Anconeus: Pain Pattern and Treatment
The anconeus is a small triangular muscle on the back of the elbow, running from the outer point of the humerus to the upper ulna. It helps straighten the elbow and steadies the joint. Its documented pattern is short: pain at the outside of the elbow that stays at the elbow. When the outer elbow hurts and the pain does not travel down the forearm, this is the muscle to check. It relates to the triceps page, whose lowest fibers it continues.
Attachments and action
Origin: The back of the lateral epicondyle of the humerus.
Insertion: The outer surface of the olecranon and the upper back of the ulna.
Action: Extension of the elbow with the triceps; it stabilizes the elbow joint and pulls the joint capsule out of the way as the elbow straightens.
Where the pain is felt: At the outside of the elbow, at the bony point and just behind it. Nowhere else.
Common causes: Pushing up from a chair or out of a car; push-ups and bench press; tennis; a fall onto the elbow; a long stretch of work with the elbow locked straight, as in painting a ceiling or pushing a mower.
Patients say: "Outer elbow, right there, and it does not go anywhere." "Pushing myself up out of a chair is the worst." A tennis elbow diagnosis that the forearm treatment did not touch. Pain locking the arm straight.
When to get evaluated: Elbow pain after a fall, with swelling, a visible deformity, or an inability to bend or straighten the joint needs an X-ray first. A hot, swollen elbow with fever needs medical evaluation for infection.
How this muscle is examined and treated
Examination tests elbow extension against resistance from a bent position, presses the small triangle behind and below the outer elbow for the point that reproduces the pain, and confirms that nothing refers into the forearm, which separates this muscle from the extensors and the supinator. Needling here addresses the muscle at the back of the elbow. Assessment and treatment happen in the same visit.
Related conditions
TendinitisSports & Performance InjuriesChronic Pain Patterns
This page is educational. It describes muscle referral patterns commonly associated with pain; it does not diagnose your condition. Individual patterns vary. For evaluation of your specific pain, see a licensed clinician. Seek immediate medical care for emergencies. Eugene Baek, L.Ac. · New Jersey License 25MZ00080600