Elbows
Elbows
The elbow is surrounded with misnomers. You don''''t really laugh when you hit your "funny bone." And tennis elbow isn''''t always caused by swinging a racket.
But at least they got the name of the joint right. When your arm is bent, it does form the shape of the letter L.
The elbow lets you make an interesting combination of movements. It works like a hinge but also allows some rotation, observes Pekka Mooar, M.D., assistant professor of orthopedic surgery and chief of sports medicine at the Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University School of Medicine in Philadelphia. That''''s why in addition to being able to bend your arm, you can rotate your forearm. 
If you have tennis elbow, you''''ll feel pain or tenderness in the tendon area shown above--near the bony prominence called the epicondyle.
When it comes to elbow injuries, it''''s possible to fracture it--which would require a doctor''''s care. And occasionally, people suffer from bursitis in the elbow, which is an inflammation of the bursa, a fluid-filled sac at the joint. If you have bursitis, you''''ll see some obvious swelling and feel some softness in the flesh around your elbow. (This could also be a sign of arthritis, so you should have a doctor check it out.)
By far the most common elbow injury doctors see is tennis elbow, caused by overuse and repetitive straightening, bending and rotating. Such repetitive use pulls on tendons that attach to an area called the epicondyle, causing irritation and pain. Hence, the medical name for tennis elbow: lateral epicondylitis.
| It''''s Not Funny and It''''s Not a Bone Bumping your elbow on "the funny bone" can cause that strange pins-and-needles tingling sensation through your arm that we''''re all so familiar with. But the sensation doesn''''t come from a bone. It''''s from striking a nerve called the ulnar nerve that runs down the back of the humerus, around the tip of the elbow and along the side of the radius. |
While tennis is one activity that can cause pain, "most tennis elbow I see is not related to playing tennis," says Dr. Mooar. In fact, most people get it from work rather than play. People can get tennis elbow from carpentry work, from pulling files or from doing factory jobs, according to Robert Sallis, M.D., assistant program director of the family medicine residency program at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Fontana, California. Other possible causes include stripping wallpaper, painting or working in the garden.
Whatever the cause, here are some ways to get relief from the pain, whether it''''s caused by tennis elbow or by bursitis.
Igloo your elbow. "Icing is very helpful, particularly when it is sore," say Dr. Sallis. Wrap a plastic bag of ice in a towel and hold it to your elbow for 10 to 20 minutes. You can repeat this four or five times a day--or whenever your elbow is sore.
Reach over the counter. Nonprescription anti-inflammatory medications such as Motrin or Advil are useful in achieving relief from tennis elbow, says Dr. Sallis. Both contain ibuprofen. Just follow directions on the label.
Give it a break. The best way to prevent tennis elbow is to do your best to minimize activities that involve repetitive bending, straightening and rotation. "The mainstay of treatment, when it does start to bother you, is resting the arm and avoiding the activity that aggravates it," says Dr. Sallis.
Doctor it. If the pain is severe, a doctor might give you a brace or splint to hold your arm steady and prevent motion. "Very frequently, I will put people in a tennis elbow brace, which is sort of a nonelastic strap that fits around the forearm," says Dr. Sallis. "It prevents excessive muscle contraction from pulling on those tendons where they attach to the epicondyle." The brace is available without prescription from most drugstores--or a doctor can supply you with one.
See also Muscular System, Skeletal System
