Have you ever had pain in the elbow or forearm? This blog will cover Tennis Elbow. A common problem faced by many during day to day life and people performing at various sports.
Tennis Elbow has a bad reputation and one that is commonly feared by people and can affect people to where they do not think anything can be done for it. But this blog is to help show you that you can get through it and to not let it have an effect on your day to day life.
Tennis Elbow is pain on the outer side of the elbow named so because tennis players use those muscles often and so commonly develop the condition.
The reasons Tennis Elbow worries a lot are many, but mainly of which is the difficulty in treating this very preventable problem.
In most cases, treating a muscle that is inflamed and painful is a matter of unloading the tissues. That gets difficult with the elbow because we use our hands all the time.
Also, we often think of treating tennis elbow as a musculature issue, when in reality it’s an insertion issue. Meaning that the muscles are inserting onto the bone. Tennis elbow and its close companion in Golfers Elbow, which is where the same pain affects the inside of the elbow where the tendons of our forearm connect to the bone in our elbow.
In clinic we first work out where your pain is coming from and secondly what is driving that pain in the first place.
Then we use 3 stages to have an effect on your injury.
Firstly we want to lower the pain you are in. This is done by desensitising your tissue to cause relief to the area and improve the function in your arm so you can get back to doing the activities you want to do.
Secondly we want to create a long term change to the injured tissue by taking the tissue to the full range of motion it can have and build conditioning in it. This means you can do more things with your elbow at a higher intensity without increasing your pain.
Finally it is important to then prevent the cause of the pain. This means we can continually move the muscle to the end range of movement without causing pain.
The cause of Tennis Elbow is primiarily an issue with the small space in your elbow that then has swelling develop. So decreasing pain involves reducing the tension in that area so your tissues can move freely in it.
In the clinic we use a variety of techniques for this including: Active Release Techniques, Chiropractic Manipulation, Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Massage, Dry Needling, Laser Therapy and Soft tissue massage.
Other tissues that affect tennis elbow include the forearm, rotator cuff, and scapula, so we include these in the treatment of tennis elbow.
If you would like a full functional assessment and find out what is causing your elbow pain, then contact the clinic today on 0578678904, direct message us on Facebook or book now.
Yours in Health
The Lawlor Clinic: Spine & Sport, Portlaoise, Laois
Currently, people will do anything to compete and perform at their best. When it comes down to game day, it is common for people to try and ignore their pain and then push through it. This goes back to the phrase we have been told from when we were young of ‘No pain, no gain’.
In the world today, no pain, no gain is frequently said and acted upon to cover up pain. We wrap our ankles and wrists before games, wear knee sleeves and take pain killers and use creams to get through training by keeping the pain at a low enough level in order to perform. Although this allows us to compete on a consistent basis but these temporary solutions for dealing with pain during competition and even training sessions have become regular occurrences for people during their routines.
So what can be the effects of pushing through pain?
Pain tells us that there may be injury occurring to the body. The type of pain can vary from sharp, stabbing or throbbing sensation. Pain can be muscular or you could be feeling it in a joint. It often occurs due to overuse, poor technique and inflammation. It is important to note that pain does not improve because of a proper warm-up or mobility work pre-session.
This is because pain is not a soreness. Whereas muscle soreness will almost always improve when you have done a throughout warmup. When your muscles are sore this is a natural part of training. So if you have done a warm-up and your pain improves it is most likely because you are just sore and can continue with training.
There are a few reasons why phishing through pain can be harmful. Firstly as mentioned earlier, pain can be a warning sign of a problem being caused for your body, similar to a check engine light on your dashboard. Although there may be times of pushing through pain to get a performance in, if it becomes part of your training routine it can be detrimental to your body and your progress. Continually ignoring pain is when injuries occur.
Pain also changes the way you move. This is because your body is trying to find a position where it is protected. But this can also affect your movement and therefore directly limit your mobility and diminish your strength. This is especially true for gym-goers when using a barbell. Because trying to push through the pain when you are lifting heavy will limit your development.
So do not ignore the signs with your body when it is in pain. Learn to embrace pain as a chance to fix your body so it can run for a long time safely.
If you suffer from pain and would like an examination and treatment to help relieve your symptoms and improve your movement patterns then contact the clinic today on 0578678904, direct message us on Facebook or book now.
