What is elbow pain?
Elbow pain refers to any discomfort you feel in or around your elbow joint. The pain may range from a mild aching sensation to severe pain that radiates into your hand or up to your shoulder.
What causes elbow pain?
You can develop elbow pain from an acute injury, overuse, or an underlying medical condition. Common causes of elbow pain include:
- Lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow)
- Medial epicondylitis (golfer’s elbow)
- Bursitis
- Compression of the ulnar nerve
- Arthritis
- Fractures
- Elbow dislocation
- Sprains
- Bicep tendon tear
You rely on your elbow to extend and flex your arm as well as rotate your hands. Finding the exact cause of your elbow pain can be difficult because of the complexity and flexibility of the joint.
What can I expect during an evaluation for elbow pain?
You can expect patient-centered care when you visit Dr. Ghodadra’s office for treatment of your elbow pain. He aims to find the root cause of your elbow pain to provide the best treatment.
Dr. Ghodadra asks detailed questions about your elbow pain, including when the pain started and the underlying injury that caused your pain (if known), the type of pain you feel, and the activities that make your pain worse. He also reviews your usual activities and medical history.
Dr. Ghodadra examines your elbow, assessing your joint’s flexibility and strength, looking for areas of tenderness or dysfunction that might explain the cause of your elbow pain.
He also recommends diagnostic testing to confirm or rule out a diagnosis, which may include blood tests, X-rays, or an MRI.
How is elbow pain treated?
Dr. Ghodadra takes a patient-centered approach to care and customizes your elbow pain treatment plan based on your diagnosis, severity of symptoms, usual activities, and medical history.
When possible, Dr. Ghodadra recommends non-surgical medical interventions to ease your elbow pain, such as:
- Activity modification
- Splinting or bracing
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
- Physical therapy
- Regenerative medicine
If medical intervention fails to ease your elbow pain, Dr. Ghodadra may recommend arthroscopic surgery to address the underlying cause of your pain. He performs surgery to treat tennis elbow and bicep tendon tears and to remove damaged tissue to improve joint health and function.
Whatever treatment Dr. Ghodadra recommends for your elbow pain, his goal remains the same: restoring joint health and function to its previous level of activity.
