What is golfer’s elbow

As a common overuse injury of the forearm and elbow, golfer’s elbow can cause persistent pain, weakness, and frustration for anyone who relies on their hands for work or daily tasks. Despite its name, it is a condition that affects far more than golfers, from tradespeople and builders to home cooks and anyone whose day involves repetitive gripping or lifting. This fact sheet is designed to provide you with a comprehensive overview of golfer’s elbow, its common causes, and how chiropractic care may offer a gentle, non-invasive path to recovery.

In this article, Dr. Simon Nash (Chiropractor) discusses what golfer’s elbow is, who tends to get it, and the range of conservative techniques a chiropractor might use to help relieve your symptoms.

Medical Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for general knowledge and informational purposes only, and does not constitute medical advice. It is essential to consult with a qualified healthcare professional for a diagnosis and personalised treatment plan.

Table of Contents

1. Understanding Golfer’s Elbow
2. Common Causes of Golfer’s Elbow
3. How Chiropractors Diagnose Golfer’s Elbow
4. The Chiropractic Approach to Golfer’s Elbow
5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
6. Book a Consult with Our Chiro Brisbane
7. References
8. Video Transcript

Understanding Golfer’s Elbow

Golfer’s elbow, medically known as medial epicondylitis, is one of the most common questions Dr. Nash and the team field in the clinic. It’s a tendinopathy that develops around the medial epicondyle which is the bony bump on the inner side of the elbow.

The medial epicondyle is where the tendons of the forearm’s flexor muscles converge and attach to the bone. “So your medial epicondyle is in the inner part of your elbow, and it’s basically where all of the tendons that run up the arm from your fingers insert onto the bone,” Dr. Nash explains. When that insertion point becomes irritated and inflamed, golfer’s elbow is the result.

“So golfer’s elbow is something where you have an inflammation around that insertion point of the tendon,” says Dr. Nash. “It’s like a tendonitis and can be painful when moving the wrist or lifting things.”

This lines up with the broader medical literature: a 2026 clinical review describes medial epicondylitis as “a chronic tendinopathic disorder involving the flexor-pronator origin of the medial elbow, characterised by pain and functional limitation related to repetitive loading and microtrauma” (Tahir et al., 2026).

Common Causes of Golfer’s Elbow

Despite the name, most people who develop golfer’s elbow have never picked up a golf club.

“You definitely don’t have to play golf,” says Dr. Nash. “Golf is just something that we see commonly that causes golfer’s elbow. So it’s anything that you do a repetitive movement, whether it be in the kitchen chopping things.”

Tradespeople are especially prone to it. “A lot of builders would get it using hammers,” Dr. Nash notes. “Anything that really involves manual labor or repetitive movement would give you golfer’s elbow.”

In short, any activity that repeatedly loads the flexor-pronator tendons like gripping tools, chopping food, swinging a hammer, or yes, a poor golf swing, can push those tendons past their capacity to repair themselves.

How Chiropractors Diagnose Golfer’s Elbow

Because pain on the inner elbow can stem from a few different structures (the flexor-pronator tendon, the ulnar nerve, or the elbow joint itself), an accurate diagnosis starts with a thorough history and hands-on examination.

Clinicians typically rely on a combination of patient history, physical examination, and provocative orthopaedic tests that reproduce pain at the medial epicondyle when the wrist or fingers are flexed against resistance. Imaging such as ultrasound is used selectively. Not as a first step, but to confirm the extent of tendon damage or to rule out other causes of medial elbow pain, such as ulnar nerve irritation, when symptoms don’t resolve as expected.

A 2025 review of medial-sided elbow pain notes that “the clinical presentations are often similar, making diagnosis challenging,” and that accurate diagnosis relies on a combination of history-taking, physical examination with provocative tests, and imaging where needed (Adani et al., 2025). This is why it’s worth having persistent inner-elbow pain properly assessed rather than assumed to be golfer’s elbow by default.

The Chiropractic Approach to Golfer’s Elbow

The good news is that golfer’s elbow responds well to conservative, non-surgical care in the vast majority of cases. Research backs this up directly: a 2025 review concluded that “most non-traumatic medial elbow pain conditions can be managed with conservative treatment,” pointing to physiotherapy, manual therapy, dry needling, and shockwave therapy as key interventions (Adani et al., 2025).

Dr. Nash takes a similarly multi-pronged approach in the clinic. “There’s a lot of different techniques that we would use to help reduce that,” he says, “such as active release, needles or dry needling them, and also cold laser, shockwave therapy, kinesio taping, and obviously some manual adjustments and mobilizations to help reduce the pain and alleviate the cause of that tendinopathy.”

Depending on your presentation, conservative chiropractic care at Our Chiro Brisbane may incorporate:

Soft Tissue Therapy (including Active Release-style techniques): Releasing tension in the overworked flexor-pronator muscle group to take load off the irritated tendon.

