periosteal irregularities (= periosteum irregularities) and bone stretching. The physician must distinguish between epicondylitis humeri ulnaris (= golfer’s elbow) and epicondylitis humeri radialis (= tennis arm), for example. In order to be able to differentiate this reliably, the following tests will help the doctor.