Are you experiencing pain while gripping items such as a pen, bending or lifting your arm, or twisting your forearm, especially when opening a jar or the door? If yes, it might be due to repeated action or overuse of the forearm muscles close to your elbow joint. It leads to elbow pain that requires you to consult your care provider for early diagnosis and prompt treatment. Suppose you are suffering from elbow pain East Brunswick and seeking treatment; it would be beneficial to start by understanding various treatment options available and how they work. Continue reading to understand various ways of treating elbow pain.
Table of Contents
1. Changing or avoiding activities
In most cases, elbow pain usually gets better without treatment as long you avoid doing activities that strain affected tendons and muscles. Therefore, if you usually use your arms to perform manual tasks like lifting, you may be advised to avoid these activities until the pain in your arm reduces. However, you may also change how you do these movements to avoid straining your arm. Therefore, it is advisable to talk with your employer concerning changing or avoiding activities that could aggravate your arm, thus worsening the pain.
2. NSAIDs and painkillers
An example of a pain killer that your care provider may recommend includes paracetamol, while ibuprofen is an example of an NSAID that might help ease mild pain with Inflammation. NSAIDs are available in various forms, including tablets or topical NSAIDs like gels. Usually, topical NSAIDs are applied directly on the affected area of the body where you are experiencing pain, and, in our case, it is around the elbow joint. Topical NSAIDs are the best for musculoskeletal conditions like elbow pain compared to anti-inflammatory tablets. The reason is that they can alleviate pain and Inflammation without causing adverse effects like diarrhea and nausea.
3. Physiotherapy
If your elbow pain is causing persistent or severe pain, your care provider may recommend physical therapy. Generally, physiotherapists offer various methods to restore movement to injured body parts. Your physiotherapist may use manual therapy techniques such as manipulation and massage to ease stiffness and pain. Doing so also promotes blood flow to your arm. They can also advise and show you some activities you can participate in to ambulate your arm and strengthen your forearm muscles. Your care provider may also recommend short-term use of strapping, brace, splint, or support bandage.
4. PRP injections
Surgeons may offer PRP treatment, especially if your elbow pain is persistent and not responding to other forms of treatment. It involves using concentrated platelets from your body to repair damaged tissue by speeding up the healing process. In this case, a blood sample is collected and placed in a machine to help separate platelets from other blood samples. The platelets are later injected into your affected elbow joint to initiate the repair and healing of damaged tissues. The procedure may last for approximately thirty minutes.
You can schedule your appointment at MID Atlantic Orthopedic Associates, LLP, if you are experiencing elbow pain when participating in activities such as lifting or gripping small objects. The qualified and experienced specialists in the facility offer various treatment options, including PRP, physiotherapy, steroid injections, and many others, to help ease pain and promote comfort.
