Tennis Elbow vs Golfer’s Elbow: Which One Do You Have?

Key Takeaways

• Tennis elbow causes pain on the outer side of the elbow and golfer’s elbow on the inner side, which is the clearest way to tell them apart.
• Gripping and bending the wrist back aggravate tennis elbow, while bending the wrist forward and rotating the forearm aggravate golfer’s elbow, and both can weaken grip.
• Both are overload problems of the forearm tendons, managed in much the same way, with load adjustment and progressive strengthening doing most of the work.
• Pain that will not settle, night pain, spreading numbness or a recent injury is worth having assessed, though surgery is uncommon.

A dull ache on one side of your elbow that sharpens when you grip a kettle, turn a key or carry the shopping sends a lot of people looking for answers. Two conditions sit behind much of that pain, and they are easy to mix up because they feel similar. The tennis elbow vs golfer’s elbow question usually comes down to which side of your elbow hurts.

Tennis elbow causes pain on the outer side of the elbow and flares with gripping and bending the wrist back. Golfer’s elbow causes pain on the inner side and flares with bending the wrist forward and turning the forearm. Both are overuse problems of the tendons that attach your forearm muscles to the elbow, so despite the sporty names, most people who get them have never picked up a racquet or a club. Gardening, trade work, gym sessions, long hours at a keyboard and repetitive lifting at home are far more common triggers.

Neither condition is dangerous, and most cases ease with time and the right approach to load. Only a small number end up considering surgery for the elbow, and usually after other measures have been given a fair go.

How to Tell Tennis Elbow From Golfer’s Elbow

You can usually tell the two apart from where the pain sits and how it behaves, because each loads a different set of forearm tendons. Side by side, here is how elbow pain on the outside (tennis elbow) compares with elbow pain on the inside (golfer’s elbow):

The features below explain each difference in more detail:

Pain Location and Tenderness

The most reliable single clue is which side of the elbow hurts. Tennis elbow, known medically as lateral epicondylitis, produces pain over the bony bump on the outer side. Golfer’s elbow, or medial epicondylitis, produces pain over the bump on the inner side, closer to your body when your arm hangs by your side with the palm facing forward. Pressing directly on the sore point often reproduces the pain, and the tender spot usually sits slightly below the bony landmark. Comparing both sides helps, since pressing the bump on the outer and then the inner elbow shows which one is tender, and that side usually points to the problem. Tennis elbow is the more common of the two, so outer-elbow pain fits the more likely pattern, though it never rules golfer’s elbow out.

Triggers and Aggravating Movements

Tennis elbow tends to hurt when you bend the wrist back, grip firmly or lift with the palm facing down, since it loads the muscles that extend the wrist. Golfer’s elbow tends to hurt when you bend the wrist forwards, turn the forearm over or squeeze, since it loads the muscles that flex the wrist and fingers. Notice which everyday movement you now avoid without thinking.

Grip Strength and Daily Tasks

Both conditions can quietly weaken your grip, which is often the first thing people notice. Opening a jar, shaking hands, wringing out a cloth, carrying a bag or holding a phone for a long call can all become uncomfortable. With tennis elbow, the discomfort usually tracks to the outer elbow during these tasks, while golfer’s elbow refers it to the inner side. The task itself does not tell you which one you have, but where you feel it does.

Nerve Symptoms and Pain Spread

Tingling, pins and needles or numbness running into the ring and little fingers points towards golfer’s elbow, while pain that stays around the outer elbow and forearm without those hand symptoms points towards tennis elbow. Both can refer a general ache along the forearm, so the hand symptoms are the telling detail. Numbness or weakness that is spreading or getting worse is a reason to have things looked at sooner.

What Brings on Each Condition

Both start the same way: forearm tendons are loaded past what they can tolerate until the tissue itself changes. Names ending in -itis imply inflammation, but longstanding cases look more like wear and slow breakdown, which is why rest alone rarely fixes them. Healthdirect lists tennis elbow as elbow tendinopathy, a tendon that has changed rather than one simply inflamed. A few things tip tendons over that threshold:

Overload of the Forearm Tendons

The core problem is repeated load on the tendon where it anchors at the elbow. When demand on the tendon outpaces its capacity to recover, small areas of the tissue start to break down and become painful. Which side gives way depends on which forearm muscles you load most.

