Elbow Pain? Fix Tennis Elbow & Golfer’s Elbow with Chiropractor Tips!

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Hi, I’m Dr. Ben Boudreau here. Today we’ll be discussing elbow pain. And what does that mean? So in the elbow we have two main compartments. We have a medial compartment on the inside and a lateral compartment on the outside. Commonly, you’ve probably heard of a condition known as tennis elbow. Tennis elbow is a condition that originates from the outside of the elbow. On the inside we have a condition known as golfer’s elbow. The conditions vary slightly in their location as well as the tendons of involvement. For example, for tennis elbow it would be from the common extensor tendon. This means the tendons that elevate the wrist and extend on the inside. It’s caused by the common flexor tendon or the tendon on the inside of the elbow, the one that flexes the wrist joint.

Today’s topic, we will be discussing a few exercises that you can do at home to help work out those tissues. So if we’re discussing tennis elbow and the common extensor tendon on the outside, we want to do stretches that promote flexion. So from this position I can create some stretch through that common extensor tendon. And if I want to to increase that level of stretch I would simply straighten my elbow out and flex the wrist. You can see the stretch here through the common extensor tendon just there. So by flexing the wrist we can create that stretch. Pro tip what I encourage patients to do is to hold on to that common extensor tendon and create cross friction. Create cross friction through that muscle all the way down to its attachment at the wrist joint. So we can see it just here.

I would then grab on either side of that muscle and create a cross friction. This will reduce the adhesions that you would have between muscles that are then compressing upon a nerve, because in many cases, tennis elbow can cause localized discomfort as well as tingling sensations into the fingers. To strengthen this tissue, it will acquire a band. And all we do is inflection. We create a bit of extension, so we’re providing resistance on the band, pulling in the opposite direction, and then we extend back. To work on the common flexor tendon and golfer’s elbow. So the inside of the elbow here. What we’re going to do is stretch it by extending our elbows out and extending our wrist in this direction. And I can feel that stretch that lengthen through the inside of my elbow. If I wanted to strengthen this tissue, I would simply take my band, provide resistance in the opposite direction, and then work into flexion. So we’re flexing that elbow and activating through that common flexor tendon. Pro tip, if you’d like to create some cross friction in between those tissues, all you have to do is grab on to the common extensor tendon on the inside of the elbow here, and you will cross friction back and forth through that tissue down into the elbow. Making note that this is a tendon so it is meatier up towards the elbow with more tissue. And then as it enters towards our wrist joint here, it becomes flat. A flattened band. So you can work it up along the inside of that elbow all the way until you get to the base.