Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Elbow Injuries and Disorders
Your elbow joint is made up of bone, cartilage, ligaments and fluid. Muscles and tendons help the elbow joint move. When any of these structures is hurt or diseased, you have elbow problems.
Many things can make your elbow hurt. A common cause is tendinitis, an inflammation or injury to the tendons that attach muscle to bone. Tendinitis of the elbow is a sports injury, often from playing tennis or golf. You may also get tendinitis from overuse of the elbow.
Other causes of elbow pain include sprains and strains, fractures (broken bones), dislocations, bursitis, and arthritis. Treatment depends on the cause.
It sits within Bones, Joints and Muscles and Injuries and Wounds.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Elbow Injuries and Disorders
334 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Illness Perception and Treatment Expectations in Lateral Elbow PainAcibadem University
- Feasibility and Efficacy of Bone Marrow PRP Injection in Refractory Fissure Tendinopathies of the Lateral Epicondylar TendonsClinique du Sport, Bordeaux Mérignac
- Effects of Eccentric Exercises Along With Muscle Energy Technique in Lateral EpicondylitisRiphah International University
- Hyaluronic Acid Versus Platelet-Rich Plasma for Chronic Tendinopathy and EnthesopathyOrtonika Orthopedic Medical Clinic in Lublin
- Vibratory Anesthesia on Pain Following Corticosteroid InjectionsThe University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston
- Assessment of Pressure Pain Threshold (PPT) and Conditioned Pain Modulation (CPM) After Effect in Patients With and Without Tennis Elbow (TE)The Hashemite University
Research already completed
- TRANSLATION, ADAPTATION, VALIDATION AND RELIABILITY OF ARABIC VERSION OF KERLAN-JOBE ORTHOPAEDIC CLINIC SHOULDER AND ELBOW SCORE IN EGYPTIAN SYMPTOMATIC OVERHEAD ATHLETESZiad Mohamed Mohamed Abdalla Haroun
- Blood Flow Restriction Training in Tennis ElbowNecmettin Erbakan University
- Arthroscopic or Open Evaluation of Posterolateral Instability Associated With Lateral EpicondylitisGCS Ramsay Santé pour l'Enseignement et la Recherche
- Axillary Block in Association With Analgesic Truncal Blocks at the Elbow for Wrist Surgery.CMC Ambroise Paré
- Trigger Point Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy in Patients With Lateral EpicondylitisGazi University
- Effects of 8 Weeks of Two Exercise Programs on Risk Factors Associated With Epicondylitis in Amateur Padel PlayersSchool of Allied Health Sciences of Porto (ESTSP) - Polytechnic Institute of Porto (IPP)
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- Elbow PainMayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
Diagnosis and Tests
- Bone X-RayRadiological Society of North America
- Direct ArthrographyRadiological Society of North America
- Elbow X-Ray Exam (For Parents)Nemours Foundation
- Hand/Wrist/Arm ProblemsAmerican Academy of Family Physicians
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Cubital Tunnel SyndromeNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Elbow InjuriesNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Tennis ElbowNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Elbow Injuries, Tennis Elbow. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Elbow Injuries and Disorders, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.