Yours in Health
The Lawlor Clinic: Spine & Sport, Portlaoise, Laois
Rugby is one of the most popular sports around today and is one of the toughest on the body. As many people who play rugby know, there are few areas of the body that can avoid getting hit or injured while playing because of how heavy of a contact sport it is. In this blog, we’re going to look at which injuries are the most common, and what actions you can take to avoid them.
Common injuries
It is common for players to get bruises or strains to the muscles when playing rugby. Almost half of rugby injuries are on the muscles but many can be avoided or prevented. So knowing the best ways to do this is crucial to your game management.
Another 25% of injuries are head injuries. With the main head injury being concussions.
Fractures are another common and more serious injury involved in rugby.
Also sprains such as ankle sprains (which are the most common) can occur at ligaments in various areas of the body for example the knee, shoulder and ankle
Risk factors?
Although the injuries mentioned above are the most common injuries in rugby, different people will be at risk in different ways. For example, children are more at risk of fractures than other age groups because bones still developing until you are in your 20’s.
Also, the role you play in the team has an effect on the risk of injury. Hookers and flankers are the most injured players on the team and put themselves in positions where they are more likely to get injured, this is especially relevant in tackling.
Injury prevention
So as we have covered there are many injuries you can pick up during rugby and it is common to think that this comes with the territory of playing the game. But you can reduce the risk of injury and therefore play more minutes on the pitch.
It has been shown that most rugby injuries take place right at the start of the season. This is because people have fallen out of their training routine and are suddenly going from 0 to 100 when returning to play. By doing this the muscles and ligaments are not fully prepared for being back and are at a greater risk of injury. The best thing to do in the offseason is to still train and keep your body at a good level of fitness so you are prepared for the return to the pitch.
Certain muscles and joints are at more risk of injury in certain positions. For example, backs are more likely to injure their knees because of being in a compromised position. If your body isn’t functioning correctly and is tight in certain areas then injuries are more likely to occur. This can occur because if you force the joints or muscles into positions they are not used to then they can be injured whereas if they were loose, mobile and stable, then they have less chance of injury. This is the area we focus on in the clinic. We do this by doing a full functional assessment and then explaining which areas of your body can be worked on to help improve performance and decrease the risk of injury.
If you want to know more about potential causes of injuries or get your pain sorted, then contact the clinic for a full functional assessment and treatment. Contact the clinic today on 0578678904, direct message us on Facebook or book now.
Yours in Health
The Lawlor Clinic: Spine & Sport, Portlaoise, Laois
Lots of people come into the clinic complaining of elbow pain. Commonly people have pain on the inside of the elbow and say it is down to overuse of the elbow after a long week or overtraining and the elbow has flared up because of it. But with pain on the inside of the elbow, it is not always down to overuse but down to misuse.
With elbow injuries, if you just look at the site of pain and blame the elbow for the cause of the problem you might be missing the root cause of the issue. This is because the muscles which are around your forearm attach onto you humerus which is the upper arm bone and this starts at the shoulder.
People spend a lot of time in a hunched over position with the arms turned inwards and therefore when you have to turn your arms out for example when you hold the bar squatting or doing barbell curls, if the movement is not coming from the shoulder then the movement has to come from the elbow. This creates stress at the elbow as it is not designed to overly rotate.
A lot of the time with elbow pain the thought process is to stretch out forearms. But this is treating the symptoms, not the cause. The root cause is often from being restricted in shoulder movement.
So, if you are having elbow pain or even if you are not you can try this quick test. Hold your hands out in front of you with your arms straight and turn your palms upwards. A lot of the time the you will see a difference from side to side with how much you can turn your palms upwards. You may also find you are compensating to get this movement from the wrists or feel stress through the elbow. If this is the case then helping your shoulder mobility will prevent pain from occurring or if you are in pain, be the resolving factor in your pain.
If you want to know more about potential causes of injuries or get your pain sorted, then contact the clinic for a full functional assessment to see where your imbalances are. To do this contact the clinic today on 0578678904, direct message us on Facebook or book now.
Yours in Health
The Lawlor Clinic: Spine & Sport, Portlaoise, Laois
With gyms opening up again and sports teams having training and matches, everyone will be getting much more active over the coming weeks. But after a long rest period, rushing back into training at full speed can cause an injury. So, if it is a casual round of golf or getting back into the gym here are some tips and advice to get performing safely.
