07/24/2026
Dr. Todd Gaddie, MD, one of our hand, wrist and elbow surgeons, talks about elbow pain and the common conditions associated with it based on the specifics of your pain.
Video transcript
Dr. Todd Gaddie:
Dr. Todd Gaddie here to talk to you about elbow pain.
When we think about elbow pain, we kind of lump it into two groups. One is elbow pain associated with an injury. The other is elbow pain associated with activities of daily living, or pain that just kind of comes out of nowhere.
The pain that comes out of nowhere is usually on the outside of the elbow and is most commonly associated with lifting things with your palm down or trying to lift your wrist up. That is called lateral epicondylitis, or tennis elbow.
When we flip over to the other side, on the inside of your elbow, that pain is usually associated with gripping and wrist flexion. That is called golfer’s elbow, or medial epicondylitis.
The last condition we think about is swelling over the back of the elbow, which may or may not be associated with pain. That is a condition called olecranon bursitis.
When we move into injury causes of elbow pain, we can fracture any of the bones in the elbow. The largest one is your olecranon process at the base here. There’s another small bone called your radial head, which usually has pain associated with any type of palm-up or palm-down activity, or any elbow motion.
Lastly would be your distal humerus, which attaches your elbow to your shoulder. Again, any pain with motion could indicate a potential fracture.
The other thing we think about is a triceps muscle rupture. Your triceps muscle helps extend your elbow, and you would have pain in the back of your elbow as well as significant weakness when trying to do things like push yourself up out of a chair.
On the front of the elbow, you can rupture your biceps tendon. This is usually when trying to catch a falling object. You can have bruising, deformity, and pain in the front of the elbow, as well as decreased strength with both bending the elbow and trying to forcibly turn your palm up, such as turning a screwdriver.
If you’d like a more accurate diagnosis, please come and see one of our board-certified hand surgeons at OrthoNebraska.
