A golfer’s elbow is an inflammation of the tendon attachments of the flexor muscles of the hand, which are located at the elbow. These tendon attachment inflammations, such as biceps tendon inflammation, are caused by long-term unilateral activities involving bending of the fingers and rotary movements in the forearm (e.g. turning screws). A shortening of the extensor muscles (extensors) and a malposition of the carpal bones of the hand result in increased tension of the flexor muscles. If the tone of the flexor muscles is not reduced, the blood flow to the tendon attachments may be restricted for a longer period of time and promote inflammation of these.
Exercises and stretching
1) In the case of chronic inflammation of the muscle attachments, eccentric muscle training should be performed. The patient’s arm should be in a comfortable position with the hand held in an overhang with the palm facing upwards. He is given a light dumbbell or water bottle in his hand and actively pulls the hand into the flexion and very slowly lets the hand return to the neutral position.
The slow release is especially important for the muscle, because the fibers are slowly pulled apart and thus stretched. 2) In order to mobilize the entire arm, the counteracting mobilization from the functional movement theory is a good choice. The patient moves his elbow backwards past the body.
The elbow is positioned outwards and the palm of the hand is turned upwards. Then the patient extends his arm and turns the hand forward and the wrist is stretched. Repeat this motion sequence several times.
It is important that the shoulders are kept down while doing this. 3) Mobilization of the shoulders is also important. Since the tone of the shoulder-neck muscles is usually increased and continues to stretch over the entire arm, the shoulder should be loosened.
The patient can achieve this himself by shoulder circling. 4) Furthermore, stretching the Trapezius muscle by pressing down the hand and tilting the head sideways towards the opposite side helps to minimize the tonus. 5) To mobilize the BWS, the exercises “cat” and “pot-bellied pig” are suitable.
These positions are performed from the four-footed position. The patient presses the spine far into a hump and then lets it sag extremely. Repeat this exercise several times.
6) To stretch the extensor group (hand extensor), the hand can be held far into flexion (flexion) with the elbow extended. Alternatively, the complete nerve stretching for the forearm can be used. The elbow is stretched, arm slightly backwards, hand is pulled into flexion and ulnarduction.
The head is pulled to the opposite side at a lateral angle to increase the stretch. 7) For the complete Plexus Brachialis (nerve plexus of the pheripheral nervous system) the patient stands with arms stretched out and turns one palm upwards and the other downwards. The line of vision goes to the palm of the hand pointing upwards. Then the patient turns his head and at the same time the palms of his hands so that the head always points in the direction of the palm that is turned upwards.
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