Spikes in Everyday Activity

A sudden jump in how much you do is a common trigger. A weekend spent painting, a fortnight of heavy gardening, a new gym program or a run of unusual lifting at work can all load the tendon faster than it adapts. It does not have to be extreme, only more than the tendon is used to.

Decline in Tendon Resilience

Tendons become less forgiving with age, which is part of why both conditions cluster in midlife. Healthdirect reports that tennis elbow affects about 2 in 100 people aged 30 to 65. Blood supply and tissue quality shift over the years, so a load that once caused no trouble can start to bite. For ageing tendons, easing into strengthening tends to work better than pushing hard.

Demands of Work and Sport

Trades that involve gripping tools, racquet and club sports, rowing, climbing, repetitive lifting and long stretches of keyboard or mouse work show up most often. Each loads the forearm tendons again and again, which raises the odds over time. The pattern that matters is repetition under load, not the specific hobby.

When It Might Be Something Else

Not all inner or outer elbow pain is tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow, and a few other problems can look similar at first. If your symptoms do not fit the patterns above or they are not improving, one of these may be worth ruling out:

Cubital Tunnel Syndrome

Cubital tunnel syndrome comes from pressure on the ulnar nerve as it passes the inner elbow. It can cause inner-elbow discomfort like golfer’s elbow, but the giveaway is tingling or numbness in the ring and little fingers, often worse when the elbow is bent for a while, such as holding a phone or sleeping. Hand clumsiness or a weakening grip can follow if it persists.

Radial Tunnel Syndrome

Radial tunnel syndrome involves the radial nerve in the forearm and can mimic tennis elbow. The ache usually sits slightly further down the forearm, below the outer elbow, and it can feel more like a deep, tiring pain than a sharp local tenderness. It is less common, and it sometimes travels alongside tennis elbow, which can make it harder to pick.

Referred Neck Pain

Pain felt at the elbow sometimes starts in the neck. Irritation of nerves in the cervical spine can refer discomfort down the arm to the elbow and forearm, without much local tenderness at the elbow itself. Neck stiffness, or pain that changes with neck movement or posture, is a clue that the source may sit higher up.

Elbow Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis of the elbow affects the joint surfaces themselves and is more common in older adults or after a past elbow injury. It tends to bring stiffness and aching deep in the joint, sometimes with catching or a reduced ability to fully straighten or bend the arm. That deep-joint, stiffness-led pattern differs from the tendon-attachment pain of tennis or golfer’s elbow.

What Helps Tennis Elbow and Golfer’s Elbow

The care for both conditions is broadly the same, which is reassuring if you are not completely certain which one you have. Getting the load right matters more than pinning down the exact label. A few elements do most of the work:

Load Management

The first step is easing the load that is aggravating the tendon, without stopping everything. Complete rest tends to leave the tendon weak and just as sensitive when you return, so the aim is to reduce the painful spikes while keeping the arm moving within comfortable limits. That might mean changing grip, lightening a task, spreading heavy jobs across the week or adjusting technique for a while. Some discomfort during activity is usually acceptable, provided it settles afterwards and does not keep building.

Progressive Strengthening

Gradually loading the tendon is the part that tends to produce lasting change. Structured strengthening, often including slow eccentric loading where the muscle lengthens under tension, helps the tendon rebuild tolerance over time. Progress is usually steady and measured in weeks, with load added as symptoms allow. Judging the right starting level is the hard part, and guided exercise physiology can set a level to build from and progress it as you improve, which avoids doing too much too soon or too little to make a difference.

Supportive Measures

A brace or strap worn just below the elbow, ice and simple pain relief can ease symptoms while the tendon settles. None of these rebuilds the tendon, so they work well alongside loading, not instead of it. Corticosteroid injections are sometimes offered when symptoms do not settle with exercise. Healthdirect notes they may ease pain without stopping it from returning, and systematic reviews suggest little advantage over time, so they tend to be used selectively.

