Elbow Pain Exercises

Elbow Pain Exercises: A 5-Minute Home Remedy

How can I relieve the pain in my elbow?

If your elbow hurts, consistently stretching your affected arm can help manage the pain. Our 2-step stretching routine takes 5 minutes, and you can do it at home. All you need for these elbow pain exercises is the Knee Hero. If you don’t have a Knee Hero, you can use a yoga block or a stack of books. Regularly performing these stretches can help relieve pain and stiffness in your elbow and restore your range of motion and flexibility. If you want to start stretching now, scroll down to the video. Keep reading if you’d like to learn about your elbow and elbow pain.

Your elbow: a joint venture.

The elbow is a hinge joint; it’s very flexible but only moves along one plane. Your elbow is made up of three bones: the humerus, the ulna and the radius. The humerus runs from your shoulder to your elbow. The ulna and radius run from your elbow to your wrist. The ulna is located on the pinky side of your arm, and the radius is on the thumb side. At the end of the radius is the radial head. It’s shaped like a flat doorknob and is connected to the ulna by the annular ligament. The other main ligaments in your elbow are the medial collateral and the lateral collateral, which connect the humerus and the ulna and stabilize the elbow. The muscles surrounding your elbow are the triceps, biceps, flexors, and extensors. We can bend and straighten our wrists and fingers thanks to the flexors and extensors.

What causes elbow pain?

For most of us, the activities of our daily lives place enormous demands on our arms. Overworking these limbs leaves the muscles, fascia, tendons, and ligaments prone to injury.

Causes of elbow pain are:

• Activities that require you to repeatedly bend, lift, or twist your arm (especially over a long period). 
• Typing, using a mouse, and texting.
• Playing a sport that involves throwing a ball. The motion of throwing puts the shoulder and elbow joints under extreme stress.1)

You may have a condition that’s causing your elbow pain. Common conditions that cause elbow pain include:

• Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) causes pain around the outside of the elbow – find our tennis elbow exercises here. 
• Golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis) causes pain around the inside of the elbow – find our golfer’s elbow exercises here. 

Symptoms of both conditions are difficulty making a fist or gripping, a red or swollen elbow, and pain that may radiate from the forearm to the wrist. People often develop lateral and medial epicondylitis because of their jobs. ²⁾

• Mouse arm/ Repetitive strain injury causes pain and stiffness in the shoulder, elbow, forearm, wrist and hand. You may also experience tingling in the forearm and hand. Mouse arm/RSI often results from working at a keyboard and using a mouse.
• Elbow bursitis can cause irritation, inflammation, redness, warmth, or pain when you bend your arm. A lump may develop at the tip of your elbow, and your movement may be restricted.
• Gout in the elbow causes pain. The area may be tender, swollen, red, or feel warm to the touch.
• Rheumatoid arthritis occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks the lining of your joints. Symptoms of RA in the elbow are pain and stiffness, difficulty bending and straightening your arm, joint inflammation, and a reduced range of motion.
• Elbow osteoarthritis occurs when the cartilage covering your joints wears down, and the bones rub together. The symptoms of RA and elbow osteoarthritis are the same; you may also feel your bones grating or the joint locking.

Buy your Knee Hero now.

Visit our online shop and get your Knee Hero. While you’re there, take a look the other pain-reliving tools and products we have to offer.

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