Stretch
Before training, it is important to do a targeted warm-up before you start actively. This might not mean doing a 5-minute cycle before your gym session because instead, it will be beneficial to target to muscles you are training that day rather than just simply getting the heart rate up. For example, if you are going for a run you should focus on warming up your hips and legs. This can be done with exercises such as lunges and side shuffles. Then some hip mobilising exercises such as hip CARs which are attached below.
Fuel your body
Having the right food before a workout is vital to performing at a good intensity. This doesn’t mean consuming protein shake after protein shake but instead having a well-balanced meal before your workout and also throughout the day so you do not feel like you are crashing throughout the day.
Stay hydrated
Before and during your workout it is very important to stay hydrated. So if you know you will be training later you should make an effort to make sure you are hydrated before. You can also include natural electrolytes into your diet such as coconut water or pink Himalayan sea salt.
Be patient
After a long period of time off it is normal to have lost some of your strength or general physical fitness. So if you find it difficult to bench press what you used to or the number of reps has decreased don’t get discouraged. Set a goal to work to over the coming weeks and gradually increase your weights and sets. This will give you a great platform to get to where you were pre COVID and pugs beyond where you previously were.
If you have taken a break from the gym and you are feeling stiff or want to prevent a possible injury when you are back training then contact the clinic today on 0578678904, direct message us on Facebook or book now.
Yours in Health
The Lawlor Clinic: Spine & Sport, Portlaoise, Laois
Elbow injuries are a common injury in desk workers and athletes. In people who lift weights they are one of the most common injuries to have.
Although the elbow may appear to be a simple hinge joint that simply has two movements (bending or straightening the elbow), the reality is far from it. The elbow is a more complicated joint than it seems because the movement occurs between three bones and surrounding this are 16 small muscles. These help to not only straighten and bend your elbow but also rotate it as your palm is either up or down.
Although many elbow issues are due to overuse of the muscles causing a repetitive strain injury, it is common for people to cause an injury to one of the several nerves in the arm. This can cause tingling, numbness, a burning sensation and possible weakness in the hand.
A type of exercise that is used to help nerve pain is nerve gliding. This aims to either stretch the nerve or glide the nerve.
Gliding techniques will stretch the nerve and have the aim of increasing the tension and pressure through the nerve. This sometimes makes symptoms worse in people.
Sliding techniques will move the nerve with a lot less tension and pressure and therefore don’t increase symptoms.
The goal is to use these techniques to increase blood circulation, reduce the swelling that is around the nerve and get the nerve back to its natural movement. This will decrease symptoms once these areas are restored.
Make sure you only do a few sliders at a time because overstressing the nerve even with a less aggressive technique will potentially increase your symptoms. It is not always the case that a little bit of something is good so let’s do lots of it in a more is better approach. So do this little and often throughout the day rather than all at once.
If you suffer from any elbow issues or capal tunnel then contact the clinic today on 0578678904, direct message us on Facebook or book now.
Yours in Health
The Lawlor Clinic: Spine & Sport, Portlaoise, Laois
Check out Shane’s XIX Podcast Interview discussing all things Golf Injuries, Rehab & Performance
▫️How he got to work on the PGA & European Tour ▫️Whats it like working with tour pros? ▫️The changes he’s seen in the past 10 years ▫️What it takes to be a tour pro? ▫️What amateurs can do to improve their game?
Elbow pain is one of the most common golf injuries I see at the clinic. You will commonly know these elbow issues as tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow.
For the amateur golfer elbow injuries usually happen because of one or more of the following factors:
Bad Technique
Physical Limitation
Hitting too many balls
Over practicing off hard surfaces
Importance of Screening:
Any golfer that comes to the clinic will be expertly assessed using the Titleist Performance Institute’s (TPI) golf specific screen which will highlight your individual physical limitations that will affect your golf swing, increase your chances of injury and most likely contribute to any existing injuries such as back, wrist, neck or elbow pain.
It’s never just the elbow:
In our experience in working with amateur and professional golfers elbow pain is just a symptom of other problems:
These include:
Poor shoulder range of motion (mobility)
Poor thoracic spine mobility
Weak Scapula/Shoulder Blade Stabilisers
Referred pain from the neck
Weak grip strength
What to do about it?
With your assessment results from the TPI screen we build a specific treatment and rehabilitation program around you. We also work in conjunction with your golf coach and strength & conditioning expert to get you back to full health.
Treatment will incorporate the following techniques