What’s the Difference Between Tennis Elbow and Golfer’s Elbow?

 

The main difference between tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow is which tendon group is affected and which movements load it. Tennis elbow involves the tendons that attach to the outside of the elbow and help bend your wrist backward, a movement called extension. Golfer’s elbow involves the tendons on the inside of the elbow that help bend your wrist forward (flexion) and rotate your forearm toward palm-down (pronation).

Despite the names, you do not need to play either sport to develop these conditions. Guidance from the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy notes that many people with tennis elbow do not play racquet sports at all. Gripping tools, lifting bags, typing, or twisting a jar lid can all place repeated demands on these tendons.

This guide explains how tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow differ, why pain location is a useful clue but not a diagnosis, what the research says about treatment for each, and how an assessment can point you toward the right next steps.

Related: What Are The 5 Symptoms of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)?

What Causes Tennis Elbow and Golfer’s Elbow, and How Do Their Symptoms Differ?

Both conditions usually develop when repeated or forceful hand use asks more of a tendon than it can currently handle. The symptoms differ mainly by location and by which movements bring on the pain, though location is a clue rather than a diagnosis.

Different Tendons, Different Pain Patterns

The forearm muscles that move your wrist and fingers attach to the elbow through shared tendons. Tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow affect opposite sides of that attachment.

• Tennis elbow affects the common extensor origin on the outer elbow, most often involving the extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB).
• Golfer’s elbow affects the common flexor-pronator origin on the inner elbow.
• Bending the wrist backward against resistance can provoke outer elbow pain, while bending it forward or rotating the palm down can provoke inner elbow pain.
• Both conditions can make gripping, lifting, and everyday hand use uncomfortable.

The comparison below summarizes typical patterns of tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow. These are general tendencies, not a way to diagnose yourself.

Tennis Elbow: Outer Elbow Pain

Tennis elbow involves the tendon group that straightens the wrist and fingers. Pain typically occurs on the outer side of the elbow and may become more noticeable during gripping or lifting.

• Usual pain location: Outer side of the elbow.
• Tendon group: Wrist and finger extensors.
• Movements that often provoke pain: Bending the wrist backward, gripping, or lifting with the palm down.
• Assessment considerations: Nearby nerve involvement may need separate assessment.

Golfer’s Elbow: Inner Elbow Pain

Golfer’s elbow involves the tendon group associated with bending the wrist forward and rotating the forearm palm-down. Pain typically occurs on the inner side of the elbow, and some provoking movements overlap with those of tennis elbow.

• Usual pain location: Inner side of the elbow.
• Tendon group: Wrist flexors and forearm pronators.
• Movements that often provoke pain: Wrist flexion, gripping, or forearm pronation.
• Assessment considerations: Nearby nerve or ligament involvement may need separate assessment.

Workload Matters More Than Sports Names

The sports in these names describe where the conditions were first noticed, not who gets them. What matters most is how much repeated force the tendon handles compared with what it is ready for.

• Repetitive, forceful gripping and manual work can contribute to both conditions.
• Everyday examples include using hand tools, carrying heavy items, and repeatedly twisting the forearm.
• A sudden increase in workload, such as a new job task or a burst of home projects, can exceed the tendon’s current capacity.
• These are usually described as tendinopathy; long-standing cases are not primarily inflammatory, though inflammation is not entirely absent.

Nerve Symptoms Need Separate Assessment

Tendon pain usually feels like an ache or soreness around the elbow. Other sensations can point to something more. According to StatPearls on the NCBI Bookshelf, numbness, tingling, or radiating nerve symptoms with outer elbow pain suggest an alternative or coexisting diagnosis.

• Numbness and tingling are not typical of uncomplicated tennis elbow.
• Nerve entrapment can occur alongside tendon symptoms.
• Nearby nerve or ligament involvement may need its own assessment.
• Broader or unusual symptoms are a good reason to get checked rather than assume a tendon problem.

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Related: Joint Pain Without NSAIDs: How Chiropractic Care Helps

What Treatment Options Are Used for Each Condition?

Conservative care for tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow usually starts with adjusting aggravating activities and gradually loading the affected tendons. Medication, braces, injections, and surgery each have narrower roles and clear limits.

Activity Changes and Symptom Management

The first step is often reducing how much the painful tendon is asked to do while it settles. That rarely means stopping all hand use.

