Transcription:
Elbow Pain and Injuries

Maggie McKay (Host): You never realize how crucial your elbow is until you've injured. It. A lot of us have been there. You're playing tennis, walking the dog, or in a game of tug of war. And you feel it, a pain in your elbow now, what do you ice it? Ignore it? Call the doctor immediately? Today, we'll find out all about elbow pain and injuries with Dr. Matthew Gordon. Orthopedic surgeon at Montefiore St. Luke's Cornwall, who will fill us in on elbow pain and injuries, what the symptoms are, and when to get treated among other things. Welcome to Doc Talk presented by Montefiore St. Luke's Cornwall. I'm Maggie McKay.

It's wonderful to have you here today, Dr. Gordon, we're very excited to learn more about elbow pain, which so many people have experienced once or twice in their life at least if they're at a certain point in their life, what are the most common types of elbow injuries and pain?

Dr Matthew Gordon: So the, probably the most single most common is tennis elbow, the dreaded tennis elbow. People. get it fairly frequently. In fact, I think 90 something percent of people between the age of 35 and 65 are gonna get some variant of it at some point in their life. It's characterized by pain on the the outer part of the elbow. Typically it will radiate down the forearm and you'll have trouble lifting or gripping. The reality is, is that while it's common in tennis players, it's actually much more common in people who don't play tennis. So you don't need to have a tennis game in your repertoire to get this.

Maggie McKay (Host): So, what are some of the causes? Elbow pain besides playing tennis. Let me redo that. I'm sorry. What are some of the other causes of elbow pain?

Dr Matthew Gordon: So, most causes of elbow pain are due to overuse that's probably the number one cause of, elbow pain. It can be anything from, tendonitis. However other causes are generally due to trauma. You see a lot of injuries. People fall in their elbow, sporting injuries, whether it be, Dislocations, fractures, that kind of thing.

Maggie McKay (Host): Speaking of fractures. How do you know if you have one?

Dr Matthew Gordon: The only definitive way is really is to get an x-ray. There are some fractures that are so subtle that they actually don't show up in an x-ray. however, if you see an orthopedic surgeon, they ability to evaluate you and, usually they'll be able to figure out, what's going on with that.

Maggie McKay (Host): And what are the symptoms? How do you know what to do as far as ice, heat, call the doctor?

Dr Matthew Gordon: So in general, any kind of acute injury, meaning an immediate injury where you're getting swelling, you're getting pain, I would start off with ice. Heat is generally better for any sort of muscle strain type thing, to help loosen it up. But any immediate injury, ice is sort of the number one. As far as when to call the doctor, certainly if you've had an injury and you're getting significant pain and swelling, definitely good idea to get checked out. But as, far as sort of the other more, vague onset kind of things, those you can try to treat at home with ice or anti-inflammatories such as Ibuprofen or Naproxen, if it's appropriate for you to take.

Maggie McKay (Host): If it's not an injury, if it's just nagging pain, what are the consequences of not taking care of it or seeing a doctor for years? Because some people actually just wait it out and say, oh, I can live with it.

Dr Matthew Gordon: Well, there are certain things that will, frankly self-resolve, but the problem is, is that, while we hope that everything will self-resolve, the reality is not everything will, and there are certain things that can cause more permanent damage to tendons or bones. it's always a good idea. If you've been putting something off, don't put it off, get it checked out, get evaluated. So you know what you're dealing with and if it's something that will resolve on its own, you'll be the wiser.

Maggie McKay (Host): How often is surgery the answer to elbow pain or in what instances?

Dr Matthew Gordon: Less than 1% of the time for most causes available pain. it's fairly uncommon actually afterwards. Most of the time, unless it's an injury, let's say a tendon rupture, for like a bicept tend rupture, a tricep tend rupture. Those will require surgery. Many fractures in the elbow don't require surgery. There are some obviously that do, but that's something that frankly on the grand scheme of elbow injuries is uncommon.

