Golfer's Elbow

What is Golfer's Elbow?

Golfer's elbow, medically known as medial epicondylitis or medial epicondylalgia, is a painful tendinopathy affecting the common flexor-pronator tendon at its origin on the inner side of the elbow. Like tennis elbow, its name is misleading: the majority of sufferers are not golfers - but rather manual workers, throwers, and climbers.

Specialist Hand Therapy, including a carefully graded rehabilitation programme, delivers excellent outcomes for most patients.

What causes Golfer's Elbow?

• Repetitive wrist flexion and forearm pronation under load: the primary mechanism
• Overhead throwing sports: such as javelin, baseball and cricket, applying stress to the inner elbow
• Golf: particularly the trailing arm on the downswing
• Manual occupations involving sustained gripping, hammering or use of power tools
• Climbing: sustained gripping on small holds producing high flexor tendon loads
• Sudden increase in training volume or intensity without adequate preparation

Signs & symptoms

• Pain and tenderness over the medial epicondyle, the bony prominence on the inner side of the elbow
• Pain reproduced by resisted wrist flexion and forearm pronation
• Aching along the inner forearm, particularly after prolonged gripping or lifting
• Weakness of grip strength
• Stiffness of the elbow, particularly in the morning or after rest

How Hand Therapy can help

Ms Razo provides specialist assessment and evidence-based treatment for Golfer's Elbow. Following a thorough initial assessment, a personalised treatment plan will be developed to address your specific needs and goals.

Frequently asked questions

Should I stop throwing or playing golf with medial epicondylitis?

A period of relative rest from the provocative activity is usually recommended in the acute phase, but stopping completely is not always necessary. The goal is to reduce load to a level the tendon can tolerate and then progressively rebuild. Return to sport is guided by symptom response and functional testing. Ms Razo will advise on a safe return-to-sport timeline.

How long does golfer's elbow take to resolve?

With appropriate management, most cases resolve within 3 months. Cases that have been present for more than 6 months, before specialist treatment starts, tend to take longer to recover. Early Hand Therapy input gives the best outcome.

Can golfer's elbow require surgery?

Surgery for medial epicondylitis is rarely required. The vast majority of cases respond to non-operative management. Surgical debridement of the degenerate tendon tissue at the medial epicondyle is reserved for cases that have failed a full course of non-operative treatment.