Elbow Pain Archives - CORE Therapy & Pilates https://therapyandpilates.com/category/elbow-pain/ Physical Therapy + Pilates + Gyrotonic Wed, 15 Oct 2025 18:02:40 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://therapyandpilates.com/wp-content/uploads/favicon.ico Elbow Pain Archives - CORE Therapy & Pilates https://therapyandpilates.com/category/elbow-pain/ 32 32 Understanding Compressed Nerves (Pinched Nerves) https://therapyandpilates.com/understanding-compressed-nerves-pinched-nerves/ Wed, 15 Oct 2025 18:02:35 +0000 https://therapyandpilates.com/?p=9703 A compressed nerve, often commonly called a “pinched nerve,” occurs when too much pressure is applied to a nerve by surrounding tissues—such as bone, cartilage, tendons, or muscles. This pressure disrupts the nerve’s ability to transmit signals, leading to pain, weakness, and other distinct symptoms. The most common locations for nerve compression are in the […]

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]]> A compressed nerve, often commonly called a “pinched nerve,” occurs when too much pressure is applied to a nerve by surrounding tissues—such as bone, cartilage, tendons, or muscles. This pressure disrupts the nerve’s ability to transmit signals, leading to pain, weakness, and other distinct symptoms.

The most common locations for nerve compression are in the spine (like sciatica in the lower back) and in joints where nerves pass through narrow spaces, such as the wrist (carpal tunnel syndrome) or the elbow (cubital tunnel syndrome).

What It Feels Like

The symptoms of a compressed nerve often follow the specific path of the affected nerve. If you’ve ever had a limb “fall asleep,” you’ve experienced mild nerve compression. More chronic compression usually results in a cluster of symptoms, including:

  • Sharp, aching, or burning pain that may radiate outward.
  • Tingling or “pins and needles” (paresthesia).
  • Numbness or decreased sensation in the area supplied by the nerve.
  • Muscle weakness that makes certain movements difficult.

Causes and Treatment

Nerve compression is typically caused by:

  • Repetitive Motions: Activities that put sustained stress on joints, often leading to swelling (e.g., typing leading to carpal tunnel).
  • Injury or Trauma: Acute events that shift structures, like a herniated disc compressing a nerve root in the spine.
  • Poor Posture: Sustained positions that tighten muscles and compress nerves in the neck or shoulder.

Fortunately, most cases of compressed nerves respond well to conservative treatments, particularly Physical Therapy. Treatment focuses on relieving the pressure through techniques like Manual Therapy and specific exercises to improve mobility, strengthen supporting muscles, and correct posture, allowing the nerve to heal and signal properly. Early intervention is key to preventing long-term damage

A compressed nerve, often commonly called a “pinched nerve,” occurs when too much pressure is applied to a nerve by surrounding tissues—such as bone, cartilage, tendons, or muscles. This pressure disrupts the nerve’s ability to transmit signals, leading to pain, weakness, and other distinct symptoms.

The most common locations for nerve compression are in the spine (like sciatica in the lower back) and in joints where nerves pass through narrow spaces, such as the wrist (carpal tunnel syndrome) or the elbow (cubital tunnel syndrome).

What It Feels Like

The symptoms of a compressed nerve often follow the specific path of the affected nerve. If you’ve ever had a limb “fall asleep,” you’ve experienced mild nerve compression. More chronic compression usually results in a cluster of symptoms, including:

  • Sharp, aching, or burning pain that may radiate outward.
  • Tingling or “pins and needles” (paresthesia).
  • Numbness or decreased sensation in the area supplied by the nerve.
  • Muscle weakness that makes certain movements difficult.

Causes and Treatment

Nerve compression is typically caused by:

  • Repetitive Motions: Activities that put sustained stress on joints, often leading to swelling (e.g., typing leading to carpal tunnel).
  • Injury or Trauma: Acute events that shift structures, like a herniated disc compressing a nerve root in the spine.
  • Poor Posture: Sustained positions that tighten muscles and compress nerves in the neck or shoulder.

Fortunately, most cases of compressed nerves respond well to conservative treatments, particularly Physical Therapy. Treatment focuses on relieving the pressure through techniques like Manual Therapy and specific exercises to improve mobility, strengthen supporting muscles, and correct posture, allowing the nerve to heal and signal properly. Early intervention is key to preventing long-term damage. Contact us today to book an appointment.