• Adapt gripping, lifting, and repetitive tasks that reliably bring on pain.
• Relative rest and ice can be discussed as ways to manage symptoms.
• RICE is not a complete rehabilitation plan, and compression or elevation is not required.
• Pain medicines, including NSAIDs, need a suitability review with a clinician and do not repair the tendon.

Different Tendons Need Different Loading

Because the two conditions involve opposite tendon groups, exercise programs target different muscles. For tennis elbow, guidance from the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy supports resisted wrist-extensor exercise for subacute or chronic symptoms.

• Tennis elbow care focuses on gradually loading the wrist extensors.
• Isometric (holding), concentric (lifting), and eccentric (lowering) exercise are all options, and none is ranked as superior.
• Golfer’s elbow care focuses on the flexor-pronator muscles, but the evidence is weaker and partly borrowed from tennis elbow research.
• Progression should follow your assessment, tolerance, and daily demands; there is no universal prescription.

Adjuncts and Specialist Options

Other approaches can support symptom management or come into play when progress stalls. Many are offered by physical therapy, primary care, or orthopedic providers rather than in every clinic.

• Manual care, counterforce straps, and taping may help manage symptoms as adjuncts.
• Braces do not replace managing workload and rebuilding function.
• Injections are sometimes discussed; their trade-offs are covered later in this guide.
• Surgery is uncommon and reserved for selected cases that do not respond to other care.

What Benefits Can Conservative Care Realistically Provide?

Conservative care aims to make everyday hand use more comfortable and to improve function, but responses vary and the evidence has limits. Feeling better also does not prove the tendon has structurally repaired.

Function Matters Alongside Pain

Pain scores are only part of the picture. What you can do with your hand and arm often matters just as much.

• Gripping and lifting tolerance are useful, practical goals.
• Track the work, household, and sport tasks that matter most to you.
• Gains in strength and task tolerance are different from changes on imaging.
• Goals help guide care, but no specific outcome can be promised.

Short-Term Relief Has Limits

Research suggests that some hands-on and exercise approaches may help a little, at least for a while. A 2024 review from Cochrane found low-certainty evidence that manual therapy combined with exercise may produce small improvements in tennis elbow pain and disability compared with minimal care, and those improvements may not be clinically worthwhile.

• The findings apply to tennis elbow, not golfer’s elbow.
• The comparison was manual therapy and exercise versus minimal care.
• Pooled results did not show that the benefits were sustained over time.
• Short-term relief is not evidence that a tendon has regenerated.

Golfer’s Elbow Has Less Direct Evidence

Most treatment studies have focused on tennis elbow, which leaves fewer direct answers for the inner elbow. That gap shapes how care for golfer’s elbow is planned.

• The majority of intervention trials concern lateral tendinopathy.
• Guidance for golfer’s elbow relies more on reviews and extrapolation.
• Similar treatment principles do not prove equal effectiveness.
• Nerve or ligament involvement on the inner elbow can change the plan.

If you’re ready to address elbow pain, our team at RxWellness is here to help. Schedule your consultation online today.

What Happens During an Elbow Pain Assessment?

An elbow assessment combines your history, a hands-on examination, and a look at related structures, with imaging used only when it adds useful information. The goal is to tell these two conditions apart from each other and from other causes of elbow pain.

History and Activity Review

Your story often provides the most important clues. A clinician will want to understand how the pain started and what your arms and hands do each day.

• When symptoms began and whether work or sport demands changed beforehand.
• Which gripping, lifting, or twisting movements make the pain worse.
• What care you have already tried and how the pain affects daily function.
• Your personal goals, whether they involve work, household tasks, hobbies, or sport.

Tendon and Nerve Examination

The physical exam looks at the elbow, but also at the structures around it. Several findings are considered together rather than relying on a single test.

• Checking for tenderness, range of motion, and pain with resisted wrist movements.
• Assessing grip function and nearby joints such as the wrist and neck when relevant.
• Screening nerves when symptoms suggest they may be involved.
• No single home or clinical test confirms either condition on its own.

Imaging When It Adds Value

Many people expect a scan, but most elbow tendon problems are diagnosed clinically. Imaging is reserved for situations where it can answer a specific question.

• Diagnosis is usually based on history and examination, so imaging is not routinely required.
• Testing may be considered for unusual symptoms or when progress is unsatisfactory.
• X-ray, ultrasound, and MRI each answer different clinical questions.
• Changes seen on a scan do not, by themselves, show where pain is coming from or how severe it is.

