June 15, 2006
by Anne Kosacheff, YKHC Physical Therapist
Remember the four movements of the elbow joint? Flexion (bending), extension (straightening), pronation (turn your palm down) and supination (turn your hand up). To improve your movement, or maintain the mobility in the elbow, here are some easy exercises. Many of them include the wrist as well as the elbow, as there are many muscles that cross both joints.
Active ROM (range of motion) is very important after being in a cast or splint for any period of time. Just bend and straighten your elbow and turn the palm up and down until it moves the same amount as the opposite side. If it hurts a LOT, talk to your medical provider or physical therapist to see if there is something else you can do to get movement back.
For pain in the inside of your right elbow, nearest your body, try exercises #1. • Hold your right hand out in front of you, palm up.
• Place your left hand on top of your right fingers.
• At the same time, press your palm and wrist out, straighten your elbow and press your fingers back toward your elbow.
• You will feel a stretch along the top of your forearm, and into the elbow.
• Reverse the hand position in the stretch if the left elbow is painful.
If your pain is on the outside of the elbow, try exercise #2:• Make a fist, and bend your wrist down.
• Hold your hand with the opposite hand, thumb along the wrist crease and exaggerate the bend (keep your fist intact).
• Straighten your elbow, turning your hand in and out until you feel a stretch in your forearm.
• You can hold your hands in front of you, or in back, whichever creates the best stretch in the sore area.
Exercise #3 To strengthen your grip and forearm, hold a hammer at the end of the handle. Support your forearm on the table or along your knee. Let the hammer head slowly move in and out, in an arc. This strengthens the pronators and supinators deep in your forearm, and makes the elbow joint more stable.
Exercise#4 If your elbows are very tight, and it is difficult to get them fully straight due to muscle stiffness, try extending your arms behind you and clasping your hands together. Now try to straighten your elbows--pressing your hands toward the floor. Keep your shoulders down away from your ears, and take slow, deep breaths.
Exercise#5 A terrific stretch for the muscles behind your elbow, the triceps, is to reach behind your head and down your back with one hand. Use the other to gently grasp the elbow, easing it back toward the back of your head. Take 3-4 slow, deep breaths while maintaining this stretch. Repeat on the other side.
Exercises #6 & #7 are strengthening exercises for the bicep and tricep muscles. The pictures show theraband or tubing being used. If you do not have with of these items, you can use any object that is easy to hold. Bending your elbow with an object in your had strengthens your biceps. If you can lift the object more than 12 times in a row, you need to increase the weight to increase your strength.
If you are strengthening your triceps with free weights, be sure to start with your hand behind your head (like the picture in #5) and lift your hand toward the ceiling to increase strength. Again, if you can lift the object more than 12 times in a row, you need to increase the weight to increase your strength.
Have fun stretching your arms and elbows! Watch for next month's article on the anatomy of the wrist and hand. There is a lot there, so it may take two columns to get through it all!