Hint- it’s connected to the shoulder and neck, usually related to something that happened years ago. Our high tech nerve scans (INSiGHT scans) help us find the cause of where the underlying dysfunction that’s causing the elbow pain is hiding. This is important to help you get back to the activities you love, whether you are a pickleball player, golfer, or enjoy time in your favorite workout class. Finding the root cause with an elbow chiropractor at Lifespring Chiropractic will get you back to the court, field, or gym!
Many “conditions” all stem from the same root cause or causes. This is especially true with the elbow. Whether you feel symptoms on the outside, inside, top or bottom of the arm, they come from a similar root cause. People we see usually don’t connect how interrelated many of their symptoms actually are. Spoiler alert- most of the elbow related symptoms we see are not actually coming from the elbow or arm at all. You’ll understand why if you keep reading. Below is a list of common elbow pain related symptoms that our Austin chiropractors help people with regularly.
Elbow pain is usually just the last straw of something that’s been going on for a long time. The underlying dysfunction that is typically the real root of the issue is important to find. We’ve successfully helped thousands of people with this, and we’ve created a list of the most common causes that are often missed by other healthcare professionals. Below are the top causes of elbow pain we see in our Austin chiropractic office:
The nerves coming out of the spine in the neck region go down the arms and into the shoulder, elbows, and hands. When there is any inflammation (new or old) to the neck, it irritates these nerves, often causing pain down the arm and into the elbow. This is why even a past car accident (or fender bender) that you may not have even felt injured in is likely a significant contributor to the elbow pain you are currently experiencing. Even a 5 mph car accident is traumatic to the spine, especially the neck and shoulder. Commonly we won’t feel the effects of past injuries until years later.
Sport specific movements like in baseball, tennis, volleyball or golf are top contributors to elbow pain. Especially in overhead or throwing sports. overuse or overtraining in the weight room can also be a contributor. While these things contribute to elbow or forearm pain, they are typically not the only thing causing the problem. It’s usually this, in combination with other factors mentioned on this list that are underlying root causes of the pain. Overuse or overtaining is just the “last straw that broke the camel’s back.” Due to this reason, our screening process includes digging into other lifestyle factors that could be contributing. We call this playing detective.
As you now know, any irritation to the nerves in the neck can be a source of elbow pain. Slow irritation to these nerves often happens from repetitive poor posture in front of a computer or phone. The term tech neck is used to describe the symptoms we experience from cumulative effects of time spent in front of technology. This includes elbow or shoulder pain due to strain on the neck. A downward angle of the head and neck puts significant pressure on the nerves in the neck which can show up as elbow pain.
Extremity problems such as elbow issues start to impact the chain above and below the problem if we do not resolve it at its source. As we’ve already gone through, most elbow pain is actually a sign of something deeper coming from an imbalance in the spine and nervous system. Assuming this is true, and it is in over 90% of the cases of elbow pain we’ve seen, there are consequences to not ever addressing the underlying root causes. Some of the potential deeper issues of untreated elbow pain due to an imbalanced nervous system are listed below:
While rest or over the counter drugs can give us quick short term symptom relief, they do not address the root of the issue. This is like wanding the smoke that is making us cough instead of putting out the fire. Over time the fire will grow and spread, leaving us vulnerable to symptoms down the road. This means that treating symptoms (wanding the smoke) is not the problem, but rather treating sympotms without ever discovering the underlying factors (the fire).
We actually don’t go to the elbow first! Often elbow pain starts in the spine and nervous system before spreading to the elbow. After evaluating the spine and nervous system, we check the extremities like the elbow to identify any potential problems.
The extremities including the elbow are more of the mechanical system of the body, rather than the neurologic system coming from the spine. When something in the extremities stops moving correctly (commonly due to a physical trauma or injury), the muscles surrounding it become tight and painful. Our Austin chiropractors are extremity experts and will evaluate the elbow, shoulder joints, wrist and hand, to make sure there is nothing that is contributing to pain in the elbow.
The final thing we layer in with the elbow is looking at the ligaments that surround it. Commonly we find that people need ligament support techniques to free up the muscles and restore the proper movement to the elbow and hand.
