Elbow joint pain has many causes, it may occur as a result of arthritis, or the pain in the elbow may be caused by bone fractures in the joint, so treatment varies according to the cause of arm pain.
Elbow joint pain elbow joint pain It usually occurs when excessive use of the joint and when the muscles and tendons in the arm are strained, such as playing tennis. This sport causes stress in the elbow joint and leads to chronic or acute inflammation of the tendons and muscles surrounding the elbow. Treatment Elbow joint pain It varies according to the cause of the pain. The treatment of pain resulting from a bone fracture in the joint, which requires splinting and may take several months to heal, is different from the treatment of elbow joint pain caused by joint stress, which improves within several days.
In this article, we will learn about what type of elbow joint? And the most important causes and diseases that cause pain in the elbow joint, in addition to how to treat elbow joint pain.
Information about elbow joint pain
To understand the causes of elbow joint pain, you must know what type of elbow joint it is and what the joint consists of. The elbow joint consists of the confluence of three bones, ligaments, tendons and muscles. The elbow joint is the joint that is formed from the convergence of the humerus bone at the top of the arm with the two forearm bones, which are the radius and the ulna. At the bottom of the arm, the humerus ends at the bottom with two protuberances that can be felt on either side of the elbow joint: the lateral epicondyle, which is lateral to the arm, and the medial epicondyle, which is medial to the arm.
The muscles connected to the lateral epicondyle of the humerus, which are innervated by the radial nerve, help to extend the wrist and fingers, while the muscles connected to the medial epicondyle of the humerus, which are innervated by the median nerve, help to grip the wrist and fingers. There is the ulnar nerve located inside the elbow joint, which helps in the movement of the small muscles of the hand. Ligaments and muscle tendons connect the bones of the joint to each other and increase the stability of the joint in place.
Elbow joint pain occurs when any part of the previous joint components is injured. Elbow joint pain may occur during and after exercise through overuse of the joint and sports injuries such as Golf facility andTennis elbow Or elbow joint pain may occur due to some joint and bone diseases such as elbow inflammation, which causes pain in the elbow joint from the inside, and pain is one of the most common symptoms of elbow joint inflammation.
Causes of elbow joint pain
There are many causes that cause elbow pain, as there are causes that may cause pain in the inner elbow joint or External elbow joint pain The most important possible causes are:
- cubital tunnel syndrome
- Bursitis or inflammation of the elbow process
- Golf facility and tennis player facility
- Exposure to stress fractures in the joint
- Rheumatoid Arthritis Acute hypertrophy and erosion of the elbow joint
- Gout
- Osteoporosis
- Osteochondritis dissecans
- degenerative arthritis (Osteoarthritis.)
- lupus
- Psoriatic elbow arthritis
- Lyme disease
- Elbow sprain when playing some sports that require the use of the arm
- Exposure to bone fractures in the elbow joint as a result of strong trauma and injury bElbow fractures
- Dislocation of the elbow joint, or what is called a dislocated elbow, which results from one of the bones of the joint moving out of its normal position, and it is one of the common causes.
Elbow joint pain treatment without surgery
Elbow joint pain should be treated and also treated Inner elbow joint pain When the pain persists in the joints, the intensity of the pain increases, or when the signs and symptoms that indicate arthritis appear, such as swelling and redness, the treatment methods according to each case are:
- Doing several exercises when the condition needs physical therapy, which helps in strengthening the muscles and tendons in the joints
- Cortisone injections for severe elbow pain and psoriatic elbow arthritis
- Rest and avoid some sports movements and activities during the recovery period, because continuing to practice sports that require the use of the elbow joint may increase joint damage.
- Using some medications to relieve elbow joint pain, such as paracetamol or NSAIDs, or using anti-inflammatory ointments when needed.
- Placing a splint on the elbow area to stabilize the joint and relieve elbow joint pain by relieving pressure on the articular surfaces of the broken elbow.
- Using an ice bag for the elbow joint by placing the ice bag for 10 or 15 minutes and repeating that several times a day because the ice bag relieves the pain of the elbow joint by reducing swelling while not applying ice directly and for a long time on the skin because it may also cause damage to the skin
Surgical treatment of elbow joint pain
The pain in the elbow joint usually heals through conservative treatment, but there are some severe cases that do not heal within a period of about a year, and also cases of arthritis in the elbow that do not respond to conservative treatment need to resort to surgery, and there are two types of surgical treatment, either arthroscopy of the elbow joint or Elbow replacement Damaged and damaged artificial elbow joint.
Arthroscopy is used in the joints when there are some soft and damaged bony parts that cause pain in the elbow joint, through which a small incision is made in the skin and the bones and joints are seen and damaged tissues are removed. Arthroscopy is one of the modern techniques that helps to recover more quickly.
Elbow joint surgery and total elbow replacement are used when the arthritis is severe and when motion is restricted in the joint, the surgery involves making a larger incision and placing an artificial elbow in the elbow.
At the end of the article, we conclude that elbow joint pain often has clear causes, and there are many causes that cause pain in the elbow, such as arthritis, which is characterized by swelling and stiffness in the joints. It is important to know the cause of pain in the joint, and the diagnosis is made by examining the patient and using X-ray imaging. And computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging when needed because the diagnosis of the disease determines the methods of treating pain. Often, the treatment of pain in the elbow joint is conservative, through rest, reducing sports activities that require the use of elbow joints, and taking some pain-relieving medications. Surgical treatment is rarely used to treat pain. Elbow separation.
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Common questions
There are many symptoms that appear in arthritis in the elbow, which is the feeling of pain, and the patient also feels swelling and redness of the elbow joint, and joint stiffness.
When the joint pain is not serious, the orthopedist may give analgesic drugs for joint pain and anti-arthritis drugs, or an ointment or cream for arthritis can be applied to the site of the pain.
Most joint pain in the elbow heals naturally within a period of 6 weeks or less, depending on the cause of the pain, after consulting a doctor and finding out the cause of the pain in the elbow joint.
Bone pain is often localized and internal pain and does not spread, but muscle pain is pain that spreads over the entire muscle, but it often heals faster than bone pain.
There are many orthopedic problems and non-traumatic causes, the most important of which are degenerative arthritis, septic arthritis or psoriatic arthritis.
To get rid of pain in the joint area, it is necessary to avoid straining the hands, avoiding movements that make the pain more severe, using some analgesic medications, applying an ice bag, and also by wearing a plastic splint sometimes, after consulting doctors.
Because of the cubital tunnel syndrome, as the compression of the ulnar nerve in the elbow causes pain and numbness that extends to the fingers of the palm.
