How to Treat Pitcher's Elbow

Pitcher's elbow, also known as medial epicondylitis, has many other names: golfer's elbow, suitcase elbow, baseball elbow or forehand tennis elbow. Pain stems from the elbow down to the wrist on the inside, known as the medial side, caused by damage to the tendons that move the wrist into the palm. This damage could occur from activities that require excessive force to bend the wrist toward the palm, such as pitching a baseball, swinging a golf club or carrying a heavy suitcase.

Things You'll Need

• An icepack
• Wristband or brace
• Anti-inflammatory medication

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Instructions

• 1

  Stop the activity that caused damage to the tendon.

• 2

  Apply an ice pack to reduce inflammation.

• 3

  Take anti-inflammatory medication if needed.

• 4

  Use a wristband or brace the elbow to take the strain off the muscles below the elbow.

• 5

  Find a good sports injury masseuse to apply cross-friction massage, which can help prevent adhesions from forming. Stripping massage will also help by releasing tight muscles and reducing the strain at the elbow.

• 6

  Engage in basic strengthening exercises as allowed by your pain threshold, such as static biceps and static triceps. These exercises start with your elbow at 90 degrees. When doing the static bicep, hold your hand facing upward and your other hand on top and push against the top hand by tightening your biceps. For the static triceps, turn your hand to face inward in a fist, as though you were giving someone thumbs up but without putting your thumb up. Put your other hand underneath your fist and push against it for five seconds. For both exercises, build up to sets of 10, pushing as hard as you can without feeling pain.

• 7

  If the physical therapy does not work, your doctor may recommend taking corticosteroid injections. Only do so under the direction of your physician.

• 8

  Consider surgery. While this is the last resort, it does have good success rates.