Maggie McKay (Host): I probably should know the answer to this, but I don't and I'm dying to know. So there are knee replacements, hip replacements. Are there elbow replacements? Does your elbow ever just wear out?

Dr Matthew Gordon: So there are elbow replacements. you probably have not really heard of too many people getting them, because they're fairly uncommon. There's a number of reasons for this number one, the elbow doesn't get arthritis as frequently as hips and knees, because it's not a weight bearing joint. So just in terms of the overall number of elbows that are going to get arthritis and therefore possibly be a candidate for an elbow replacement, those are very few. The second part of it is, is that frankly, they're just not as good knee or hip replacements.

They just don't last as long. They're not as durable. They don't allow you to do as many things. They're really more of a Salvage operation, for people who have, intractable pain, sometimes if they have bad enough fracture and usually in people who are, we call low demand people. People who are maybe a little bit older, who just functional requirements of their arm are not as great.

Maggie McKay (Host): And once someone does come to your office, where do you go from there, as far as treatments?

Dr Matthew Gordon: Initially, obviously it's evaluate the source of the pain. How long has it been going on for, what makes it worse? What makes it better? Has there been any sort of treatment, whether it be anything as simple as icing, or Advil, and then looking at x-rays, is there any kind of bony deficiency or boney problem, that would need to be evaluated?

And then, depending on the, cause it could be anything from physical therapy to treat it, additional anti-inflammatories or stronger anti-inflammatories, additional icing. And then cortisone injections are also, generally helpful for elbow issues. And then finally, obviously, surgery can be an option depending upon the condition.

Maggie McKay (Host): I'm sure it varies from case to case, but is there a norm for the amount of time it takes to heal from an elbow injury or elbow pain?

Dr Matthew Gordon: It really does vary case to case. It depends on the cause of it. It can be anything from a few weeks to months to frankly, some things that even take a few years to actually fully get, addressed.

Maggie McKay (Host): Wow. So how do we prevent elbow injuries or even elbow pain? Is there any way?

Dr Matthew Gordon: I don't think you can prevent it completely, but obviously be smart. if you're doing something and it's hurting a lot, stop doing it. Take a break. There are certain things let's say you're exercising and your muscles get a little bit sore. Well, that's probably a no pain, no gain situation, but if you're doing something and it's really hurting, and every time you do it, starting it more, that's not a no pain, no gain situation. That's the time to stop, take a breath, get it evaluated. See if there's anything that you can do to get it better. and then go on. But it's basically you gotta let your brain be your, strongest muscle. You gotta be smart about what you're doing.

Maggie McKay (Host): Right Dr. Gordon, is there anything else you'd like to share with our listeners that they need to know about elbow injuries?

Dr Matthew Gordon: Generally most of them are treatable and most of them can be resolved. Don't be afraid to get them evaluated. Most things, as I said, do not need surgery. I think people come in with a preconception that they're gonna see an orthopedic surgeon and they're gonna automatically recommend surgery. But the reality is it's very, very uncommon to need surgery for an elbow condition.

Maggie McKay (Host): That's very encouraging, especially for people who have had, elbow. I mean, it's as simple as once I was walking my dog and he charged after another dog and he's big and heavy. And honestly, I felt like my elbow had been disconnected from my arm, but it did heal itself in the end, but it took about a year.

Dr Matthew Gordon: Right. Yeah. most of these things, they're not the kind of thing that's going to be persistent. most of them are going to heal. but it sometimes is being a matter of being patient with it.

Maggie McKay (Host): Right. Thank you so much, Dr. Gordon for sharing your expertise and educating us on elbow injuries and elbow pain in general.

Dr Matthew Gordon: Thank you so much for having me.

Maggie McKay (Host): And thank you for listening to Doc Talk presented by Montefiore St. Luke's Cornwall. For more information about our orthopedic services, please visit www.Montefioreslc.org That's Montefioreslc.org. Please remember to subscribe right. And review this podcast and all the other Montefiore St. Luke's Cornwall podcast. If you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out all the other Doc Talk episodes until next time I'm Maggie McKay, be well.