Elbow Injuries From Gardening

Gardeners’ Elbow refers to the swelling, tenderness and pain to the tendons of the elbow, also referred to as epicondylitis, or more popularly as tennis or golfer’s elbow. It commonly afflicts avid gardeners, and in fact is probably more common among gardeners than tennis players or golfers. However, just as with other cases of tennis or golfers’ elbow, the pain of this condition can be relieved by wearing elbow braces for gardening. The elbow brace helps to reduce the pain of the injury by reducing vibrations that travel along the tendon and up to your elbow. With fewer vibrations reaching the elbow, the injured tissues will have an opportunity to rest. Rest, as with all repetitive stress injuries, is the key to healing the condition.

Elbow injuries in gardening result mainly from gripping tools like shears for prolonged periods. The condition is also particularly likely to show up when gardeners use these tools to perform work requiring high levels of precision and small movements of the tool. Another gardening related activity that can exacerbate tennis elbow would be the use of shears or other tools with excessively small handles. The tennis or golfers’ elbow that results from any of these conditions can be controlled by using elbow braces for gardening.

Other Risky Activities

Other activities that can give rise to gardeners’ elbow include carrying larger objects like bags of soil or fertilizer. Digging or pulling movements, such as hand weeding or digging holes with a shovel can also give rise to tennis or golfers’ elbow and the need to wear a gardening elbow brace.

Benefits Of All Day Use

Just as with elbow braces for sports like baseball, the benefits of an elbow support for gardening are more pronounced if the gardener wears it not just for gardening but for all his or her daily activities. Hence, the most effective gardening elbow brace is one that you can wear for both gardening and non gardening related activities. You can read more about the various types of tennis elbow brace here. You can also obtain further information about gardeners’ elbow here.