Epicondylitis - tennis elbow and golfer's elbow
The pain on the outside of the elbow is termed a tennis elbow or epicondylitis humeri radialis. In contrast, the localized pain on the inside of your elbow is known as a golfer's elbow or epicondylitis humeri ulnaris.
Mostly patients play neither golf nor tennis, but go to a similar work. Meanwhile, there is even a "mouse elbow".
It is an irritation of muscle attachments or an inflammation, usually caused due to overload.
Therapy
Conservative therapy can offer infiltrations, physical activities, ice packs and stretching exercises especially. Lately, the shock wave was also propagated, but that rather does not help.
Surgical treatment consists of a slight detachment of the muscle attachments from the bone, and the extinction of local, thin nerve branches, after which the pain disappears reliably. The arm should be rested for about 3 weeks.
Special Form: ulnar nerve saltans
The golf elbow may additionally be accompanied by an unpleasant snapping during flexion and extension of the elbow. The rather large ulnar nerve jumps over the inner bony prominence (medial epicondyle). This can cause additional pain and sometimes produce a numb feeling in the little finger - the famous "funny bone."
The surgical treatment includes muscle detachmentand also a so-called submuscular displacement of nerves. The nerve is removed from its place under the epicondyle and placed forward under a muscle flap. Then both the pain and snapping disappear.
There should be a 3-week rest using a cast or splint.
Submuscular shift: Green arrow shows the nerve, gray arrow: muscle flap, blue arrow: bone (epicondyle)