Tennis elbow is an overuse injury, for which the main symptom is pain in your outer elbow. It is usually the result of overloading the tendons in your elbow, particularly when you perform repetitive motions of your arm and wrist. Contrary to popular belief, this injury does not exclusively affect tennis players, or even athletes. Workers in occupations such as plumbing, painting, gardening and carpentry (among others) can also fall victim to this condition. Tennis elbow treatment may include rest, rehabilitation and possibly surgery.
Lateral epicondylitis is an overuse or repetitive stress injury. Its primary cause is repeated contraction of your forearm extensor and flexor muscles. These muscles play an important role in your ability to straighten or raise your hand as well as raise your wrist. If you perform those movements repeatedly over time, you may develop small ruptures in the tendons that connect these forearm muscles to the bone on the outside of your elbow. The result is tennis elbow.
The types of repetitive movements that can bring the condition on include routine things like shaking hands, holding a cup, etc. However, they can also include the movements involved in plumbing work, painting, gardening, cooking or using a computer. In general, activities that require precise wrist and hand movements (cutting up meat or operating a computer mouse) can bring on tennis elbow.
The factors that place you more at risk for developing the condition include:
Tennis elbow pain usually occurs primarily around the bony prominence (bump) on the outside of the elbow. That pain comes from the inflamed condition of your forearm tendons and the fact that they attach to that bump. The pain may start there but it frequently radiates to your forearm and wrist.
Another tennis elbow symptom is difficulty performing everyday tasks due to a lack of gripping strength. These tasks may include (for example) shaking hands, gripping an object firmly, holding a cup or even turning a doorknob.
Tennis elbow symptoms may sometimes resemble those of other overuse injuries, particularly golfers elbow. To be sure that your symptoms are indeed those of tennis elbow, you may need to visit your doctor for an examination.
Your doctor will usually be able to diagnose your tennis elbow via a physical exam and review of your medical history. If he or she suspects that your pain may have other causes, he may request imaging tests such as an X-Ray or ultrasound exam.
If the doctor confirms that your symptoms are indeed those of tennis elbow, treatment may involve one or more of the following steps. We suggest that you initially try a conservative tennis elbow treatment from the list below. If this is unsuccessful, you may wish to discuss the more radical treatments with your doctor.
As with any overuse injury, rest is an important part of the recovery process. If your injury is the result of an activity that you can cease doing for a while, such as a recreational sport or hobby, this may be feasible. However, if the injury derives from occupational activity, you may not be in a position to suspend these activities for a period. In this case, other measures may be necessary.
Your doctor may refer you to a physical therapist. The therapist can introduce you to exercises that will gently stretch and gradually stretch your forearm muscles. For example, these may include raising your wrist and then slowly lowering it. We will consider tennis elbow exercises in more detail in a separate article.
In conjunction with the physical therapy exercises we have mentioned above, your physical therapist can recommend that you wear a tennis elbow brace to ease the pain. These braces will reduce the forces travelling up your forearm muscles to reach the tendons attaching to your elbow. This will give those tendons an opportunity to rest and recover.
Tennis elbow braces come in several different designs. However, they are all designed to apply pressure to your injured elbow tendon and absorb some of the vibrations and forces that are causing injury. The various designs include straps (like the one pictured at right) and sleeves that cover the forearm area as well as the elbow. In some cases, there may be an adjustable pad under the brace. This is an individual customization feature that allows you to adjust the area to which the brace applies pressure.
Because of the wide variety of designs, it is important to take the nature of your tennis elbow injury into account when choosing a design.
If the conservative treatment options listed above do not work, your doctor may suggest some more invasive approaches. These may include plasma or botox injections into the injured tendon. Alternatively, he or she may recommend surgery to remove the damaged tendon areas. The doctor can perform this surgery either via one large incision or via several small ones. In general, you should give the conservative treatment options 6-12 months to work before considering more aggressive approaches.
Another invasive procedure you can consider to treat persistent tennis elbow is ultrasonic tenetomy, or a TENEX procedure. A specialist will insert a needle into the injured portion of the tendon. The needle will be under the control of ultrasonic energy. This energy will then cause the needle to vibrate at high speed to liquefy the damaged tissue. Once this is done, the liquefied tissue is suctioned out of your elbow.
The invasive approaches mentioned above involve removal of injured tissues. As a result, physical therapy exercises to restore elbow strength and function will be extremely important once you have completed surgery or injections to correct your tennis elbow.
