Pain—Elbow Injuries and Disorders

Your elbow joint is made up of bone, cartilage, ligaments and fluid. Muscles and tendons help the elbow joint move. When any of these structures is hurt or diseased, you have elbow problems.

Many things can make your elbow hurt. A common cause is tendinitis, an inflammation or injury to the tendons that attach muscle to bone. Tendinitis of the elbow is a sports injury, often from playing tennis or golf. You may also get tendinitis from overuse of the elbow.

Other causes of elbow pain include sprains, strains, fractures, dislocations, bursitis and arthritis. Treatment depends on the cause.

• Elbow pain (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Elbow replacement (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Elbow sprain — aftercare (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Medial epicondylitis – golfer’s elbow (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Nursemaid’s elbow (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Tennis elbow (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Tennis elbow surgery (Medical Encyclopedia)

Pain is a signal in your nervous system that something may be wrong. It is an unpleasant feeling, such as a prick, tingle, sting, burn, or ache. Pain may be sharp or dull. It may come and go, or it may be constant. You may feel pain in one area of your body, such as your back, abdomen, chest, pelvis, or you may feel pain all over

Pain can be helpful in diagnosing a problem. If you never felt pain, you might seriously hurt yourself without knowing it, or you might not realize you have a medical problem that needs treatment.

There are two types of pain: acute and chronic. Acute pain usually comes on suddenly, because of a disease, injury, or inflammation. It can often be diagnosed and treated. It usually goes away, though sometimes it can turn into chronic pain. Chronic pain lasts for a long time, and can cause severe problems.

Pain is not always curable, but there are many ways to treat it. Treatment depends on the cause and type of pain. Pain relievers and other medicines, acupuncture, physical therapy, and sometimes surgery may be helpful.

NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

• Aches and pains during pregnancy (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Neuralgia (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Palliative care – managing pain (Medical Encyclopedia)