Tennis Elbow
About Tennis Elbow
Tennis elbow is a medically known as lateral epicondylitis, and is a condition where you have pain on the outer side of the elbow near the lateral epicondyle bone. The condition is thought to be caused by overuse, and repetitive strain causing damage to the elbow tendons.
Symptoms of Tennis Elbow
Usually the only symptom is pain. The pain can be over the outer side of the elbow on movements of the elbow, forearm and/or wrist. In some cases the pain can spread down from the elbow towards the wrist, and cause stiffness.
The epicondyle bone is where the tendons from the forearm muscles attach to the elbow, and therefore overuse, and repetitive strain such as playing racquet sports or manual labour, can cause swelling of the tendons and the epicondyle.
Tennis elbow can last between six months and two years for most people, and once you have tennis elbow unfortunately it can return. Avoiding overuse, and increasing the strength of the forearm muscles, may help prevent further episodes.
Treatment of tennis elbow includes:
- Rest - to allow the tendon inflammation to heal
- Avoiding movements which make the pain worse
- Physiotherapy to help strengthen the forearm muscles as well as reduce the pain and inflammation
- Pain killers- especially anti-inflammatory type can help
- Wearing elbow support/splints to help protect the elbow from further damage
- In some cases where pain is severe steroid injections into the elbow joint, shockwave therapy, botox injections and surgical operation may be required
Getting the correct diagnosis and early management is key for reducing the duration of tennis elbow.
Start feeling better now
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