Elbow Pain

The elbow joint is a hinge joint. This means that the joint is fairly simple in structure: it is formed at the meeting point between your forearm bone (the ulnar) and the bone in the upper arm (the humerus). The upper end of the ulnar (known as the olecranon) slots into an indent in the base of the humerus when the arm straightens, and as the arm bends it hinges outwards from this position. 

Movement is controlled by the well known muscles above the elbow, the biceps and triceps. The muscles and tendons of the forearm attach around the elbow, and are the main movers for the wrist and hand. Located nearby is the radio-ulnar joint, which allows for rotation at the wrist, turning the hand from a palm up to palm down position. 

There are three nerves which pass through the elbow on the way from the neck to help provide movement and sensation to the whole arm.  These nerves can pass quite closely to the surface at times, where they can become a source of injury. For example, “funny bone” pain occurs with sudden compression of the ulnar nerve.  

Some common causes and conditions which generate elbow pain are:

• Arthritis of the elbow, known as osteoarthritis.
• A “broken elbow”, known technically as an elbow fracture. This is often a fracture of the olecranon or radial head.
• Golfers’ elbow and tennis elbow, which are caused by overuse of the tendons on the inside or outside of the elbow respectively. Despite the colloquial names for these issues, most patients who present with them do not actually play golf or tennis!
• Trapped nerves, where the nerve can become painful as a result of compression or decreased blood flow.