Golf and Tennis Elbow
What are the Differences?

Ah, golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow.  It’s normally hard to tell them apart I’ve found, since they’re both elbow pain.  Golf players have their golfer’s elbow, and tennis players have T.E.

The medical difference is in the inflamed tendon.  Tennis elbow is an inflammation of the lateral epicondyle (hence its medical name, lateral epicondylitis), the tendon attaching your forearm muscles to the bone on the outside of your elbow.  Golfer’s elbow is an inflammation of the medial epicondyle, the tendon that attaches other forearm muscles to your bone on the inside of your elbow.

So, where is your pain?  If it’s more on the inside of your elbow it’s golfer’s elbow, and if the pain more on the outside of your elbow, it’s tennis elbow.  Also, if you have golfer’s elbow and take the Cozen’s test for tennis elbow, you shouldn’t have pain on the outside of your elbow. 

So now you can tell whether or not you have golf or tennis elbow.  Since golfer’s elbow is an inflammation problem as well, applications of some of the anti-inflammatory treatments you can perform at home should help you as well.  You can also go to the main homepage and learn more about tennis elbow if that's what you have.