What Is an Elbow Dislocation?

Written by Hirania Luzardo
Medically Reviewed by Shruthi N, MD on August 21, 2025
7 min read

An elbow dislocation happens when one or more of the three bones in your elbow joint — the humerus, radius, and ulna — get pushed out of place. It’s usually very painful and can make it hard or even impossible for you to move your elbow.

A joint is simply the place where two bones meet, and you’ve got them all over your body. They help you move and give your body support from head to toe. Your elbow joint is a little different because it’s made up of three bones working together: the humerus, which is your upper arm bone, and the radius and ulna, the two bones in your forearm.

The cause of most elbow dislocations is usually a fall, most commonly with the arm all the way out. But any traumatic injury (such as a car crash) can result in an elbow dislocation.

An elbow dislocation usually happens when a big impact pushes your elbow joint out of place. Common causes include:

  • Falling on an outstretched hand, which sends pressure up your arm and into the elbow
  • Car accidents, where bracing or sudden impact can move the joint out of place
  • Sports injuries, especially in contact or high-impact activities such as gymnastics, cycling, football, and rugby
  • In young children, a common cause is when someone pulls or swings them by the arm, which can result in a partial dislocation called “nursemaid’s elbow”

Although it takes a lot of pressure to dislocate an elbow, it is still one of the most common joint injuries.

You may have a dislocated elbow if you notice:

  • Bruising around your elbow
  • Your elbow looks different or out of place
  • Pain in your elbow
  • Swelling in the joint
  • You can’t move or use your elbow
  • Your elbow feels unstable or weaker than usual

Go to the doctor or emergency room right away if you can’t move your elbow, have severe pain, can’t feel your hand, or have no pulse in your wrist.

The doctor will:

Examine your elbow to see how it looks and moves

Check your nerves and blood flow by feeling your pulse, making sure you can feel normally, and checking that blood reaches your hand

Order X-rays to see if there are breaks in the bone or a true dislocation

Do more tests if needed, such as an arteriogram (an X-ray of your artery), MRI, or CT scan

If you think you have a dislocated elbow, go to the emergency room. Don’t try to move it back in place yourself. Don’t let anyone else do it unless they’re a doctor. Trying to fix it on your own can worsen the injury.

Nonsurgical treatments

Doctors in the emergency room can usually put your elbow back in place. You’ll get medicine to help with pain and help you relax.

When a doctor gently moves the joint back where it belongs, it’s called a closed reduction or manipulation. This has to be done slowly and carefully by a doctor.

Once your elbow is back in the right spot, your doctor will put on a splint to keep it still while it heals.

In addition to putting your joint back in place, your doctor may recommend:

  • Elevating (raising) your elbow to help with swelling
  • Ice packs to lower pain and inflammation
  • Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for pain relief
  • Physical therapy to regain strength and movement
  • Rest to give your elbow time to heal
  • Surgery if the injury is severe or the joint can’t be stabilized with other treatments

Surgical treatment

Surgery may be needed if your elbow joint isn’t lined up correctly. Sometimes, a complex elbow dislocation requires surgery to restore the normal position of the bones.

Other reasons you might need surgery include:

  • Repair of blood vessels or nerves that were injured
  • Removing scar tissue or extra bone growth if your elbow stays stiff after the injury

There are two main types of elbow dislocation:

Simple elbow dislocation. The joint and its supporting ligaments are injured, but the bones of the elbow (humerus, radius, and ulna) aren’t broken.

Complex elbow dislocation. The joint is dislocated, and one or more bones are also fractured. These may include:

  • Radial head (the top of the smaller forearm bone)
  • Coronoid process (a small point on the larger forearm bone that helps keep the elbow stable)
  • Olecranon (the pointy tip of your elbow)
  • Distal humerus (the lower end of your upper arm bone)

When the bones are pushed forward, it’s called an anterior dislocation, and this type is usually considered complex because it often happens with fractures.

After you are sent home from the doctor’s office, you will be told to follow up with a bone doctor (orthopedist).

Wear your splint. Do not move your elbow. Elevate your elbow as much as possible, and ice it to ease swelling.

Complex dislocations that need surgery are tougher. Sometimes, it’s better to delay the operation. This gives the swelling time to go down. It may be best to rest your elbow in a brace or splint for about a week before surgery.

Your physical therapist will create a rehab program just for you. Here’s what a basic post-op routine might look like:

One to four weeks. Keep your elbow raised. Use ice to ease swelling. Use a splint when you’re still, but you will do some range-of-motion exercises. Your physical therapist may massage the area — they might call this soft-tissue mobilization.

Five to eight weeks. You’ll add exercises with and without weights to your range-of-motion routines. If you’re an athlete, you’ll work in some sport-specific activities, too. And you’ll continue the soft-tissue treatments.

9-16 weeks. By now, you’ll have full range of motion and normal strength in your elbow. You should be back to doing what you did before the injury.

Do not fall on your outstretched arm. Avoid situations that would make falls more common (such as walking at night or being around slippery floors. Overtraining in sports, especially ones that involve throwing, can also lead to dislocation.

Generally, this injury heals well. After watching closely for three to five days, the bone doctor will have you begin gentle movement exercises of your elbow. Usually, recovery happens without any lasting effects.

You may be more likely to take your kid in for this kind of injury than to get one yourself. There’s a type of partial dislocation called nursemaid’s elbow, or pulled elbow, and it’s common in tots aged 4 and younger.

It usually happens when you pull children by their hands. Their ligaments are loose because their bones aren’t fully formed. It’s easy for them to slip right over the radial head — the thing that helps them flex and bend their elbow and forearm — or get trapped in the elbow joint.

It happened to Bethany Afshar’s daughter Katie twice. The first time was when she was almost 2 and ran behind her big brother into a swimming pool. Her father quickly pulled her out of the pool by her left arm.

“Later, we noticed that she couldn’t pick up a pacifier with that arm and took her to urgent care,” says Afshar, who lives in Georgia. “They gave her a Popsicle, lifted her arm, and twisted it real quickly back into place, just like that.”

Katie got the same treatment after it happened again in preschool a year or two later, “probably on the jungle gym,” Afshar says. Katie is 9 now, and it hasn’t happened since. The risk drops as kids get older — their ligaments tighten and their bones grow.

“Nursemaid’s elbow is one of my favorite diagnoses, because it’s so fixable in the moment,” says Kate Cronan, MD, an emergency room physician at Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware. “It’s rare that we can fix something that easily and make a child feel all better that quickly.”

An elbow dislocation happens when the bones in your elbow move out of place. There are two types: simple without a fracture and complex with a fracture, which may need surgery. Never try to put the joint back in place yourself. See a doctor right away. Treatment may include a brace or support and later physical therapy. You can also take simple steps to help prevent an elbow dislocation.

Can you still move your arm with a dislocated elbow?

Usually, you can’t move your arm if your elbow is dislocated. The pain is often severe and makes movement very difficult. Numbness, tingling, or no pulse can also make it hard to move your arm, and these signs may mean there’s nerve or blood vessel damage.

How fast can a dislocated elbow heal?

A simple dislocation usually heals in three to six weeks. More serious injuries with torn ligaments or fractures can take 6-12 weeks. If you need surgery, full recovery may take three to six months with physical therapy.

Can you still bend a dislocated elbow?

You may not be able to bend your dislocated elbow because of pain and swelling. Don’t try to force movement in the joint, as that can make the injury worse.