Medial and lateral epicondylitis — commonly known as golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow — are among the most stubborn overuse injuries to treat. Dr. Thomas French has both a clinical and a deeply personal perspective on this condition: he developed medial epicondylitis (climber’s elbow) himself after adding pull-ups and fingerboard training to his rock climbing routine, and spent a year working through nearly every treatment approach before finding what actually worked. That firsthand experience directly informs how he treats golfer’s elbow, tennis elbow, and elbow tendonitis in his Norwalk, CT patients.
What Is Golfer’s Elbow and Tennis Elbow?
Golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis) is pain on the inside of the elbow, at the bony knob where the flexor muscles of the hand and wrist originate. Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) is the same mechanism on the outside of the elbow, where the extensor muscles originate. Both are overuse injuries — repetitive gripping, wrist flexion or extension, and forearm loading gradually produce inflammation and, if it goes on long enough, degenerative changes at the tendon-bone junction.
Despite the names, neither condition is limited to golf or tennis. Rock climbers, weightlifters, tradespeople who use hand tools repetitively, and anyone doing repeated gripping or wrist motion — including a lot of desk work involving mouse and keyboard use — can develop the same injury pattern. The name just reflects the sport where it was first commonly described.
Dr. French’s Own Experience — A Year-Long Case Study
This is a condition Dr. French understands from the inside, not just the clinic side of the table.
After about three years of rock climbing, he added pull-ups and fingerboard training to his routine. Soon after, a tightness developed in the biceps area that wouldn’t stretch away — and a few weeks later, the first twinges of medial elbow pain appeared. It never became excruciating, rarely above a 5/10, but it was constant: tenderness at the bone, morning stiffness, and it stuck around for a full year.
What Didn’t Work
The early approach was what most people try first — stretching the forearm flexors, ice, and electric stim/ultrasound modalities. The stretching felt good in the moment, but a month in, there was no significant improvement. A professional massage found extensive knots in the forearm and surprisingly tight triceps, and provided a few days of relief before the pain crept back — the first real sign of progress, but not a fix.
Then came a self-directed deep tissue approach — first with a hairbrush handle (effective but left bruising), then with a Rolflex, a vise-like foam-rolling device popular in climbing and baseball pitching circles. The Rolflex was a genuine step forward, reducing pain by roughly 60% and revealing very tender spots in the triceps consistent with what the massage therapist had found. But even with near-daily use, the improvement plateaued — periods of relief that always relapsed once the Rolflex sessions stopped.
What Finally Worked
The Theragun was the turning point. Its percussive action reached deep into the muscle tissue in a way the other tools couldn’t replicate — working out knots and tension that were inaccessible with static pressure devices. Within a week of starting Theragun treatment, the elbow pain was almost completely resolved.
Alongside the Theragun, reducing the frequency and intensity of fingerboard and pull-up training, adding wrist-strengthening exercises, and being disciplined about warming up and stretching after climbing all contributed to full recovery and prevented recurrence.
Why Theragun Works for Epicondylitis Where Other Treatments Fall Short
The experience above illustrates something clinically important: this condition often requires deep, targeted work on the muscle belly — not just the tendon insertion point where the pain is felt. Ice, stretching, and standard modalities primarily address the tendon and the pain signal. They frequently miss the muscle tension further up the forearm (and sometimes into the biceps and triceps) that’s actually driving the tendon overload.
Theragun’s percussive action reaches that deeper muscle tissue more effectively and more quickly than stretching, standard massage, or passive modalities like electric stim or ultrasound — the same distinction that applies across Dr. French’s use of Theragun for other conditions. It directly releases the muscle tension contributing to the tendon irritation, rather than just masking the pain signal coming from it. Learn more about Theragun percussion therapy →
How Dr. French Treats Golfer’s Elbow and Tennis Elbow
Treatment combines Theragun percussion therapy targeting the forearm flexors or extensors (and often the biceps or triceps, which frequently contribute more than patients expect) with chiropractic evaluation of the cervical spine. This second piece matters — C6 and C7 nerve root irritation in the neck can produce pain that mimics or compounds lateral and medial epicondylitis, and ruling this in or out is part of a complete evaluation rather than treating the elbow in isolation.
Activity modification is also part of the plan — identifying which specific movements are driving the overload (a golf grip, a climbing hold position, a repetitive work task) and adjusting training or technique to reduce the load while the tissue heals, rather than either pushing through pain or stopping the activity entirely. Learn more about sports injury treatment →
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, for many patients. Theragun’s percussive therapy reaches deep into the forearm flexor muscles that attach at the site of golfer’s elbow pain, releasing tension that contributes to the tendon irritation. Dr. French has both clinical and personal experience with this — he treated his own medial epicondylitis (essentially the same condition, from rock climbing) with Theragun after a year of other approaches provided only partial relief.
Yes — the same mechanism applies to lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow) as to golfer’s elbow, just on the opposite side of the elbow. Theragun targets the forearm extensor muscles, releasing the tension contributing to tendon irritation at the outside of the elbow.
Golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis) is pain on the inside of the elbow, from the wrist and finger flexor muscles. Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) is pain on the outside of the elbow, from the wrist and finger extensor muscles. Both are overuse injuries from repetitive gripping or wrist motion, and neither is limited to the sport in its name — climbers, weightlifters, and desk workers commonly develop both.
It varies significantly based on how long the condition has been present and how it’s addressed. Dr. French’s own case took about a year using ineffective approaches before Theragun combined with activity modification resolved it within roughly a week of consistent use. Starting with an effective approach — targeted deep tissue work plus addressing the activity driving the overload — typically produces faster results than the trial-and-error most people go through first.
Yes. Nerve root irritation at C6 or C7 in the cervical spine can produce pain that radiates to the elbow and mimics or compounds epicondylitis. This is why a complete evaluation includes the cervical spine, not just the elbow itself — treating the elbow alone when the neck is a contributing factor produces incomplete results.
In Dr. French’s own experience and clinical practice, Theragun reaches deeper into the muscle tissue more quickly and more precisely than stretching or standard massage. It’s not necessarily a replacement for all other approaches, but for muscle tension that’s resistant to stretching alone, percussive therapy often succeeds where those methods plateau.
Schedule an Evaluation in Norwalk, CT
If you’re dealing with golfer’s elbow, tennis elbow, or any form of elbow tendonitis that hasn’t fully responded to rest, stretching, or standard treatment, Dr. French’s Norwalk, CT office offers an evaluation informed by both clinical training and firsthand experience with this exact condition.
Call (203) 939-9700 or book online. Located at 148 East Avenue, Suite 1D, Norwalk, CT 06851 — I-95 Exit 16, free parking.
Serving patients from Norwalk, Westport, Wilton, Darien, New Canaan, Weston, and Stamford.