FAQs

I am a wrestling coach at a mid-sized high school (graduating class of 300 seniors). Every year it seems one or two of my players dislocates his elbow. The football coach says this is two too many and I must be doing something wrong in my coaching. It's light-hearted teasing but it does make me wonder. Is this typical? What are other wrestling coaches telling you? A recent study of acute sport-related elbow dislocations may offer some information useful to you. Hand surgeons from the hospital fo...

I just started a rehab program for golfer's elbow. The physiotherapist told me: if it hurts, don't do it. If it hurts the next day, back off -- you overdid it. Does that make sense to you? What about the old saying, "no pain, no gain"? There are some times when pushing through pain is advised. But there is more and more evidence from studies that this idea is not appropriate for tendon healing. The physiotherapist you are working with clearly understands the phases of healing and is tailoring th...

My 69-year-old father thinks he may have dislocated his elbow but popped it back in place. Now whenever he goes to get up from his chair, he cannot push up with his arm on that side without feeling like it's going to pop out again. What do you make of this kind of problem? You may be describing what is referred to as a positive chair sign. Essentially he is performing a sitting pushup. With the elbows bent to 90 degrees and the arms out to the side, extending the elbow fully while pushing up on ...

My surgeon wants to do an arthroscopic exam on my elbow to find out what's wrong. I know this is supposed to be a simple procedure. But I seem to be the kind of person where nothing is ever very simple. Can you tell me more about what to expect? bow arthroscopy is a surgical technique used routinely now for the evaluation and treatment of many elbow problems. Since the first arthroscopic elbow treatment became available, the ways and reasons to use this tool have expanded. Now surgeons use it to...

I had a car-bike accident eight weeks ago (I was on the bike) and I still have some significant elbow pain and stiffness. I saw an orthopedic surgeon who recommended physiotherapy but what will the therapist do that I can't do myself? Elbow stiffness after a traumatic injury is a common problem. Treatment is decided based on whether the stiffness is coming from inside or outside the joint and which specific structures are involved.Treatment ranges from conservative (nonoperative) care to surgery...

I need a quick tutorial on elbow fractures of the part of the elbow next to the body. My nephew is here visiting us for the summer and that's what the emergency room doctor told us he's got. First day here and wouldn't you know? He'll be in a cast evidently. I'll have to explain all this to his mother (my sister). Help! Falls and throwing injuries are the two most common causes of medial epicondyle (elbow) fractures in children and teens between the ages of seven and 15. The medial epicondyle is...

I've been a baseball pitcher on a local level since I was in third grade. But now in my late 30s, I'm starting to get some weird symptoms. At first, it was just a cold sensation in the ring and pinkie fingers of my pitching hand. Now I'm noticing I can't throw as fast or as accurate as I did even last season. What could be causing these symptoms and what should I do? Symptoms such as you describe could be coming from the neck, shoulder, elbow, or wrist. Pressure on a nerve anywhere along that co...

I had the strangest thing happen to me. I was lifting my sewing machine (a 10-pound lite-sew) and my right biceps tendon ruptured. I've lifted that machine many, many times without having any problems. It's not really that heavy. The surgeon who repaired it said it was just a fluke. But now I'm wondering if it happened so easily once, could it happen again? According to a recent study, biceps tendon ruptures in both arms may not be as uncommon as was once thought. Up to eight per cent of adults ...

I work as a seamstress in a home business that supports me and my 3 kids. I've been having terrible pain on the little finger side of my hand. And I'm starting to get numbness in my ring and little fingers. I can hardly do my work. I saw a doc who wants to do nerve testing on me. Should I go for it? From the description of your symptoms it sounds like you may have a problem called ulnar nerve compression, also known as cubital tunnel syndrome or CuTS. Most people are familiar with carpal tunnel ...

I took my 13-year-old son in to see a specialist because he was complaining of elbow pain and it was affecting his pitching for his team. The surgeon poked and prodded until I was sure if the kid didn't already have a problem, he would develop one. Is all this type of hemming and hawing around really necesary? I'm just wondering. Any time a young person (and especially an athlete) injures his or her elbow, an accurate diagnosis is absolutely essential to providing the best treatment. Whether the...

I was pulling weeds in my garden by yanking on them with both hands when I heard and felt a pop in my left elbow. It swelled up and when that went away I find I can't straighten my elbow all the way. It just feels stuck. What could be causing this? What should I do? Most likely you will want to see a medical doctor -- either your primary care physician or an orthopedic surgeon. A proper examination is needed to identify the cause of your joint blockage. The fact that there was an audible popping...

What is a "simple" dislocation? That's what the surgeon called our 10-year-old son's elbow dislocation from skate boarding. It didn't look simple and it certainly didn't feel simple to our son. So I'm curious where this term came from. The term simple elbow dislocation may be a bit of an oxymoron (contradicting terms). As you said, there's nothing simple about the elbow or dislocations. What the expression "simple" elbow dislocations means is that surgery was not needed to put the elbow back in ...

Over the years I have come to depend on your service for advice for my family but now I need some help for myself. I had an X-ray to find out why my elbow was stiff and locking up on me. Looks like I have some osteoarthritis in that joint with some bone spurs and a thinner joint space. What is your best advice for me for treatment? Osteoarthritis is caused by degeneration of the articular (surface) cartilage of a joint. Degeneration is wear that happens over time. Doctors use the term degenerati...

I've heard you shouldn't have steroid injections for tennis elbow anymore. But that's what my PA has suggested. Should I do it? Steroid injections are no longer routinely recommended for lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow). But there are times when a physician or physician's assistant (PA) may make this recommendation.Steroid injections have fallen out of favor for the treatment of lateral epicondylitis but are still used by some physicians in certain carefully selected patients. The disadvanta...

I am considering surgery for a bad case of elbow osteoarthritis. I'd like to know up front what to expect before going this route. What kind of results do people get? What happens down the road?" In almost all cases, doctors recommend nonsurgical treatment first for any joint osteoarthritis. Surgery is usually not considered until it has become impossible to control your symptoms. The goal of nonsurgical treatment is to help you manage your pain and use your elbow without causing more harm.But i...

How can you tell when it's time to have surgery for tennis elbow? I'm just not getting better on my own or with therapy. There's no easy answer to this question but we can offer you some things to consider when making the decision. First, there are two types of lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow): acute inflammatory and chronic degenerative.Treatment may vary depending on the underlying pathology. For example, steroid injection or other antiinflammatory medication is more appropriate in the acu...

Two microsurgeons use this case study of a fellow physician (anesthesiologist) to explain the diagnostic process of cubital tunnel syndrome or CubTS. Cubital tunnel syndrome is a condition that affects the ulnar nerve where it crosses the inside edge of the elbow.The symptoms are very similar to the pain that comes from hitting your funny bone. When you hit your funny bone, you are actually hitting the ulnar nerve on the inside of the elbow. There, the nerve runs through a passage called the cub...

Have you ever heard of a nine-year-old having golfer's elbow? Our daughter has been complaining about elbow pain for months. We finally took her into see the pediatric orthopedic specialist and that's the diagnosis. She doesn't even play golf! Elbow, wrist, thumb, and hand problems are fairly common -- and they affect people of all ages from young to old. Many are the result of overuse syndromes. Overuse syndromes refers to pain, tenderness, and dysfunction from tissue damage caused by repetitiv...