My Long Road With Golfer’s Elbow and Tennis Elbow: A Personal Recovery Story (Plus What Actually Helped Me)

In early 2020 I developed serious pain on the inner side of my left elbow after pushing my training too hard and ignoring early warning signs. What started as a minor niggle quickly turned into something that made every morning a struggle — just lifting my arm out of bed was excruciating and stiff, often taking 30 minutes to loosen up. That’s when I realised I had golfer’s elbow.

My journey ultimately spanned years of ups and downs, setbacks, slow progress, and learning more about tendon injuries than I ever wanted to. Then in 2024 I began feeling pain on the outer side of the same elbow — tennis elbow — and found myself stuck again until I discovered a treatment that finally made a major difference.

In this article I’ll explain what these conditions are, how standard physio advice compares to real-world experiences, and what actually helped me — including Manual Adhesion Release (MAR).

What Are Golfer’s Elbow and Tennis Elbow?

Both golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow are types of tendinopathy, meaning they involve irritation or degeneration of tendon tissue — not classic inflammation.

• Golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylopathy) causes pain on the inside of the elbow where the forearm flexor muscles attach.

• Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylopathy) causes pain on the outside of the elbow where the forearm extensor muscles attach.

They often occur from repetitive use or overloading of forearm muscles — whether from sports, work, or gym training.

Symptoms include:

• Pain and tenderness on inner (golfer’s) or outer (tennis) elbow

• Pain with gripping, lifting, or wrist movements

• Weakness, stiffness, and sometimes reduced strength

• Symptoms that worsen with activity and can radiate into the forearm.

Standard Clinical Advice on Treatment and Rehabilitation

Most physiotherapy sources recommend a similar recovery pathway for both conditions:

1. Rest and Load Management

Reducing aggravating movement — not total immobilisation — is key. Movement helps promote healing without further irritation.

2. Exercise Rehabilitation

The gold standard is progressive loading:

• Isometric exercises early to reduce pain

• Eccentric exercises to strengthen the tendon

• Gradual progression to functional and sport-specific load.

For tennis elbow, that typically includes eccentric wrist extensions, resisted finger extensions, and progressive grip training.

For golfer’s elbow, it’s eccentric wrist flexion, forearm pronation, and functional gripping movements.

3. Manual Therapy and Soft Tissue Techniques

Hands-on therapy such as joint mobilisation, myofascial release, and soft tissue techniques may be used alongside exercise to reduce muscle tension, improve mobility, and promote function.

4. Supporting Methods

Bracing, taping, ergonomic changes, and sometimes modalities like shockwave therapy or ultrasound may be used as adjuncts.

5. Timeframe

Planned rehabilitation often spans 3–12 months, and in more severe cases can take longer. Recovery tends to be gradual rather than quick.

What People Say: Real-World Experiences (Quora/Reddit)

Online communities reflect a wide variety of experiences — many aligning with formal advice but others highlighting common frustrations:

Real-world rehab insights

• A number of people report success with Flexbar / Theraband twist exercises, especially the Tyler twist, alone or as part of their routine.

• Others emphasize avoiding pain-provoking movements and modifying exercise until strength returns.

• Some users point out that shoulder and upper back weakness or poor technique can contribute to elbow pain, indicating that training mechanics matter.

Long struggles

There are cases of long-lasting symptoms despite months of physiotherapy, rest, injections, and other treatments. Some reported trying multiple PTs, injections, shockwave therapy or other advanced therapies without improvement — illustrating how stubborn tendinopathies can be.

My Golfer’s Elbow Recovery: What Worked (and What Didn’t)

When I first got golfer’s elbow in 2020, I followed what most physios recommend:

• Physical therapy with targeted exercises

• Bracing/support when needed

• Rest from aggravating activities

My go-to exercises included:

• Wrist flexor stretch

• Eccentric wrist curl (starting around 1 kg)

• Eccentric forearm supination

• Isometric holds placing palms under a table and pushing up

  .

After about a month I found the wrist flexor stretch made things worse, so I stopped it and focused on the others. I did sets 2×20 twice a week, adding 1 kg every 4 weeks and increasing hold time from 5 seconds gradually.

I had setbacks, frustrations, and slow progress, but over the course of about 2 years the pain reduced progressively. By 2023 I was 100% pain-free and able to return to training fully. The gradual, structured loading combined with patience was crucial.

Tennis Elbow: A Different Beast

In 2024, I started feeling pain on the outside of the same elbow — classic tennis elbow symptoms. I rested for two weeks then began rehabilitation with:

• Eccentric wrist extension

• Wrist rotations

• Wrist deviation

Despite consistent work, progress plateaued. Even physio sessions over many months didn’t shift the pain as I hoped.

Breakthrough: Manual Adhesion Release (MAR)

After nearly a year of minimal improvement and nearly losing hope, a neighbour recommended a physio who uses Manual Adhesion Release (MAR).

What is Manual Adhesion Release (MAR)?

Manual Adhesion Release is a targeted manual therapy approach that focuses on detecting and reducing adhesions (scar tissue) that can form in muscles, tendons and soft tissues, potentially limiting movement and causing pain. It involves applying tension and pressure directly to the restricted areas to break down these adhesions.

Adhesions — often overlooked — are thickened, glue-like bands of connective tissue that can develop after overuse or micro-injuries, restricting movement and possibly irritating nerves. MAR aims to manually disrupt these adhesions to restore mobility and reduce pain.

Some clinics that use similar techniques also call them Active Release Techniques (ART), which combine hands-on pressure with guided movement to restore normal tissue mobility and function.

How MAR Helped My Tennis Elbow

I began MAR sessions in November 2025 — and the improvement was dramatic:

• After only 4 sessions, I was about 95% pain-free.

• I did experience one minor flare-up after a moment of overuse, but it resolved on its own within two days.

• Today I’m about 99% pain-free and back to training with cautious progression.

This outcome was far faster and more noticeable than months of traditional physio had produced.

Comparing Conventional Physio vs People’s Experience vs MAR

Conventional Physio

• Emphasises exercise thera

  py, progressive loading, and movement adjustments.

• Manual techniques are often used but may not focus specifically on adhesions.

• Works for many — especially in earlier or less severe cases.

People’s Experience

• Many report flex bar and eccentric exercises working well.

• Success often depends on consistency and modifying aggravating activities.

• Some struggle with persistent symptoms for months or years.

Manual Adhesion Release / ART

• Focuses on identifying and addressing adhesions that may be missed in standard physio.

• For stubborn or chronic cases, some people report dramatic improvements after only a few sessions.

• Less widely discussed in mainstream physiotherapy sources, but used by specialised clinicians.

Lessons Learned From My Journey

1. Tendinopathy recovery is rarely linear — improvement may stall or fluctuate.

2. Standard rehab exercises are essential but may not solve every case.

3. Training technique, mechanics, and load management matter greatly.

4. People’s anecdotal experiences often align with structured exercise but highlight the need for individualization.

5. Manual adhesion techniques (like MAR/ART) may be worth exploring when traditional methods stagnate.

   
   

Conclusion

Golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow can be stubborn and frustrating injuries that require more than just rest or passive waiting. Although conventional physical therapy is supported by clinical evidence and helps many, real-world experiences — including my own — show that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t always work. In my case, persistence, structured rehabilitation, and eventually trying Manual Adhesion Release were key to finally overcoming long-standing pain.

If you’re struggling with a similar issue, don’t be afraid to combine evidence-based exercise with manual and targeted approaches. Pain can be persistent, but solutions often exist — even if they aren’t always mainstream.