Physical Therapy for elbow problem (possibly tendonitis)

Massage of forearm helps me

What is the diagnosis? If it is tendonitis PT can be very helpful, especially if you combine it with correcting whatever actions are causing the irritation.

My ortho doctor also instructed me to wear a wrist brace while sleeping. This sounds crazy, but it works. We often flex our wrist while sleeping (think curling up or tucking hand under cheek) placing stress on the elbow. Keeping the wrist straight eases that. Here is an explanation of how it works.
Tennis Elbow – New Treatments for A Common Problem https://share.google/HfwXY3hET77RkwuZG

@barbaradh I've had lateral epicondylitis, or tennis elbow, in both arms. I found PT to be very helpful but I had to be patient. I went to my PT appointments and did the home exercises. The pain slowly went away over a period of about 6 months. I've worked with many different PTs over the years for a variety of injuries. The best results have been with a PT who problem solves with me. The PT asks me lots of questions of what I feel I can and cannot do on a daily basis because of the pain and this occurs at every appointment. I was consistent in doing the home exercises.

The physical therapist can give you the diagnosis and some exercises.
What you continue doing on your own is the most likely to lead to relief.
I used ice and topical Voltaren gel after golf for avoiding flare ups.
I found the Velcro strap worn above the elbow for golf very helpful.

At some point if not helped by the above therapy may require MRI. Hopefully will get relief before that is required

Yes, that does feel great.

I had elbow tendonitis for years after using too much force pulling stubborn weeds in a garden bed. I tried PT, but got the wrong therapist. Mine sold me some twisty resistance bars and succeeded in aggravating the injury and costing me four nights of sleep. So I gave up and hoped it would go away with rest. No luck there. This year I had some sonar shockwave therapy for knee bursitis and asked the doctor about my elbow. He assured me there would be no downside to doing it on a joint area, and he was right. We did 4 sessions with just about five minutes each devoted to the elbow. It healed over the course of two months and hasn't bothered me since. I haven't bothered those weeds either lately...I got my sister to work on them😃. Good luck with your elbow.

Genie, thank you very much for comment. What type of doctor administers sonar shockwave therapy? It sounds like an interesting possible help to my issue.

My fellow respondents are correct that PT is your best bet. Radiographs will hot help but an EMG might to ascertain if you’ve got nerve involvement and where. I’m going through this currently too and wearing wrist braces to sleep and stretching exercises during the day. At 73 I’m not having surgery so I preserver with pain, numbness and cramps in my forearms and hands.

@jenatsky Are you getting any improvement? My husband is just a couple years younger than you and will be starting occupational therapy for an inflamed bicep tendon, and another inflamed elbow tendon. They showed up bright white on the MRI. That has been very painful for him and his knee is bothering him now too. I guess the OT will be scraping the tendons with Graston tools to try to clean up the inflammation.