Elbow Pain

Overuse injuries are the most common cause of elbow pain. Overuse injuries can affect the tendons around the elbow (Golfer’s elbow, Tennis elbow), the cartilage (causing osteoarthritis), or the ligaments (Throwers elbow). Other, less common causes of elbow pain are traumatic injuries like a broken bone or dislocation, autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis, or infections.

In order to properly diagnose your elbow pain, first your physician must take a comprehensive history and physical exam. These are the most important pieces of information to help narrow down all of the causes of your pain

Next, an x-ray of the elbow can be important to understand the boney contours and alignment of the joint. You can identify misalignment of the joint, fractures, dislocations, and subluxations, and osteoarthritis, to name a few conditions that cause joint pain.

A CT scan is a more advanced kind of x-ray that gives much more detailed information about the bones and joint spaces. You can also get more information about soft tissue structures like muscles or blood vessels than with standard x-rays

An MRI uses magnetic fields to better detail all of the soft tissues structures of the shoulder like muscles, tendons, ligament, nerves, and blood vessels. You also get details on the quality of the cartilage and if there is stress in the bone potentially causing symptoms

Ultrasound is an imagined modality that uses sound waves to create pictures of all of the superficial structures in the elbow. The advantage of this modality is to get real-time information about the elbow; both while you are sitting still and while you are moving. All of the above image modalities cannot provide any of the same information an ultrasound can while you are moving!

Blood work can sometimes be useful to determine if there is an underlying medical issue causing your elbow pain, such as autoimmune conditions or infections.