4 ways to reduce burning pain in your elbow

When the tendon in your elbow becomes injured or affected by a certain condition, sometimes a burning pain can result in the elbow joint. The most common types of elbow conditions that cause this type of pain are tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow; however, the conditions can vary depending on the tendon that has been injured.

When the lateral epicondyle tendon becomes inflamed or injured, tennis elbow is the result. Tennis elbow is known for affecting the tendon on the outside of the elbow. Golfer’s elbow affects the medial epicondyle tendon when it becomes inflamed or injured. This tendon is located on the inside of the elbow.

Research suggests that almost 2% of the population in the United States will experience at least one of the two elbow injuries in their lifetimes. Are you one of the many in the U.S. who is struggling to manage their elbow condition? It’s a good idea for you to schedule a visit with a physical therapist. They’ll help you address the source of your burning elbow pain. From there, they’ll treat it at the root, whether it’s tennis or golfer’s elbow, or something else entirely.

These 4 therapy methods can help treat your burning elbow pain

Whether you’re feeling a burning pain in your elbow when you go to lift up your morning coffee cup or when you go to turn on the sink faucet before washing dishes, physical therapy is likely to help. There’s no shortage of techniques and treatments that a physical therapist might use to treat your elbow. Depending on the type of elbow condition you’re dealing with, your therapist might use varying techniques. 

While the techniques below aren’t the only ones your therapist may utilize during treatment, they are a few of the most popular:

• Myofascial release — Myofascial release is a type of manual therapy therapists use to break up tight muscle and soft tissue bands. It involves a therapist using their hands to manually manipulate the skin, muscles and other soft tissue. Myofascial release can be particularly effective for people struggling with burning pain from tennis elbow. A study on myofascial release revealed that the technique helped patients reduce their tennis-elbow related pain by almost five points in a time period of under five weeks.

• Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM) — IASTM is another treatment method that involves the manipulation of the soft tissue, but with instruments rather than hands. It’s intended to reduce scar tissue formation. This technique is stronger than manual therapy, and can reach further into the soft tissue than myofascial release. Breaking up tension and scar tissue throughout the body with an instrument can help alleviate some of the burning pain that you’re experiencing in your elbow. One study found that IASTM helped 78% of its participants resolve their tennis elbow pain within an eight-week time period.

• Therapeutic exercises — Therapeutic exercises can benefit patients with burning pain in their elbows, whether it be due to tennis or golfer’s elbow. Eccentric movement is one type of exercise that can improve strength and reduce pain and tension in the soft tissue.

• Make lifestyle and movement changes — Sometimes it’s our daily movements and activities that lead to elbow pain. When this is the case, physical therapists can help you determine what these activities are and how you can adjust them to avoid causing yourself more elbow pain. 

Armor Physical Therapy offers top-notch treatment for burning pain in the elbow

Are you ready to get relief from the burning pain in your elbow that you think may be tennis or golfer’s elbow? Our team of physical therapists at Armor PT can help you start treatment for your injury or condition. We perform free screenings designed to determine the root cause of your pain so that you can get a better idea of where to start with treatment. Once you’ve undergone a screening and we know what the source of your pain is, we can create a personalized treatment plan that will help you manage your pain and reduce the chances of it showing up again.

If getting to and from your therapy sessions with burning elbow pain is your main concern, you don’t need to worry any longer. Our physical therapy team offers virtual physical therapy services to treat you at home.

Contact us today for more information about how we can treat your burning elbow pain or to schedule an initial appointment with us.