Elbow Pain - Recoverying From Injury

Our 3-Step Process to Help Athletes Recover & Return to Training

This guide outlines the physical therapy rehabilitation process we use to help someone recover from elbow pain. This guide is for informational purposes only and does not include nor does it replace the details of a thorough clinical examination and treatment techniques conducted by a licensed physical therapist or healthcare provider.

The first step in the recovery phase is to decrease any fear, worry, and frustration.

These emotions are normal, negative emotions that arise anytime you sustain an injury. Not being able to train, compete, or play with your kids because of elbow pain is extremely frustrating. In addition, not knowing the cause or if it will ever get better can cause an increase level of fear and worry. To help an athlete overcome these negative emotions, we provide as much education about the injury as possible. We conduct a thorough examination to ensure there are no significant issues such as a muscle tear, ligament sprain, or a pinched nerve. Then we answer 4 key questions: (1)“What exactly is the problem?” (2)“How is physical therapy going to help?” (3)” What can you do to help your recovery?” (4)” How long will it take for you to get better?”

The second step in the recovery phase is to examine the shoulders and upper back.

Once we determine you don’t have an injury that requires surgery, injections, or medications, we can begin the recovery process and retrain movement patterns. We examine the shoulder and upper back structures because this area is heavily involved in the pull-up movement. We also examine this area because we know, based on research and clinical experience, that most pain issues at the elbow result from an inability to activate the muscles around the upper back and shoulders. To illustrate this point, let's imagine you are trying to do a pull-up by only bending the elbow. How would that feel? It’s like doing a bicep curl with your body weight. Although that sounds impractical, that’s essentially what happens when you are attempting when you fail to properly activate the large muscles around your shoulder and upper back. You rely too much on your elbow to do a pull-up instead of “sharing the load” with larger muscle groups.

The third step in the recovery phase is to implement recovery techniques.

As we mentioned earlier, when the muscles around the shoulder blade are weak or not engaging when they should, you will compensate by bending the elbow too early. An early elbow bend during a pull-up may lead to excessive soreness and pain around the elbow and forearm. To recover from this, we begin some recovery techniques. These techniques are outlined below in three phases.

Elbow Pain Recovery Phases

Phase 1 - Decrease pain and inflammation. This is the initial step toward recovery from any injury. Sometimes rest is necessary to allow the tissues to calm down from the excessive stresses. If you are experiencing pain and inflammation, give your tissues some rest by avoiding repetitive gripping for 5 to 7 days. You can also perform a daily ice massage for 3 to 5 minutes.

Phase 2 - Restore mobility. If you’ve been dealing with this for a while then you probably lose some flexibility. You can easily perform a self-assessment by comparing the range of motion in your affected elbow with the other side. To restore your mobility, perform some simple self-massage techniques and forearm stretches.

Forearm/Wrist Stretch

Rest your forearm over the edge of a table with palm-side down. Use your opposite hand to bend the wrist downward for a gentle stretch. Repeat with your palm-side up.

Phase 3 - Gradually return to training. For this phase, we focus on improving muscular strength to the muscle groups that support doing a proper pull-up. Below are 3 exercises we use in this phase. Each exercise is aimed to train your lats and shoulder blade musculature to engage without bending the elbow.

Prone “T” & “Y” Raises

Lie face down with your arm over the side of the bed. Next, squeeze your shoulder blades inward towards your spine. Start movement by raising your arm towards the ceiling, with your thumbs pointed up.

Kneeling Straight Arm Pull

While maintaining a neutral spine, pull your entire arm down without bending your elbow. Effort should be felt just below your shoulder blade.

To learn more about recovery techniques for elbow pain or other injuries contact us today!