Bangkok offers ideal conditions for golf year-round, and many expatriates regularly enjoy weekend rounds or weekday practice.

But if you spend weekdays sitting at a desk and then play golf only on weekends, you may end up with pain in your lower back, elbows, or wrists.

Golf-related pain often results not just from overuse, but from poor movement patterns, improper posture, limited range of motion, or lack of stability in the body.

In this post, we’ll explain common golf injuries and symptoms, their root causes, and how J-CLINIC’s physical therapy team can help you recover and prevent future problems.

Common golf injuries and symptoms

Lower back pain (“golfer’s back pain”)

Your lower back takes a heavy load from swinging motions, which involve repeated twisting and arching. Many people feel worsening pain during or right after a swing or the day after a round.

Golfer experiencing lower back pain during a golf swing due to repetitive stress and rotation — Golfer’s back pain

Elbow pain (“Golfer’s elbow”)

“Golfer’s elbow” comes from repeated stress on the inner side of the elbow during the downswing or at the moment of impact. The pain can persist even if X-rays show no visible damage.

Golfer holding elbow in pain caused by repetitive strain during golf swings (golfer’s elbow) — Golfer’s elbow

Wrist pain

Hitting the ground often—such as with “fat shots”—can cause inflammation in the wrist joint.
The force of impact, repeated ground strikes, and gripping the club tightly all put strain on the wrists. Right-handed players often experience symptoms in their left wrist.

Why do golf injuries happen so often?

Golf involves repeating the same movements over and over, and each swing delivers sudden, high-impact stress to the body. When this is combined with poor posture and lack of movement from long hours of desk work, certain areas of the body can be overused and overloaded.

If your body core isn’t flexible or stable enough, your body may adjust to try to protect the back, elbows, or wrists—all of which can lead to pain.

Our evaluation and testing process

At J-CLINIC, we don’t just treat the painful spot—we look at the whole picture. We examine your posture, daily habits, and consider your body holistically to find the root cause of your pain and aim for long-term healing.

6人のセラピストが並んで立っている — Our trained staff support your well-being using state-of-the-art medical equipment.

Doctor using an AI voice translation device while explaining anatomy on a tablet app to a patient during a medical consultation — Doctor consultation with imaging review

During your first visit, we’ll perform a full assessment that includes:

a detailed medical history (including how long the pain has lasted, how often you play golf, and your daily habits)
hands-on physical tests (to see what movements trigger pain and what reduces it)
posture and movement analysis (while standing, sitting, and walking)

If needed, you may also get an X-ray or an ultrasound exam so we can check the condition of your bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. This helps us decide whether physical therapy is the right treatment for you or if you should see another specialist.

Patient undergoing an X-ray exam at a clinic using medical imaging equipment — You can get an X-ray exam only at the Ekkamai clinic.

Musculoskeletal ultrasound examination of a patient’s knee performed by a physical therapist — A musculoskeletal ultrasound exam at any of our clinics: Phrom Phong, Thonglor, and Ekkamai. Please make an appointment (required).

Our physical therapy treatments

Based on the assessment, we create a personalized treatment plan that can combine

ultrasound therapy and electric therapy, to reduce inflammation and relieve pain
manual therapy by trained therapists, to improve full-body coordination and left–right balance
exercise therapy and rehabilitation, to improve flexibility and stability, aiming to maintain performance and prevent recurrences of pain