Recovery Timeframes

Healthdirect notes that tennis elbow usually gets better on its own, with recovery often taking 6 to 12 months, and golfer’s elbow tends to follow a similar course. Symptoms sometimes persist for longer. Improvement is usually gradual and uneven, with good weeks and setbacks. As a general guide only, steady loading and sensible activity changes may shorten the rough patch, while repeated heavy flare-ups tend to draw it out.

When to See Someone About Elbow Pain

Most elbow tendon pain settles with time and sensible loading, but some situations are worth having checked sooner. Knowing where the line sits can save months of guessing:

Signs Worth Assessment

Certain signals suggest the problem may be more than a straightforward tendon overload or that it needs a guided plan. Consider an assessment if you notice:

• pain that has not improved after 6 to 12 weeks of sensible self-management
• pain at night or at rest
• numbness or tingling spreading into the hand
• weakness in the grip that is getting worse
• locking, catching or a sense the elbow may give way
• pain that came on suddenly with a fall or injury

An acute injury with swelling or loss of movement is better seen promptly, and an injury clinic can assess it quickly. These are general signs, not a diagnosis, and one of them on its own does not necessarily mean anything serious.

Care Without Surgery

Almost everyone with tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow is managed without an operation. A physiotherapy assessment can confirm what is driving the pain, check for the mimics and build a loading program that fits your starting point and goals. For most people, that is enough to get the arm working comfortably again.

Surgery for Stubborn Cases

Surgery is reserved for the small number of cases that stay painful and limiting despite a genuine trial of non-surgical care, often over many months. Healthdirect describes it as rarely needed and used only when other measures have not worked, and it may carry a risk of reduced grip strength afterwards. Deciding on it usually involves weighing how much the pain affects your work and life against what an operation and its recovery involve. If you are at that stage, understanding whether surgery is needed and what the options are can help you have a clearer conversation with a specialist.

Check Which Side Hurts

Once you know the side of your elbow that hurts and the movements that set it off, there is far less to guess at. You can see whether the picture fits tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow or something that deserves a closer look, and that alone makes the next move easier to choose. When the pattern stays unclear, or the pain holds on despite easing the load, an assessment is what turns uncertainty into a plan you can follow.

To work out what is behind your elbow pain, the team at MTP Health can talk through what you are experiencing and the options that suit your situation.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Can you have tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow at the same time?

Yes, either in the same arm or one in each, particularly if your activities load both the inner and outer forearm tendons. Pain on both sides at once can make self-diagnosis harder, so a mixed picture is worth having assessed.

2. Does tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow show up on a scan?

Usually the diagnosis is made from your symptoms and a physical examination, not a scan. Healthdirect notes that an X-ray, ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is only sometimes needed, generally for cases that are not improving or where another cause is suspected. A normal scan does not rule the condition out, and changes on a scan do not always match the pain.

3. Should I use heat or ice for elbow tendon pain?

Either can help with comfort. Ice may settle a fresh flare-up or pain after activity, while some people find heat eases stiffness before gentle movement. Neither speeds up the underlying tendon healing on its own, so treat them as symptom relief alongside load management.

4. Can I keep working or playing sport with elbow tendinopathy?

Often yes, with a few adjustments. Changing your grip, easing the load or altering technique for a while can let you keep working or training while the tendon recovers, as long as you let the elbow guide you. Mild discomfort that settles afterwards is usually fine, but a movement that brings on sharp or lasting pain is a sign to scale it back and build up again as symptoms ease.

5. What happens if it is left untreated?

Many cases settle over time without formal treatment. The risk of ignoring it is that ongoing aggravation can keep the tendon sensitive for longer, and a grip that stays weak can affect work and daily tasks. Persistent or worsening pain is a reason to have it checked instead of waiting.

Disclaimer: This article is general information only and does not take account of your individual circumstances, health needs or goals. Elbow pain can have several causes, and conditions that feel similar may need different care. You may wish to speak with your general practitioner, physiotherapist or a specialist about your own situation before acting on anything you have read here.