Symptoms
The elbow is a very busy joint. Unfortunately, strains are quite common and recovery often takes a long time. Start today by learning the right stretches, and be sure to strengthen all 16 muscles that interact with the elbow. High risk groups include anyone performing forceful gripping, use of tools, occasional or frequent lifting, and repetitive typing.
Treatment
Getting your elbow to feel better will require some persistence on your part. There are some easy stretches to do that will have a big impact once you get them mindlessly incorporated into your day. Pain free strengthening including wrist curls in various directions and grip strength squeezes will provide a more permanent fix, and are also your prevention strategy.
Related
Video Transcript: Elbow Strain
Elbow Strain: An elbow strain can be a very nagging injury if you don’t get right to its recovery. You might be feeling throbbing, burning, or a deep ache in your elbow and forearm. To recover from this pain you must keep the channels of circulation going through the muscles, even though you might be tempted to ‘let it rest’. To some degree, letting it rest is a good idea. You don’t want to be doing forceful gripping or lifting exercises over and over and irritating it. However, you don’t want to completely avoid using your arm either. Start your day with a couple stretches, and refresh the muscles with the same stretches as often as you need to. My name is Josie, and I’m a licensed physical therapist and creator of insight into injury, and my 2 favorite exercises to help with symptoms of an elbow strain are the wrist flexor and wrist extensor stretch. Today I’m going to show them to you in the more advanced variation- using a table or bed for leverage. To stretch your wrist flexors, place your hand on the bed beside you with your fingers pointed backwards. Your palm should be as flat as you can get it, and your elbow needs to be straight. Slowly lean backwards to get a good stretch along the front of your arm. Hold it about 20 seconds. Then flip your hand over so that the back of your hand is touching the bed, but your fingers are still pointed backwards. Keep your elbow straight, and again, slowly lean backwards with your body until you feel a stretch now along This side of your forearm. Hold it for 20 seconds too. Doing these exercises a few times throughout the day should help relieve the pain and tension around your elbow. I go in to so many more details about the ins and outs related to an elbow strain, and will teach you the complete list of exercises that will help you prevent and recover from one. Please check out my full length PT session video, here, at insight into injury.com. I think you’re elbows will thank you!transcript coming soon
This should get you started in the right direction, but please check out my full-length PT session to get all the rest of the details that will troubleshoot your symptoms and take you to a full recovery. I’ve also got an exercise checklist for you and illustrations so you can work on the exercises easily throughout the day. I hope you’ve been encouraged, and that you’ll be feeling better soon.
This should get you started in the right direction, but please check out my full-length PT session to get all the rest of the details that will troubleshoot your symptoms and take you to a full recovery. I’ve also got an exercise checklist for you and illustrations so you can work on the exercises easily throughout the day. I hope you’ve been encouraged, and that you’ll be feeling better soon.