Epicondylitis is better known as the "golfer's elbow", but this does not mean that only golf fans suffer from this disease. Although they are the most vulnerable to this disease. Treatment of epicondylitis of the elbow joint can be conservative and prompt. About it below.
What leads to epicondylitis
Any repeated movements can lead to the occurrence of the disease: it can be throws, the use of certain types of tools, exercise, it can also be a consequence of an injury to the elbow joint. Epicondylitis develops due to excessive stress on the joints and muscles. Some types of certain activities can cause inflammation in the area of muscle attachment to the epicondyle, and it is not necessary to have sports loads.
Symptoms of elbow joint epicondylitis
Symptoms of a golfer’s elbow are pain in the medial epicondyle, which can spread down the forearm. The pain is aggravated by flexion of the wrist or fingers. When clenching your fist or carrying objects, you may feel as if the grip strength has decreased . Symptoms are sometimes very similar to the so-called tunnel syndrome, which can direct the treatment of epicondylitis of the elbow joint along the wrong path. Therefore, it is important not to make a diagnosis on your own, but to consult a specialist.
Elbow epicondylitis: treatment
Exercise is something that can help you fight the disease. However, do not self-medicate - you must consult a doctor. He will carefully examine the problem area and, possibly, prescribe special tests that will help to clarify the diagnosis. Treatment of epicondylitis of the elbow joint may require an X-ray examination to exclude bone pathology or the consequences of an injury that the patient could forget about. The picture may also show the presence or absence of excess calcium, which can lead to a long inflammatory process in this area.
Conservative treatment of elbow joint epicondylitis
With tendon inflammation, conservative treatment is effective only within 4-6 weeks from the onset of symptoms. In such cases, treatment will take about a month. In chronic inflammation, which arose due to the lack of timely treatment, it can take about six months to fully recover. However, it should be understood that in especially neglected cases, a full recovery is impossible in principle, especially if the factor that led to the onset of the disease is not eliminated. Therapy involves taking non- steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or injecting steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The latter expose the patient to some risk, which consists in reducing the strength of the tendons.
Physiotherapeutic procedures are also prescribed - extracorporeal shock wave therapy, which improves blood microcirculation, which helps eliminate inflammation. These procedures have contraindications - the presence of cancer.
Surgical treatment
When the usual treatment does not help, the doctor may prescribe an operation during which the scar tissue that provokes the elbow joint epicondylitis is removed. Treatment (ointments, physiotherapy, medications) after surgery takes some time, but it can lead to a complete recovery.