Monday, May 21, 2007

Relief of Golfer's Elbow

The best way to relieve Medial Epicondylitis is to stop doing anything that irritates your arm. A simple step for the weekend athlete, but not as easy for the manual laborer, office worker, or professional athlete.
The most effective conventional and alternative treatments for Epicondylitis have the same basic premise: Rest the arm until the pain disappears, then massage to relieve stress and tension in the muscles, and exercise to strengthen the area and prevent re-injury. If you must go back to whatever caused the problem in the first place, be sure to warm up your arm for at least 5 to 10 minutes with gentle stretching and movement before starting any activity. Take frequent breaks.
For most mild to moderate cases of Epicondylitis, aspirin or ibuprofen will help address the inflammation and the pain while you are resting the injury, and then you can follow up with exercise and massage to speed healing. For stubborn cases of Epicondylitis your doctor may advise corticosteroid injections, which dramatically reduce inflammation, but they cannot be used long-term because of potentially damaging side effects.

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