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The culprits of
chronic elbow pain
The Annular Ligament:
This ligament connects and stabilizes the
two bones of the forearm, the ulna and the
radius. Activities that involve rotation of
the
elbow, such as screwing in a light bulb,
turning a screw driver, using a cork screw,
puts a tremendous stress on this ligament.
It especially includes those activities in
sports where throwing is involved, or where
an implement is used to drive a ball.
Sometimes the pain in the annular ligament
can refer itself down into the thumb, wrist
and index and middle fingers, mimicking and
sometimes leading to an incorrect diagnosis
of
carpal tunnel
syndrome.
While an acute injury, like a fall, can be
responsible for annular ligament injury, it
is usually repetitive motion that does it.
This type of elbow injury can last for
months and is usually diagnosed under the
umbrella term "Tennis Elbow."
"Golfer's Elbow" is another umbrella term
coined to describe elbow pain when flexing
the wrist and hand are required as in
activities such as grasping, clutching, and
typing. It gets its name "Golfer's Elbow"
because the muscles and tendons required to
hit a golf ball are the same ones used in
the above named activity.
The ligament involved in Golfer's elbow is
the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) which
holds the ulnar bone of the foreram to the
bottom of the the upper arm bone (the
humerus.) When this ligament is injured or
weakened its pain can be felt on the inside
of the elbow.
Once determined that it is weakness or
injury to the tendons or ligament that is
causing elbow pain,
Prolotherapy
can be
administered and the pain can be resolved.
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