4 Steps to Fix Persistent Forearm Pain - from a Physical Therapist
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Forearm pain can develop slowly or hit suddenly. Within the first few days of symptoms, resting alone can fix your forearm pain, but when it persists, you should take action. Whether it’s a dull ache, sharp pain with gripping, or soreness that develops over the course of your day, the key to lasting relief is understanding why it’s happening and addressing the root cause.
Here’s your easy, four-step process to fix persistent forearm pain at home, using the approach professional PTs apply in clinics.
The first step is to figure out what type of forearm pain you're dealing with. The two most common causes are Tennis Elbow (Lateral Epicondylitis) and Golfer’s Elbow (Medial Epicondylitis), both caused by repetitive stress on a tendon in your forearm, near the elbow.
You can self-administer the two tests that physical therapists use to figure out what's causing your forearm pain:
To test for Golfer’s Elbow: extend your arm with your palm facing up. Press on the palm with the other hand as you try to resist the pressure. If that triggers pain on the inside of your forearm near the elbow, it’s likely Golfer’s Elbow.
Here's a bit more on differentiating Tennis Elbow vs. Golfer's Elbow. You can also take our elbow pain quiz to figure out which it is, and get our recommendation for treatment tools below.
Most persistent forearm pain falls into one of these categories, and they can be treated at home. However, if your pain doesn’t fit either, it may be from nerve irritation like Radial Tunnel Syndrome, muscle imbalance, or even referred pain from issues in your neck or shoulder. A deeper evaluation is a good idea - visit a physical therapist for a closer look.
Once you’ve pinpointed the cause of your pain, the next step is to stop feeding the fire. This means modifying, not eliminating your activities, and giving the irritated tissue the support it needs while it’s healing.
Reduce or avoid repetitive gripping, typing without breaks, or lifting with your palm facing down. If you have to engage in these repetitive movements for work, make sure to take breaks throughout the day.
Support is good, but don’t completely immobilize the painful area. It can cause other issues like insufficient blood flow, loss of strength, tightness, etc.
Use an elbow brace temporarily to unload the affected tendon. A well-designed brace for Tennis Elbow reduces the load on the precise tissue that needs help, so that you not only get immediate pain relief but also help the tissue start healing. (This is unlike Tennis Elbow compression sleeves , which apply broad, untargeted pressure for pain relief but can’t reduce the load.)
The goal is to keep the tissue (and you!) moving, but not trigger more pain, and help the tissue start healing.
Gentle mobility work and soft tissue mobilization massage can help increase circulation, help resolve scar tissue buildup, and reduce accumulated tension around the forearm.
Try these massage and stretch moves:
Forearm massage: ideally, use a dedicated massage tool to roll along the hot spots in your forearm muscles and tendons for 2-3 minutes daily. You could use your other hand, but we’ve seen patients develop pain in the other hand or arm from massaging the initially affected arm, so getting a tool like the Tennis Elbow massager that comes with our Tennis Elbow System could be a wise investment.
Wrist flexor stretch: extend your arm, palm up, and gently pull your fingers back with the other hand.
Consistent massage and gentle stretches help reduce pain and tightness, promote blood flow to the injured area that needs oxygen to heal, and help realign the tissue so it heals properly.
In many cases, persistent forearm pain lingers because you may have found ways to relieve symptoms, but the root causes remain. To stop flareups, you’ll need two things:
Transform the messy, bulky, and weaker scar tissue in your injured tendon into well-organized, stronger, healthy tissue
Rebuild strength in your hand, wrist, arm, and shoulder that provides support and stability to the sensitive tendon on an ongoing basis
Your daily massage routine takes care of the first part - replacing the scar tissue with strong, healthy tissue. Scar tissue makes you more susceptible to flareups because it’s not as resilient, so it’s imperative that you help healthy, resilient tissue grow in its place.
With eccentric exercises, you can start rebuilding the strength and stability throughout your kinetic chain. This is probably what you picture when you think of physical therapy, and for a good reason - Golfer’s Elbow or Tennis Elbow exercises are a crucial part of forearm pain recovery that sticks.
It shouldn’t take more than 10-15 minutes each day to build strength with eccentric exercises at your own pace. The key is to progressively increase the load as you get stronger, and focus on slow, controlled movements so that you are targeting the right muscle or tendon with each exercise.
This can be a bit tricky to do by yourself - refer to our Tennis Elbow exercise post for more detailed tips, but for best, consistent results, we recommend using a structured program like our Tennis Elbow Guided Recovery Program.
It's such a key part of your Tennis Elbow recovery that we include it in the Tennis Elbow System, too.
Forearm pain that’s been around for weeks or months won’t disappear overnight. It’ll take some time and effort. But by targeting the issues at the root of your pain, you can create the conditions for long-term recovery. That’s what we do with the Alleviate Method! Our 30,000+ users have recovered from chronic pain, using our tools and methodology. With consistency and proper care, you can get your grip (and your life) back!
Identify the cause: so that you can target your treatment for your forearm pain. Tennis Elbow and Golfer's Elbow are the two most common causes, and they can be treated at home.
Modify activities and wear a brace: modify (but not eliminate) repetitive movements that cause you pain. To relieve pain and give the aggravated tissue some space for healing, wear an elbow brace for Tennis Elbow or Golfer's Elbow.
Daily forearm massage: transform the problematic tissue that's causing your forearm pain with daily massage. For a targeted, deliberate massage, use a forearm massager like you find in our Tennis Elbow System.
PT exercises at home: weakness in your kinetic chain can put excess stress on the forearm muscles and tendons. Follow a PT exercise program for Tennis Elbow (the same ones work for Golfer's Elbow) to build strength that relieves pain and provides lasting support.
Luke Ferdinands, Physical Therapist & Co-Founder
A New Zealand-trained physical therapist with over 20 years of experience, Luke developed the Alleviate Method to bring the gold standard of physical therapy care to everyone's home. Luke leads the development of physical tools and digital physical therapy content, focusing on driving clinical outcomes for people with chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions like Tennis Elbow, Plantar Fasciitis, Runner's Knee, and more.
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