Who May Benefit From Conservative Care, and When Should the Plan Change?

Conservative care may suit someone whose elbow pain has been clinically assessed as tendon-related. Persistent, unusual, or complicated symptoms call for reassessment, and any decision about injections should weigh what the evidence does and does not show.

Matching Care to the Presentation

A good plan reflects what was found during your assessment, not just where it hurts. Two people with similar pain may need quite different approaches.

• Care is based on your history, examination, and functional limitations.
• The plan should account for your work, home, and sport demands.
• Exercise is chosen for the tendon group involved, extensors or flexor-pronators.
• Treatment should never be selected from pain location alone.

Injection Decisions Need Trade-Offs

Corticosteroid injections can ease tennis elbow pain early on, but early relief does not always mean better long-term results. In a trial published in JAMA, 165 adults with tennis elbow in one arm lasting more than six weeks received either a corticosteroid or a placebo injection. At one year, 83% of the corticosteroid group had recovered completely or improved greatly, compared with 96% of the placebo group, and recurrence was 54% versus 12%.

• A placebo injection contains no active medication, which allows a fair comparison.
• Corticosteroid may relieve symptoms early without improving later outcomes.
• These figures come from a tennis elbow trial and should not be applied to golfer’s elbow.
• A poorer result for corticosteroid does not mean a different injection will work better.

Reassessment and Appropriate Referral

If symptoms are not improving as expected, the plan deserves a second look rather than more of the same. Sometimes that means looking beyond the tendon.

• Persistent difficulty merits a review of the diagnosis and your workload.
• Unusual symptoms may need assessment of structures beyond the tendon.
• Nerve or ligament concerns may change the plan or call for referral.
• If symptoms change, worsen, or concern you, seek prompt assessment.

How Is Recovery Tracked, and When Can Activities Resume?

Recovery from either condition is best tracked through clinical progress and how well you tolerate everyday tasks, not a calendar deadline. Recovery varies from person to person, and symptoms can return.

Progress Without a Fixed Deadline

It is natural to want a timeline, but tendon problems rarely follow one. Tracking a few practical measures gives a more honest picture.

• Monitor pain, grip function, and how well you tolerate daily activities.
• Responses vary with symptom severity and ongoing workload.
• Recovery data specific to golfer’s elbow are limited.
• No set number of weeks or visits applies to everyone.

Gradual Return to Demanding Tasks

Returning to heavier work, hobbies, or sport works best as a step-by-step process. Each step builds on how your elbow handled the last one.

• Reintroduce demanding tasks progressively, with clinical guidance.
• Match exercise to extensor or flexor-pronator demands, depending on the condition.
• Review strength, endurance, and control of the task when planning next steps.
• Milestones are individualized guidance, not universal clearance tests.

Managing Recurrence and Future Workload

Because these conditions are closely tied to how you use your hands and arms, managing future workload matters. A flare-up deserves a fresh look rather than an assumption.

• Review tasks that involve repetitive force or sudden increases in workload.
• Continue an appropriate home exercise plan when your clinician advises it.
• If symptoms return, get reassessed rather than assuming the same cause.
• One less painful day or session does not, on its own, show full recovery.

Why Choose RxWellness for an Elbow Pain Evaluation?

At RxWellness, elbow pain care starts with a multidisciplinary assessment and an individualized plan. Our clinical team talks with you about your goals, explains which services are available at your clinic, and refers you elsewhere when another provider is a better fit.

The points below describe our network as a whole. They do not represent elbow-specific outcomes.

• INC 5000 Fastest-Growing Companies — four consecutive years (2023–2026).
• Ranked #1,230 on the 2026 INC 5000 list.
• Ranked #135 in Healthcare and Medical on the 2026 INC 5000 list.
• Board-certified clinical team under physician oversight at all locations.
• 150,000+ patients treated across all locations.
• 7,500+ five-star reviews across the network.
• Nationwide network of clinics across Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, and Washington.

The Three-Phase Care Model

Care at RxWellness follows a three-phase framework that helps organize your plan. It is a general structure rather than a proven elbow-specific protocol, and not everyone needs every phase.

• Relief Care: Focuses on your presenting discomfort and appropriate initial care.
• Corrective Care: Works on movement limitations and functional capacity, including rehabilitation where it is available and indicated.
• Wellness Care: May include optional follow-up, exercise support, and education on managing your workload.

