The key difference between tennis elbow and cubital tunnel syndrome is that tennis elbow causes painful inflammation of the tendon on the outside of the elbow, while cubital tunnel syndrome causes painful inflammation of the ulnar nerve on the inside of the elbow.
The elbow joint is a synovial hinge joint that performs various important functions. Elbow injuries are caused by repetitive strain, either from athletic injuries or overuse. Some common elbow injuries include tennis elbow, cubital tunnel syndrome, and golfers’ elbow. Tennis elbow and cubital tunnel syndrome are two common elbow injuries.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Tennis Elbow
3. What is Cubital Tunnel Syndrome
4. Similarities – Tennis Elbow and Cubital Tunnel Syndrome
5. Tennis Elbow vs Cubital Tunnel Syndrome in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Tennis Elbow vs Cubital Tunnel Syndrome
What is Tennis Elbow?
Tennis elbow is a medical condition that causes painful inflammation of the tendon on the outside of the elbow. Clinically, this condition is known as lateral epicondylitis. Tennis elbow is mostly caused by overusing the forearm due to repetitive or strenuous activity. It can also be caused by banging or knocking the elbow. The activities that trigger tennis elbow are playing racquet sports (tennis, badminton, or squash), using hand tools repeatedly (gardening shears, screwdriver, or scissors), using tools during decorating, plumbing, or bricklaying, activities that use fine, repetitive hand and wrist movements such as typing and activities that involve repeatedly bending elbow like playing the violin. The symptoms of tennis elbow may include pain and weakness that radiate from the outside of the elbow to the forearm and wrist, which make it difficult to grip an object, turn a doorknob, or hold a coffee cup.
Tennis elbow can be diagnosed through a physical examination and imaging testing such as an X-ray. Furthermore, treatment options for tennis elbow are physical therapy, surgical and other procedures such as injections, ultrasonic tenotomy (TENEX procedure), and surgery to remove damaged tissue.
What is Cubital Tunnel Syndrome?
Cubital tunnel syndrome is a medical condition that happens when the ulnar nerve is injured, becoming inflamed, swollen, and irritated. This syndrome can be caused due to different reasons, such as bending the elbows often, leaning on the elbows a lot, having an injury to the area of the elbow, arthritis, bone spurs, previous fractures, and dislocation of the elbow.
The symptoms of cubital tunnel syndrome are aching pain on the inside of the elbow, numbness and tingling in the hand or ring finger and little finger when the elbow is bent, pain in hand, and weak grip and clumsiness. Cubital tunnel syndrome can be diagnosed through medical history, physical examination, nerve conduction test, electromyogram (EMG), and X-ray. Treatment options for cubital tunnel syndrome include resting and stopping activities that aggravate the condition, wearing a splint or foam elbow brace at night to reduce irritation, using an elbow pad to protect chronic irritation from hard surfaces, anti-inflammatory medications (ibuprofen or naproxen), nerve gliding exercise, steroids injections to help reduce swelling and pain and surgery.
What are the Similarities Between Tennis Elbow and Cubital Tunnel Syndrome?
- Tennis elbow and cubital tunnel syndrome are two common elbow injuries.
- They cause sore or painful elbows.
- Moreover, both conditions cause movement problems.
- These are very common in athletics.
- Both conditions can be diagnosed through clinical evaluation and imaging tests like X-rays.
- They are treated through anti-inflammatory medications and specific surgeries.
What is the Difference Between Tennis Elbow and Cubital Tunnel Syndrome?
Tennis elbow is a medical condition that causes painful inflammation of the tendon on the outside of the elbow, while cubital tunnel syndrome is a medical condition that causes painful inflammation of the ulnar nerve on the inside of the elbow. Thus, this is the key difference between tennis elbow and cubital tunnel syndrome. Furthermore, tennis elbow causes irritation of the tendon, while cubital tunnel syndrome causes irritation of the nerve.
The below infographic presents the differences between tennis elbow and cubital tunnel syndrome in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.
Summary – Tennis Elbow vs Cubital Tunnel Syndrome
Elbow injuries are caused by repetitive strain, either from athletic injuries or overuse. Tennis elbow and cubital tunnel syndrome are two common elbow injuries. Tennis elbow causes painful inflammation of the tendon on the outside of the elbow, while cubital tunnel syndrome causes painful inflammation of the ulnar nerve on the inside of the elbow. So, this is the key difference between tennis elbow and cubital tunnel syndrome. However, both conditions cause problems in moving the elbow joint. They are very common in athletics.
Reference:
1. “Tennis Elbow Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments.” WebMD.
2. “Cubital Tunnel Syndrome.” Cubital Tunnel Syndrome | Johns Hopkins Medicine, 8 Aug. 2021.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Tennis elbow pain on turning a door handle” By Sgdp – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2.”Ulnar Nerve” By BruceBlaus – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia