Golfer's elbow is an ache on the inside of your elbow — the bony bump you can feel on the inner side — that flares when you grip, lift, or turn your hand. Despite the name, most people we see with it on the Upper West Side do not play golf. They carry groceries up walk-up stairs, lift toddlers, grip a racket or a climbing hold, haul a heavy work bag, or spend the fall raking, lifting, and carrying. The common thread is gripping under load, over and over, until the tendons on the inside of the forearm give up keeping quiet. Here's how it happens, how to protect yourself, and how a chiropractor can help.

Why the Inside of Your Elbow Aches

• One tendon anchor does all the gripping work. The muscles that close your fingers and flex your wrist all attach at one small bump on the inside of your elbow. Every grip, lift, and twist pulls on that single anchor point, so it takes far more load than its size suggests.

• Repetition without recovery. A weekend of golf, a day of moving boxes, or weeks of gripping a racket, a tool, or a heavy bag asks those tendons to work thousands of times. Tendons adapt slowly, and when the load arrives faster than they can adapt, the anchor gets irritated and sore.

• A stiff wrist, elbow, or shoulder shifts the load. When the joints above and below the elbow do not move well, your forearm muscles have to work harder to stabilise every grip. That extra work lands on the same inside-elbow anchor, rep after rep.

• Neck and upper back tension changes how your arm works. The nerves that control your forearm and hand leave your spine at your neck. When your neck and upper back are stiff from desk work and phone posture, your arm muscles fatigue faster and coordinate worse, and gripping tasks cost more effort than they should.

• Sudden spikes hurt more than steady work. Jumping from no golf, lifting, or racket sport to a long session in one day is the classic trigger — the tendon meets a week of load in a single afternoon.

Signs It Is Golfer's Elbow

• An ache or tenderness on the inside bump of your elbow, not the outside

• Pain when you grip, shake hands, turn a doorknob, or lift a bag

• A weaker grip, or pain carrying something in that hand

• Stiffness in the elbow, especially first thing in the morning

• An ache that spreads down the inside of your forearm toward your wrist

How to Protect Your Elbow

• Build gripping load up gradually. Add time, weight, and intensity a little at a time across weeks, whether it is golf, lifting, or racket sports, so the tendon can adapt instead of flaring.

• Lighten the grip itself. Carry bags in both hands or use a backpack, choose a racket or club grip that fits your hand, and avoid squeezing harder than the task needs — a death grip multiplies the pull on the tendon.

• Keep loads close and use both arms. Lifting a child, a suitcase, or a grocery bag close to your body with both arms shares the work your forearm would otherwise do alone.

• Rest the flare, not the arm. Ease off the specific gripping tasks that hurt for a short stretch while keeping the rest of your movement up — total rest stiffens the elbow and weakens the tendon further.

• Move the whole arm chain daily. Gentle wrist, elbow, and shoulder movement through the day keeps those joints sharing the load, so your forearm is not compensating for stiff neighbours.

How Chiropractic Care Helps Golfer's Elbow

• Restores motion in the arm chain. Adjustments free up stiff joints in the neck, upper back, shoulder, and elbow, so gripping work is shared across the whole arm instead of concentrating at one tendon anchor.

• Calms the nerve supply to your forearm. Because the nerves to your hand and forearm come from your neck, restoring motion there supports how well those muscles fire and how quickly they recover between efforts.

• Addresses the pattern, not just the sore spot. Care looks at why the tendon got overloaded — your grip habits, your training build-up, and how your neck, shoulder, and elbow are moving — so the ache does not return with your next round or lifting day.

• Keeps progress on track. For members, a monthly surface EMG scan — KIRO's Nervous System Scan — tracks how your nervous system is adapting over time, so care follows your progress as your grip strength and comfort rebuild.

Chiropractic Care for Golfer's Elbow in NYC
At KIRO on the Upper West Side, Dr. Mariella helps golfers, racket players, parents, and New Yorkers whose inside-elbow pain comes from a life full of gripping, lifting, and carrying. The goal is not just a quieter elbow this week, but an arm chain that moves well enough to handle the load you put on it every day. KIRO accepts HSA and FSA, and superbills are available.

"Your elbow is rarely the whole story. The tendon on the inside of the elbow is where the pain shows up, but the load that irritates it is set by how your neck, shoulder, and wrist are moving. Share the work across the whole arm, build the load up gradually, and most elbows settle down and stay settled." — Dr. Mariella Townsend