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]]> A SIMPLE Self Care Routine To Prevent Tennis Elbow https://therapyandpilates.com/prevent-tennis-elbow/ Sun, 15 Nov 2020 14:47:31 +0000 https://therapyandpilates.com/?p=3091 A simple self care routine to help you prevent tennis elbow shared with you from an occupational therapist. First off, let's talk about what the tennis elbow is. We have the muscles on the top of our forearm, which is responsible for lifting our wrist and our fist like that the wrist extensor muscles. By […]

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A simple self care routine to help you prevent tennis elbow shared with you from an occupational therapist.

First off, let's talk about what the tennis elbow is. We have the muscles on the top of our forearm, which is responsible for lifting our wrist and our fist like that the wrist extensor muscles.

By doing over and over again the repetitive motion from gripping, from carrying objects, [and] from reaching, a lot of people will develop inflammation or degeneration happening at the proximal tendon of their wrist extensor muscles. And because of that, people will experience pain in the outside of the elbow, which is the typical presentation of the tennis elbow.

A very similar condition will happen at the inside of the elbow, which is called the golfer's elbow. By then, for the purpose of the video today, I'm going to show the tips or the routine that's more tailored towards the tennis elbow because it's more common.

So, the first thing to address for the tennis elbow is the soft tissue release.

It's very simple to do. All you need to do is to have lotion, any kind of lotion would be fine. Use a little bit of the lotion, put it in your hands, and then just simply stroke through the top of your forearm along those wrist extensors. Do that on both sides.

You will feel that, especially the top of the form part of the actual muscle part. Usually it carries away a lot of tension from all the work you do throughout the day. And just by doing the release like that, it helps you to relieve the muscle tension.

I will suggest to do 10 repetitions on each side, but then, this is very gentle. It's not gonna do any damage, so feel free to do more repetitions.

I also would suggest to do this at the end of the day after working all day, but then you can always do that more. I would also suggest to do this first thing in the morning because guess what?

When you're sleeping for several hours, you're not moving your arms and then, you might develop stiffness, and that would be a good time to relieve the tension. So like I said, at least 10 repetitions on each side. That's the first thing, the soft tissue release.

The second thing I'm going to show you guys, it's a very simple stretch for the wrist extensors. 

So what you need to do is just to make a fist, and then get the other hand ready, and then you bend your wrist down to elongate the wrist extensor muscles and straighten your elbow at the same time, come back in, and bend your wrist down, straighten your elbow, don't hold for too long, maybe five seconds and pause and come back in.

You want it repetitive so that you have better circulation into that area. Remember, this is a prevention program, so you just want to facilitate healing [and] facilitate circulation, so that no damage would happen to the muscles and to the tendons.

It's a prevention program. Like I said, at least 10 repetitions on each side. But then, you can always do more because it's very gentle. It's not gonna hurt to do more, but then make sure for each repetition, you are only holding for at most five seconds.

Now you can relax. That's the second thing to do in this routine.

elbow pain prevent tennis elbow

Image via Pixabay

The third thing to do, I would encourage you guys to find an elastic band, like what I got here.

You might need to step on to it at one end to get it stabilized and fixed. What are we going to do is we wrap the band around our hand. You simply just let the band to pull your hand down while you control the motion.

Now, you see how slow my hand is moving. And then, you use the outer hand to bring your fist back up. Slowly control.

This is a very, very gentle exercise. It's not strengthening or challenging your muscles to a fatiguing level. It's an exercise to make the tendon stronger and healthier.

You only do the lowering part, control the lowering, and use the other hand to assist coming up. 

Control the lowering, which is called the eccentric exercise in the therapy world, which helps with the health of the tendon and even the muscles.

Like I said, because it's very gentle, so 10 repetitions on each side but feel free to do more. But sometimes. some people might already have some overuse happening. If you are already feeling fatigue, weak, or juddering, stop at wherever you're at.

Don't push through beyond pain or anything with this specific exercise. But then in general, 10 repetitions on each side. And definitely do that after the stretch and after the soft tissue release that we talked about earlier.

So that's that and these are the three simple things of self-care routine you can do to help you prevent tennis elbow..

I’m Andy Tseng, Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, as well as a Pilates Instructor practicing in Austin, Texas.

If you find this video valuable, please give us a thumbs up or subscribe to our channel. We would like to create even more content, tailored to your needs and your questions. That's all I got for today. I hope you guys have a great day.

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