Got Elbow Pain? Can Chiropractic Care Help?
Golfers, tennis players, softball players, and many other athletes often have to deal with crippling elbow pain. But while these sports put a ton of strain through the elbow joint, you don’t necessarily have to be an athlete to be sidelined by elbow-related issues; anyone can be affected by elbow pain.
If you’ve been suffering from pain in the elbow or elbow tendonitis, you’ve probably tried everything to find some relief. However, you may be frustrated with the lack of results from the many braces, sleeves, and medications out on the market. Does this sound like you? If so, you may consider trying chiropractic care to address your elbow pain!
Elbow Joint Anatomy
The elbow joint is the junction between the bones of the forearm (the radius and ulna) and the upper arm bone (the humerus). The elbow is a complex joint that can bend, straighten, and rotate. As long as these motions are being performed safely, with proper wrist and shoulder position, the elbow can typically handle all of the forces that are put through it in sports or everyday activities such as cooking or doing laundry.
The joint is connected and supported by a series of tendons, ligaments, muscles, and other structures that all serve to allow mobility and stability throughout the elbow.
Elbow Joint Problems
Often, issues in the elbow are caused by repetitive motions, such as those seen in golf, tennis, and other, similar sports. When a person develops elbow pain such as medial or lateral epicondylitis (inner and outer elbow pain respectively), it can take weeks or even months for the symptoms to fully resolve, if they ever do.
For this reason, many people turn to supportive braces so that they can continue to participate in their sport without taking a long break. However, by wearing a brace and continuing to stress the elbow joint, the problems are usually compounded. This makes the injury take much longer to resolve, and it may even progress to a full-blown tear of a tendon, ligament, or muscle.
Other issues with the elbow joint may stem from past trauma. Sometimes, a childhood injury will echo through the rest of the future. Take, for example, falling out of a tree and breaking an elbow. The elbow is an extremely strong joint. Breaking this area takes a ton of force and is usually considered a fairly serious injury, as far as broken bones are concerned.
When this type of injury happens in childhood, the normal growth of the bone can be significantly affected, leading to pain and dysfunction later in life. Furthermore, a malformed elbow joint may make it difficult to effectively perform everyday tasks, leading to compensation and injuries in other areas of the body as well.
Chiropractic Care for Elbow Pain
By manipulating the specific spinal level that innervates the elbow region, chiropractors may be able to relieve many of the symptoms that chronic elbow pain sufferers have to deal with. A targeted manipulation can encourage blood flow and healing in the area of the injury, leading to faster resolution of the elbow issues in question. The nervous system is heavily responsible for healing tissues and improving communication between the nervous system and every other area of the body.
Also, your chiropractor will probably tell you to put down the golf clubs for a few weeks and allow your body to fully heal. This might just be the best advice of all!
If you’re looking for a Noblesville chiropractor, consider our professional staff at Anchor Health Chiropractic. Our team will evaluate your specific issues and design a plan of care to help you return to 100% quickly. Book your appointment today.
