How We Evaluate Elbow Pain

Your first visit starts with a thorough evaluation — we assess your elbow’s range of motion, strength, and tendon sensitivity, and test specific movements and gripping positions to identify exactly what’s causing your pain and which tissues are involved.

We also look at your shoulder, wrist, and forearm — since elbow pain is often influenced by how load is distributed through the whole arm. Weakness or stiffness elsewhere frequently contributes to elbow overuse injuries, especially in people who perform repetitive tasks at work.

Once we understand what’s driving your symptoms, we build a specific treatment plan tailored to your findings — not a generic elbow stretching program.

Throughout treatment, we track your pain, grip strength, and function so your plan stays effective as you progress.

What to Expect

Your treatment plan is built around your specific elbow condition and may include a combination of hands-on manual therapy, targeted strengthening, load management, and activity modification guidance.

Treatment may focus on:

• Reducing pain and tendon irritation
• Restoring full elbow and wrist range of motion
• Strengthening the forearm, wrist, and shoulder muscles
• Improving grip strength and endurance
• Correcting movement patterns that overload the elbow
• Gradually returning to sport, work, or repetitive tasks
• Preventing the pain from becoming a long-term issue

Your plan is adjusted as you progress, with the goal of getting you back to full, pain-free function — not just temporary relief.

Common Elbow Conditions We Treat

Elbow pain shows up differently depending on the cause — pain on the outside of the elbow with gripping, aching on the inside with throwing, stiffness after rest, or weakness when lifting even light objects.

We commonly treat:

• Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis)
• Golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis)
• Elbow tendinopathy and overuse injuries
• Cubital tunnel syndrome (ulnar nerve compression)
• Elbow bursitis
• Elbow sprains and ligament injuries
• Post-surgical elbow rehabilitation
• Throwing-related elbow pain in athletes

Whether your elbow pain is from a sport, a work activity, or something that came on gradually, proper evaluation and rehabilitation makes a significant difference in how fully and quickly you recover.

When to See Someone About Elbow Pain

Minor elbow soreness after a new activity or increased workload can resolve on its own with rest. But pain that persists beyond a couple of weeks, pain that returns every time you go back to your normal activities, weakness with gripping or lifting, or numbness and tingling into the hand are signs it’s worth getting properly evaluated.

Elbow tendon problems in particular tend to become chronic when managed only with rest — the tendon needs the right type and amount of load to heal. Physical therapy addresses this directly, rather than just waiting for pain to go away on its own.

In California, you can see a physical therapist directly without a doctor’s referral, so you can get started right away.

Our Goal

Our goal is to help you move without pain, rebuild the strength and endurance to keep your elbow healthy long-term, and get back to work, sport, or daily activities without elbow pain limiting what you can do.

As your physical therapist in West Los Angeles, we focus on real, lasting results rather than short-term symptom relief — addressing the root cause so your elbow pain doesn’t keep coming back every time you return to your normal activities.