FROM MY PT SCHOOL NOTES · MUSCULOSKELETAL · CHAPTER 12
Elbow Pain: Joint Motion, Grip Loading and Nerve Symptoms
Elbow symptoms make more sense when you consider both the joint complex and the load carried by the wrist, hand and forearm.
Three main articulations
The humeroulnar, humeroradial and proximal radioulnar joints coordinate elbow flexion/extension and forearm rotation. The cubital tunnel contains the ulnar nerve, adding an important neurologic differential to medial elbow complaints.
What the lab evaluates
After history and medical screening, inspect swelling and deformity, then compare flexion/extension, pronation/supination, pain under resistance, grip-loading symptoms and relevant neurovascular findings. Acute trauma with marked swelling or inability to move requires a different pathway from gradual tendon overload.
When lateral elbow pain may be tendon-related
An adult with load-related lateral elbow pain may need graded loading, education and task modification rather than repeated passive interventions alone. But radial nerve involvement, cervical referral and intra-articular pathology remain relevant differentials.
Current-guideline limitation
The APTA 2022 lateral elbow pain guideline addresses adults aged approximately 18–65 with lateral elbow tendinopathy and muscle-function impairment, not every elbow diagnosis or trauma.
Try a clinical decision
A person has lateral elbow pain with gripping and tingling into the hand. Do you assume an isolated extensor tendon problem?
No. Examine grip and wrist-extensor loading, forearm/elbow movement, relevant sensory and motor findings and any cervical/peripheral nerve symptoms; interpret in the context of the actual task.
Original course sources and limitations
6 Elbow; 2 Elbow Lab; 6 Elbow Pathologies. Servier image CC BY-SA 3.0 as credited.
This lesson is distilled from my original PT-school notes, with current external guidance labeled separately. It is not an official course or a substitute for clinical examination and procedure-specific protocols.
