What to do when the pain reaches the hand?

Unfortunately, it is not unusual for elbow pain to extend into the hand. Because the multitude of muscles, ligaments, tendons and nerves of the forearm, hand and fingers originate at the elbow. If these are overloaded by a continuous monotonous movement or too intensive sport training, elbow pain can develop and radiate into the hand.

The phenomenon is known for these clinical pictures, among others: The common feature of these three clinical pictures is that they are all based on an overload reaction. The so-called cell phone elbow also belongs in this category. Affected people usually hold their cell phone against their ear in a cramped position when making a call, so that the elbow is permanently bent and the ulnar nerve is pinched.

This causes pain below the elbow, in the palm, the edge of the hand, the ring finger and the little finger. Doctors then also speak of a cubital tunnel syndrome (= bottleneck syndrome at the elbow). Causes that lie outside the arm could be a rib blockage or a herniated disc.

The common feature of these three clinical pictures is that they are all based on an overload reaction. The so-called cell phone elbow also belongs in this category. Affected people usually hold their cell phone against their ear in a cramped position when making a phone call, so that the elbow is permanently bent and the ulnar nerve is pinched.

Tennis elbow
Golf elbow
RSI syndrome (Repetitive Strain Injury Syndrome/Mouse Arm).

Elbow pain due to tricep training?

Elbow pain is more common in people who do a lot of weight training, especially triceps training. The triceps belongs to the upper arm muscles, which run along the back of the upper arm. Its primary function is to extend the elbow.

If the tendon of the triceps is irritated by overstraining, an inflammation develops which can cause pain throughout the entire course of the tendon. Mostly this is the case due to too intensive strength training. Affected persons have often intensively trained the following exercises during weight training: If athletes then skip the warm-up, train one-sided, do not pay attention to the correct execution of the movements, elbow pain is pre-programmed.

In order to be able to do weight training/triceps without causing elbow pain, athletes should always make sure to take sufficient breaks from training and to train as varied as possible. In addition, the elbow joints should not be stretched to the maximum during weight training. When training with weights, always increase the number of repetitions before increasing the weight.

Another exercise that is predestined for elbow complaints is the bar support – the so-called “dips”. The exercise is performed as follows: However, the elbows must never be overstretched. Otherwise the entire body weight will be on the elbow joints and the risk of injury is particularly high.

The upper body remains straight and must not be tilted too far forward. Then the athlete takes a deep breath and lowers his upper body in a controlled manner to about 90° downwards. Even if the athlete has sufficient strength, the elbows should not be bent over 90°.

Otherwise the pressure on the elbow joints is too high. In addition, the elbows should not drift too far out (over the wrist to the side). Otherwise, the shoulder joints will be put under too much pressure and injuries may occur, which in turn may result in elbow pain.

“Bench press”,
“Overhead Press”
“Push Press”.

The athlete stands in front of a dip machine or a bar and clasps both bars with straight wrists. Now the athlete breathes out and simultaneously pushes himself upwards on the bars until his elbows are stretched.