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Golfer's elbow

Golfer's elbow is pain around the tendon attachment on the inside of the elbow. It often develops when gripping, bending the wrist or rotating the forearm temporarily puts more strain on the tendon than it can tolerate. You do not have to play golf to get it. Temporarily adjusting activities and gradually building up exercises usually helps; prolonged complete rest does not automatically make the arm stronger. Tingling, loss of strength, injury, redness or joint swelling needs assessment.

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  • Golfer's elbow is pain at the tendon attachment on the inside of the elbow. It also occurs with work, household tasks, fitness training, racket sports, throwing and playing musical instruments.
  • Often, activity has increased faster than the tendon could adapt. Technique, grip, recovery, sleep and other conditions may contribute.
  • Complete rest is usually unnecessary. Temporarily reduce activities that clearly trigger pain, then gradually rebuild movement and strength.
  • Tingling, loss of sensation, true weakness, injury, joint swelling or pain coming from the neck or chest must not automatically be attributed to golfer's elbow.

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Further reading

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Tennis elbowTennis elbow causes pain on the outside of the elbow through overloading the tendons that extend the wrist and fingers. Symptoms often improve gradually with adjusted activity and exercises; sudden weakness, a red hot joint or an injury with deformity needs a different assessment.
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Jumper’s kneeJumper’s knee is an overuse condition of the patellar tendon below the kneecap. Targeted, gradually increased tendon loading usually helps more than complete rest or pain relief alone.
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Outer hip painPain on the outside of the hip is often caused by irritation of the gluteal tendons around the bony prominence at the hip. Adjusting activities and targeted exercise therapy usually help more than prolonged rest.