While arthritis of the elbow is much less common than other joints like the knee, it can still cause a lot of pain, stiffness, and limitation of motion. These limitations can adversely affect use of the hand and limitations with normal daily activity for many individuals. This can make common work related and sports activity painful and difficult. From office work to physically demanding jobs, elbow pain can lead to added workload on the shoulder and wrist to compensate which may result in additional arm pain.
Elbow Arthritis
While elbow arthritis can occur after an injury to the elbow like a fracture or previous dislocation. Arthritis of the elbow can also be associated with inflammatory arthritis like rheumatoid arthritis, gout, and calcium pyrophosphate crystals that can cause sudden pain and inflammation of the joint capsule and over time leading to damage of one or both elbows.
Inflammatory arthritis of the elbow can affect teens as well as adults and benefits from early detection and treatment. At Sports Health Northwest, our sports injury doctor can carefully evaluate your elbow and utilize medical lab and imaging resources to effectively diagnose and treat causes of elbow arthritis.
Individuals with elbow arthritis commonly present to the clinic with episodes of pain, stiffness, swelling, and warmth of the joint. These episodes are usually brief at first, but can last longer and be more painful over time.
If you have been noticing more pain or stiffness with your elbow, contact your physician. Our sports injury doctor will thoroughly evaluate your concerns and provide you with a variety of available medical treatments to help restore function and get you back to pain free activity.
Elbow arthritis pain usually responds well to non-surgical treatments. At Sports Health Northwest, we are happy to discuss treatment options with you to help your elbow pain get better.
