Definition
Elbow pain usually isn’t serious. But because you use your elbow in so many ways, elbow pain can be a problem. Your elbow is a complex joint. It allows you to stretch out and bend your arm and turn your hand and forearm. As you often combine these movements, you may have a hard time describing exactly which movement brings on the pain.
Elbow pain may come and go, get worse with movement, or may be constant. It may feel like sharp or aching pain or cause tingling or numbness in your arm and hand. Sometimes elbow pain is caused by a problem in your neck or upper spine or in your shoulder.
Causes
Elbow pain is often caused by overuse or injury. Many sports, hobbies and jobs require repetitive hand, wrist or arm movements. Elbow pain can be the result of problems with bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments or joints. Elbow pain may occasionally be due to arthritis. But in general, your elbow joint is much less likely to have wear-and-tear damage than are many other joints.
Common causes of elbow pain include:
Broken arm
Bursitis (A condition in which small sacs that cushion the bones, tendons and muscles near joints become inflamed.)
Cervical disc herniation
Dislocated elbow
Golfer’s elbow
Gout
Osteoarthritis (the most common type of arthritis)
Osteochondritis dissecans
Pseudogout
Reactive arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Septic arthritis
Shoulder problems
Sprains (Stretching or tearing of a tissue band called a ligament, which connects two bones together in a joint.)
Stress fractures (Tiny cracks in a bone.)
Tendinitis (A condition that happens when swelling called inflammation affects a tendon.)
Tennis elbow
Throwing injuries
Trapped nerves