Dry Needling: Targeting tight, irritated tissue around the medial epicondyle to help reduce pain and encourage healing.

Cold Laser Therapy (LLLT): A gentle, non-invasive option to help calm inflammation at the tendon’s insertion point.

Shockwave Therapy: A well-researched option for stubborn tendinopathy, a 2026 case series following patients with medial epicondylitis found that extracorporeal shockwave therapy produced meaningful pain reduction and functional improvement at two-year follow-up, with no adverse effects observed (Ryskalin et al., 2026).

Kinesio Taping: Supporting the forearm muscles during daily activity while the tendon recovers.

Manual Adjustments and Mobilisations: Restoring normal movement through the elbow, wrist, and surrounding joints to reduce strain on the healing tendon.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: Do I need to play golf to get golfer’s elbow? A: No. Despite the name, golfer’s elbow is most commonly caused by everyday repetitive movements like chopping in the kitchen, using hand tools, or manual labour such as hammering, rather than the golf swing itself.

Q2: What’s the difference between golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow? A: They’re mirror-image conditions. Golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis) affects the tendons on the inner side of the elbow, while tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) affects the tendons on the outer side. Both are overuse tendinopathies but involve different muscle groups.

Q3: Will I need surgery for golfer’s elbow? A: Surgery is rarely needed. The majority of cases respond well to conservative management such as soft tissue therapy, dry needling, shockwave therapy, and graduated strengthening, with surgical intervention reserved for chronic, treatment-resistant cases.

Q4: How long does golfer’s elbow take to heal? A: Recovery varies depending on severity and how early it’s addressed, but most mild-to-moderate cases improve over several weeks with consistent conservative care. Ignoring symptoms and continuing the aggravating activity can prolong recovery considerably.

Q5: What can I do at home to help golfer’s elbow? A: Reducing or modifying the repetitive gripping or lifting activity that triggered it, applying ice after activity, and gentle forearm stretching can help in the early stages. It’s still worth getting it assessed, since ongoing irritation of the tendon can make it harder to resolve.

Q6: Can golfer’s elbow come back after it’s healed? A: Yes, if the underlying repetitive strain isn’t addressed. Ergonomic changes, a graduated return to the aggravating activity, and ongoing strengthening of the forearm muscles all help reduce the chance of recurrence.

Book a Consult with Our Chiro Brisbane

Ongoing elbow pain can quietly chip away at the things you rely on your hands for, whether that’s your trade, your hobbies, or simply picking up your kids without wincing. It’s completely normal to feel frustrated when a “minor” ache in your elbow doesn’t seem to settle down on its own.

At Our Chiro Brisbane, our experienced team is here to help you get to the bottom of it. We focus on identifying exactly which structures are involved and why, so we can tailor a conservative care plan suited to your body and your daily demands.

If you’re dealing with elbow pain that isn’t improving, take the first step towards relief. You can explore our Chiropractic Services or learn more about our non-invasive care options on our Services Page.

Ready to get checked? Book an appointment with Our Chiro Brisbane today or call (07) 3257 0399

References

Tahir, A., Chanian, N., Tiwana, S., Sahu, M. A., & Blackwell, J. (2026). Medial epicondylitis: A review of clinical presentation, diagnosis, and management in the United Kingdom. Cureus, 18(1), e102264. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.102264

Adani, N., Azalia, X., Gani, K. S., Mitchel, M., & Kholinne, E. (2025). Non-traumatic medial-sided elbow pain: A comprehensive review of etiologies, diagnostic strategies, and treatment approaches. Cureus, 17(10), e94701. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.94701

Ryskalin, L., Fulceri, F., Busoni, F., Colomo, E., Soldani, P., & Gesi, M. (2026). Case report: Application of extracorporeal shockwave therapy in medial epicondylitis with concomitant ulnar nerve instability: A case series with long-term follow-up. Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences, 7, 1677404. https://doi.org/10.3389/fresc.2026.1677404

Video Transcript

Something that we see and get a lot of questions about in the clinic is golfer’s elbow. So what is golfer’s elbow? Golfer’s elbow is also known as a medial epicondylitis. So your medial epicondyle is in the inner part of your elbow here, and it’s basically where all of the tendons that run up the arm from your fingers insert onto the bone. So golfer’s elbow is something where you have an inflammation around that insertion point of the tendon. It’s like a tendonitis and can be painful when moving the wrist or lifting things. You definitely don’t have to play golf. Golf is just something that we see commonly that causes golfer’s elbow. So it’s anything that you do a repetitive movement, whether it be in the kitchen chopping things. A lot of builders would get it using hammers. Anything that really involved manual labor or repetitive movement would give you golfer’s elbow. And there’s a lot of different techniques that we would use to help reduce that, such as active release, needles or dry needling them, and also cold laser, shockwave therapy, kinesio taping, and obviously some manual adjustments and mobilizations to help reduce the pain and alleviate the cause of that tendinopathy.