We want to offer quick symptom relief, but we also want to help you discover the cause of the pain so this is not something that keeps coming back because we know how disruptive this is to your daily routine. Whether it’s getting you back to your favorite workout class or helping our athletes get back on the field, we are here to help.
This three layered approach of looking at the nervous system, extremities, and the ligaments is our TriChord Method™️.
Like a light bulb that keeps going out, the problem may not be the bulb but rather in the fuse box. This is the same concept with the nervous system. The nervous system (brain, spinal cord, and nerves) is the power box of the body. When we experience cumulative imbalance here due to the common things we mentioned, (posture, past injury, etc) the nerves leaving the spine become inflammed. This then impacts our muscles in the region leading to tight muscles, and then limits the quality of movement we have. This is why we start with the circuit breaker before working our way out to the elbow and extremities.
Chasing muscle tightness in the elbow and forearm! Where we usually feel the problem is not usually where the root of the issue is. We often see people waste hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars and precious time on elbow braces, quick massage tools, or treatment for muscle tightness in the elbow without finding lasting relief. We know how frustrating this can be especially when it’s keeping you from your favorite activities or sports. This is due to an ongoing symptom management approach vs finding the root cause.
Symptom management is not the bad guy. It’s treating symptoms, without ever really addressing the cause that’s the problem. The root of the issue more times than not with elbow pain is the spine (especially the neck), impacting the system that ties all the body together- the nervous system! Lifestyle habits like the ones mentioned above (past injury, poor posture, and overuse) all impact the nervous system. This can be hard to navigate because marketing for many symptom management relief options claim to be addressing the root cause, even though they are not.
We need your help! You’ll help lead us to the root of the problem. The root cause is never just a tight muscle. If it were that easy, just massage the muscle and all your problems will go away for good. Maybe it was baseball from your childhood you didn’t realize even contributed, or a past pregnancy that could have affected the ligaments in the elbow. It starts with listening to you; your story matters. Also testing! Lot’s of testing. It’s usually a past event you completely forgot about that happened years ago which is the main contributor to our symptoms today.
After we narrow down the possibilities we lean on our high tech nervous system scans, called INSiGHT scans. By using the INSiGHT scans, we can find the underlying stress patterns in your nervous system that might not show up with just a physical exam or imaging like x-ray. This helps us get to the root of the problem and allows us to create a personalized care plan that doesn’t just address the pain but focuses on healing deeper layers so you feel better for the long term.
The breakdown of our first visit with you compared to traditional chiropractors is below.
Our extremity adjustments to the elbow are highly effective for quick elbow relief because we know you want to get back to doing what you love right away. Our chiropractors have taken hundreds of hours in extra training to become extremity experts and know advanced techniques for elbow chiropractic adjustments. We are nerdy and proud of it!
Beyond quick symptom relief and helping you with a plan to get back to doing what you love, our nervous system focused chiropractic adjustments (often to the neck) get to the real root of the issue, ensuring the problem doesn’t return.
Our ligament approach, which is part of our TriChord Method™, is also important with elbow pain. One of the top hidden causes of elbow pain is hypermobility in the shoulder which leads to elbow pain (especially in past overhead athletes). This means that things are moving too much in the shoulder, creating compensatory symptoms in the elbow. We utilize specialized ligament support techniques for these cases.
As you now know, there are many factors that can lead to tennis elbow, golfers elbow, or just general elbow pain. Identifying the many contributing factors and addressing them at their root is what leads to lasting relief. By focusing on the function of the nervous system, ligament system, and the elbows themselves, it allows us to find the all the contributing factors to your elbow pain. This means lasting relief instead of just a temporary solution.
Even if you’ve tried physical therapy, orthopedists, and other chiropractors, we are confident you’ll find the root cause of the elbow pain you’ve been experiencing through our approach at Lifespring Chiropractic. Below is a diagram showing the benefit of addressing the root cause with Lifespring’s TriChord Method™ instead of just treating symptoms as they come up.
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Office Hours
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Monday
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8am - 1pm | 2:30 - 6pm
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Tuesday
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8am - 1pm | 2:30 - 6pm
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Wednesday
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8am - 1pm | 2:30 - 6pm
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Thursday
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8am - 1pm | 2:30 - 6pm
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Friday
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8am - 1pm | 2:30 - 6pm
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Saturday & Sunday
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Closed
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