Elbow Pain
Elbow pain (Tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow)
Elbow pain including tennis elbow aka lateral epicondylitis and golfer’s elbow medial epicondylitis can be long lasting pain. Dr. Hughes has seen this kind of injury in tennis players and golfers, of course, but also in massage therapists, bodyworkers, dentists, skiers, kayakers, and stand up paddleboarders. Patients suffering from these elbow injuries often complain for months and even years before doing some kind of therapy to heal their condition. The challenging aspect of treating these injuries is that the elbow is a very mobile joint that is difficult to allow rest to heal appropriately. Also, when the elbow joint is at rest (such as while in bed), many patients actually sleep with it bent (flexed), such that the tendons attached to the elbow heal partially in a shortened manner overnight. When the patient wakes up and extends the elbow, these tendons can tear leading to a repeat injury, or over time, a calcific tendonitis. Dr. Hughes recommends, in such cases, that patients with tennis elbow or golf’s elbow wear an “elbow extension brace” (find online) to improve the patient’s ability to heal with lengthened extensor tendons. With a lengthened tendon, Dr. Hughes can inject the area with regenerative injections that include
PRP (as bioactive plasma),
ozone, and dextrose. Regenerative injections with PRP can actually heal the damaged tissue rather than just masking the symptoms, as with cortisone injections. After 1-2 weeks of the PRP injections and wearing the elbow extension brace, most patients can fully resolve their condition of tennis or golfer’s elbow.
Elbow pain (Tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow)
Elbow pain including tennis elbow aka lateral epicondylitis and golfer’s elbow medial epicondylitis can be long lasting pain. Dr. Hughes has seen this kind of injury in tennis players and golfers, of course, but also in massage therapists, bodyworkers, dentists, skiers, kayakers, and stand up paddleboarders. Patients suffering from these elbow injuries often complain for months and even years before doing some kind of therapy to heal their condition. The challenging aspect of treating these injuries is that the elbow is a very mobile joint that is difficult to allow rest to heal appropriately. Also, when the elbow joint is at rest (such as while in bed), many patients actually sleep with it bent (flexed), such that the tendons attached to the elbow heal partially in a shortened manner overnight. When the patient wakes up and extends the elbow, these tendons can tear leading to a repeat injury, or over time, a calcific tendonitis. Dr. Hughes recommends, in such cases, that patients with tennis elbow or golf’s elbow wear an “elbow extension brace” (find online) to improve the patient’s ability to heal with lengthened extensor tendons. With a lengthened tendon, Dr. Hughes can inject the area with regenerative injections that include PRP (as bioactive plasma), ozone, and dextrose. Regenerative injections with PRP can actually heal the damaged tissue rather than just masking the symptoms, as with cortisone injections. After 1-2 weeks of the PRP injections and wearing the elbow extension brace, most patients can fully resolve their condition of tennis or golfer’s elbow.