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The Band It Elbow Brace is medically designed to aid in the relief and prevention of pain from Tendinitis, Tennis Elbow, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Repetitive Stress Injuries and Cumulative Trauma Disorders. The BandIt Strap is designed to help you enjoy your favourite activities with less pain.
Dynamic Tape simulates the action of a spring and improves the kinetic chain by strongly retarding or assisting muscle motion in order to optimize movement patterns. Once healing is complete, Dynamic Tape helps to reduce pain and control the risk of re-injury.
The Mueller Sports Medicine EASYfit® Kinesiology Tape applications are designed to be simple to use and can help relieve certain overuse injuries. Three (3) applications in each package for the knee, shoulder, foot/arch, calf/ankle/neck and waist/back applications. Six (6) applications in each package for the X & Y pattern applications.
With the Mueller Elastic Elbow Support, you will benefit from firm and reliable support from a lightweight and user friendly elbow sleeve.
The Mueller Sports Medicine Elbow Sleeve offers compression and soothing warmth to help promote healing from general elbow injuries. Fits either elbow.
The LP Elbow Support brace helps to ease elbow swelling and relieves the pain of elbow bursitis. It also provides support and compression to weak, strained or injured elbow muscles. It utlizes LP’s popular 4-way stretch technology to provide uniform compression. You can use the sleeve with an extra strap if you need additional support…
The Mueller Sports Medicine Elbow Support, Black, OSFM, features controllable compression applied using adjustable straps that allow you to combine pain relieving compression with a comfortable fit and soothing warmth.
The Mueller Sports Medicine Hg80 Premium Tennis Elbow Support features AEGIS Anti-Microbial treatment, a latex and neoprene free durable outer layer, breathable materials, moisture management fabric and a thin design.
Use DynaPro Kinesiology RestoreTape for possible relief from pain and faster recovery from aching and sore muscles, damaged ligaments, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, strained muscles /tendons and many other overuse injuries. Available in colours black, blue, beige and red and in lengths of either 5M or 31.5M. Hypoallergenic, latex free and waterproof. May be effective even for periods as long as 4-5 days.
Mueller Sports Medicine Kinesiology Tape – 5m Continuous Roll is a great choice for rapid rehabilitation for your sore, weak or injured muscles and joints. With its revolutionary wave pattern adhesive, it will lift your skin as you move to optimize your circulation and promote early recovery to full health. You cn wear it for up to 5 days at a time. Made from pure high grade cotton. Latex free, highly elastic and breathable in order to perform its “lifting” function more effectively.
The Kinesio Pre Cut Starter Set includes one each of the Kinesio Pre Cuts for the wrist, knee, back, foot, neck & shoulder.
Use Kinesio Pre-Cut Application tapes for treatment of various repetitive stress injuries. As the pieces are pre-cut, you do not need to cut them before putting them on, which simplifies application.
Lateral and medial epicondylitis treatment
The Bio Skin Tennis Elbow Band sits comfortably below your elbow crease and comes with a silicone pad and an elastic strap that you can position for extra compression and pain relief.
Lateral and medial epicondylitis treatment
The Bio Skin Tennis Elbow Skin provides 100% elbow coverage and comes with a silicon pad and an elastic strap that you can position to provide extra compression and pain relief from lateral and medial epicondylitis.
The Mueller Tennis Elbow Support will help to ease the pain of tennis or golfer’s elbow. The brace applies pressure just below your elbow and absorbs some of the vibrations passing through your forearm. This prevents those vibrations reaching your elbow and aggravating the injury. Use the Tennis Elbow Support’s adjustable strap to adjust the…
The Mueller Sports Medicine Tennis Elbow Support With Gel Pad eases the pain and discomfort of golf or tennis elbow and allows you to enjoy your favorite activities.
Kinesio Tex Classic successfully treats a variety of orthopaedic, neuromuscular, neurological and medical conditions. It provides fast and effective pain relief and support for muscle aches and pains and directly targets the fascia (skin layers) and muscle tissue to treat the cause of muscle inflammation and pain.
The LP X-Tremus Elbow Support helps you to enhance your sports performance as well as avoid injury. Its innovative Magic Power Band and Stable Contoured Structurel help you raise your training and competition to new levels and simultaneously mitigates tennis and golfer’s elbow as well as general elbow soreness.
