Elbow pain

Do you have elbow pain?

Read below for information about elbow pain

Elbow pain is commonly caused by overuse and resolves by itself with time.

Carrying out simple exercises or by adapting your movements, using splints, applying ice or heat packs can help to ease pain and improve movements.

It is important to see your GP if:

your elbow is hot, red and swollen, as this may be a sign of infection
your elbow pain came on following a fall or trauma or you think you have broken your elbow
you have tingling or numbness further down your arm or in your hand

How elbows work

Read below for information about how elbows work

Elbow pain is often caused by using your elbow too much. It usually gets better over time. The elbow is a hinge joint. The movements that happen at the elbow are:

straightening also known as extension
bending also known as flexion
rotating

There are 19 other muscles in the forearm. They attach around the elbow and go into the wrist and hand. As these muscles are attached to the elbow, they can be involved in causing the pain at the elbow.

Graphic of an elbow, highlighting the ligaments, tendons and nerves

Common causes of elbow pain

Read advice on the common causes of elbow pain

Pain either inside or outside of the elbow is usually caused by a repetitive strain tendon injury or overuse. This is most commonly known as golfer's or tennis elbow (you don’t have to be a tennis player/ golfer to get these). Other common causes of elbow pain can be a fracture, joint instability, arthritis, bursitis or a nerve-related pain.

Graphic of a transparent arm with the elbow bone highlighted in orange.

How much exercise should I do?

A senior couple on yoga mats outside in a park in a bent knee standing pose with arms outstretched.

Exercise every other day

cropped image of two people, one black and one while in shorts and t-shirts on an exercise bike pedalling. Close crop on their hands on handle bars and their legs moving.

Choose 3 or 4 exercises

Young asian man running on the spot wearing a t-shirt and shorts in their living room on a wooden floor.

Repeat the exercise

Rest

Once an exercise is easy, progress it

How much pain is too much pain?

Read below for advice and exercises to manage knee pain.

Before exercising

A maximum pain level

If your pain increases

Exercises

Range of movement and stretching exercises

Read about seated (desk-based) exercises to improve elbow pain symptoms.

If your elbow has lost movement because of pain or stiffness, it needs to be regained. In order to strengthen the elbow effectively, complete these exercises little by little and often.

Forearm flexor stretch

Elbow flexion and extension

Strengthening exercises

Read about strengthening exercises to improve elbow pain symptoms.

These exercises will help build and strengthen your muscles.

You will need a weight to do these exercises. If you do not have a dumbbell, you can use a:

water bottle filled with water
tinned can of food like chopped tomatoes or apricot slices
bag

Make sure the weight is manageable. The exercise should be challenging but it should not make your pain worse. This will be different for everybody.

Elbow concentric wrist flexion

How to do an elbow concentric wrist flexion:

Start with your hand over the edge of a table. Hold the weight in your palm. Your palm should be facing up.
Slowly lift the weight upward towards you. If you are struggling to lift the weight, you can use your other hand to help lift up the weight.
If using your other hand to assist, let go.
Slowly lower the weight back down as far as you can tolerate.

Find a video of the elbow concentric wrist flexion

Forearm supination pronation

Forearm supination pronation

How to do 1 repetition of forearm supination pronation:

Start with your hand over the edge of a table. Your hand should be in a "thumbs up" position. Hold the bottom of the weight in your hand.
Slowly turn your hand outwards and away from you. Your palm should be facing up. Only your forearm and hand should move.
Bring the weight back up to the starting position. You can use your other hand to help you.

Find a video of the forearm supination pronation

Elbow eccentric strengthening exercise

Exercises for golfers elbow

Learn exercises to improve golfers elbow.

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercises for tennis elbow

Learn exercises to improve tennis elbow.

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 2

Start by standing, with your arms by your sides and elbows at a right angle. Hold a Flexbar with both hands, or alternatively, something like a teatowel would work well.

Straighten your wrists and twist the Flexbar/tea towel outwards with both hands. Return to the starting position.

Note, the resistance increases when you bring your hands closer together.

Exercises for elbow tendon pain

Find exercises to improve elbow tendon pain.

Exercise 1

Exercise 1

Forearm supported on a table, elbow as straight as possible, palm facing downwards, hand relaxed over the edge.

Lift your hand up as high as possible, with your forearm not lifting from the table. From this position, slowly allow your hand to drop down while counting to 30, then return to the starting position.

Repeat 15 times x 3 sets.
Progression: add a light weight as pain allows.

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Top tips

Read some tips about how to manage elbow pain.

Elbow band

Elbow bands can be helpful for reducing pain. This may also be known as a golfer's elbow band or a tennis elbow band.

You can buy this in a pharmacy or online.

Place the elbow band 1 inch below your elbow crease. The padded or thicker section should be placed on the painful side of your elbow.

Elbow bands should only be worn for short periods of time. Try to only use them for activities you find difficult.

An arm tensing their bicep and fist clenches, with an elbow band placed on their arm under their elbow.

Flare up management

It is not unusual to have a few flare-ups along the way during your recovery. If this happens, don't panic, as it's very unlikely you will have
done any lasting damage. You may need to scale back the exercises a bit and then gradually build up again. It may be that you overdid an activity, so reflecting on what might have flared it up and trying to find a way to avoid or modify that particular activity until things settle more would be a good idea.

Managing your pain

Pain relief is not simply there to mask a pain; one of its main uses in Physiotherapy is to encourage more normal movement and activity, which will help sensitive structures to settle down and strengthen.

Pain relief can take time to take effect, so please be patient if you’re not getting instant relief. It is always advisable if you are unsure or you are thinking about taking a new medication to speak to your pharmacist or GP first.

Find information about pain relief

When to seek further support

If your symptoms have not resolved in 6 to 12 weeks, in spite of regular exercises, modifying your activities and trialling a support and pain management, then please speak to your GP or if you haven’t already you can self refer to physiotherapy.

If your symptoms are worsening, or if you are noticing changes to the appearance of your elbow then we suggest you get in touch with your GP.

Need more help?

Consider self referring using the link below:

If you have a new injury or problem, please look at the self help information in our advice pages. We will often complete the same exercises and share information in clinic appointments.

If you still need some more help you can self refer into our service. Please note that the NHS is currently experiencing longer than normal waits, for more information visit our waiting times page.

Refer yourself to physiotherapy

Elbow pain

Do you have elbow pain?

How elbows work

Common causes of elbow pain

How much exercise should I do?

Exercise every other day

Choose 3 or 4 exercises

Repeat the exercise

Rest

Once an exercise is easy, progress it

How much pain is too much pain?

Before exercising

A maximum pain level

If your pain increases

Exercises

Range of movement and stretching exercises

Strengthening exercises

Exercises for golfers elbow

Exercises for tennis elbow

Exercises for elbow tendon pain

Top tips

Elbow band

Flare up management

Managing your pain

When to seek further support

Need more help?

Consider self referring using the link below:

Need more information?

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