How Can RxWellness Support Care for Tennis Elbow and Golfer’s Elbow?

RxWellness can support care for tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow through rehabilitation and chiropractic care, guided by your assessment. Services and their names vary by location, so it is worth confirming what your clinic offers before your visit.

Active Rehabilitation

Active Rehabilitation uses guided movement to rebuild how your elbow, wrist, and forearm handle everyday demands. It is matched to the tendon group involved and progressed as you respond.

• Guided exercises and assisted stretching.
• Individualized movement and activity goals based on your work and daily life.
• Guideline-supported loading for tennis elbow, with less direct evidence for golfer’s elbow.
• Regular reassessment to guide progression, without a promised result or duration.

Chiropractic Care

Chiropractic Care at RxWellness can play a supporting role alongside exercise. Manual care may help with short-term symptom management, but it is not the core treatment for a tendon problem.

• Assessment of relevant neck, wrist, or joint impairments that may contribute to symptoms.
• Clinically appropriate manual care used as an adjunct to exercise.
• Short-term symptom relief is distinguished from tendon repair.
• Exercise, reassessment, or referral when your symptoms call for it.

Ready to take the next step toward recovery? Schedule your consultation online to visit RxWellness today and begin your path to relief.

Related: Can Chiropractors Treat Repetitive Strain Injury?

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Assume Elbow Pain Is Tendon-Related If I Have Numbness or Tingling?

No. Numbness and tingling are not typical of uncomplicated tennis elbow, so they should not be brushed off as tendon pain. Nearby nerve or ligament involvement may need its own assessment, and pain location alone cannot confirm a diagnosis. If you notice these sensations alongside elbow pain, an assessment is the appropriate next step before starting any treatment plan.

Does Insurance Cover Care for Tennis Elbow and Golfer’s Elbow at RxWellness?

RxWellness accepts most major insurance plans, including Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, and UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare is accepted at most locations, subject to verification. Plan acceptance does not guarantee coverage for every service. Before your visit, confirm your benefits, the services available at your clinic, and any expected costs with both the clinic and your insurer.

How Long Does It Take to Recover From Tennis Elbow or Golfer’s Elbow?

There is no universal recovery deadline for either condition. Progress is better judged by function, how well you tolerate your usual workload, and how you respond to care. Evidence for golfer’s elbow is thinner, and ongoing hand and arm demands, along with the possibility of recurrence, also shape planning for each individual.

What Should I Expect at My First RxWellness Visit for Elbow Pain?

Expect to complete intake forms, then talk through your symptoms and goals before an appropriate examination. Further testing depends on what your clinician finds, so an X-ray is not routine. You will also discuss consent, treatment options, service availability, costs, and follow-up. Same-day treatment is not guaranteed, since care depends on your assessment and clinic.

Do I Need to Play Tennis or Golf to Develop These Conditions?

No. Despite their names, neither condition is limited to tennis players or golfers. Repetitive, forceful hand use at home or at work, such as gripping tools, carrying heavy items, or twisting the forearm, can contribute. The way a tendon is loaded, and how quickly that load increases, matters far more than the name of the activity.

Key Takeaways

• Tennis elbow affects the wrist-extensor tendons on the outer elbow; golfer’s elbow affects the flexor-pronator tendons on the inner elbow.
• Neither condition requires playing its namesake sport; repetitive, forceful hand use at work or home can contribute.
• Numbness, tingling, or radiating symptoms deserve their own assessment rather than being assumed to be tendon pain.
• Exercise should target the involved tendon group, and the evidence is stronger for tennis elbow than for golfer’s elbow.
• Short-term symptom relief is not the same as lasting recovery or tendon repair.
• Progress is individual, so plans should follow function and workload tolerance rather than a fixed timeline.

Telling Two Kinds of Elbow Pain Apart

The difference between tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow comes down to which tendons are involved and which movements load them. Tennis elbow affects the outer elbow tendons that bend the wrist backward, while golfer’s elbow affects the inner elbow tendons that bend the wrist forward and rotate the forearm palm-down.

Pain location can point you in the right direction, but it cannot confirm a diagnosis on its own, especially when nerves or ligaments may be involved. A clinical evaluation is the most reliable way to understand what is driving your symptoms and which kind of care fits.

If elbow pain is making gripping, lifting, or everyday tasks harder, our clinical team at RxWellness can help you sort out the cause and plan next steps. When you are ready, you can schedule your consultation online.