Don’t squeeze that golf shaft too tightly! Imagine you were to squeeze a fresh egg without breaking it, that’s how little pressure you should be putting on that grip!

The key for this dibilitating elbow injury is to prevent this very painful muscle/tendon inflammation from taking place at all.

Golfers elbow is similar to Tennis elbow but the pain is located on the inside of the arm. In tennis it occurs when we hit the ball too late and over-pronate the forearm in top-spin.

In golf we mishit the ball and take too big a divet or on the ranges we crack our club heads into the concrete. Where does that rebound all go to? For every action there is an opposite or equal reaction. The line of force runs right up to the medial epicondyle, the seat of golfers elbow.

How does this injury occur in the first place?

Repetitive stress is the main reason. Similar to the inflammation you would get in your carpal tunnel from typing all day at your computer.A golf pro should be watching his/her swing for imperfections that can lead to muscular stress and overload.

A traumatic event such as hitting the ground with your club-head as mentioned above. Remember muscle and connective tissue are supposed to help the joint absorb the shock from any load it gets.

Muscle imbalances and weakness in the forearm flexor muscles from inactivity or simply being underused will cause the tendons to get stressed and inflammed.

How do you treat medial epicondylitis (golfers elbow)?

You start with the healing process. The first thing to do is to ice the joint and try to reduce the inflammation.Usually the icing is done 6 times a day for 10 minutes at a  time followed by some light active stretching to promote blood shunting.

The palm is faced downwards, arms outstretched.You point the fingers upwards contracting the forearm extensors which in turn releases and relaxes the target forearm flexors. You will feel the tissues surrounding the medial epicondyle tightening from the lengthening and stretching.

With the opposite hand you pull back on the fingers to a point where the inner forearm tissues are lightly irritated. You hold the stretch no longer than 2 seconds and release the hand and wrist back to the start position to flush out the lymph and other waste products.

After the irritation and inflammation has subsided it is time to apply heat pads to dilate the blood vessels and transport much needed O2 and nutrients back into the damaged tissues.

Usually the first 2 days after the onset of this injury you would be mainly icing and lightly stretching to keep the swelling down.Then the heat is applied and more frequent active isolated stretching can take place. If the pain does not subside you should see a sports doctor and arrange for an x-ray in case of arthitis or fracture.

The final phase is to strengthen the inner forearms. Squeeze a tennis ball and also roll-up weights on the end of a string, starting with 1lb weights increasing gradually until you reach a point of fatigue where the muscle can start to build strength and stability back into those weakened attachments.

This is what we call setting-up a healing environment for the tendon.

The days of the quick fix giving cortisone, tons of iboprufen, painkillers and anti-inflammatories promising immediate relief etc which without the above mentioned treatment are almost guaranteed to make the tissues flair up again, are thankfully almost over!! Your liver and other vital organs will be eternally grateful!