Stubborn Tennis elbow?
Are you struggling with pain at the outside of your elbow? Started from a weekend of assembling furniture, playing with your kids, or even playing tennis/pickleball? You may be asking yourself why you are having pain and discomfort with everyday tasks. This blog aims to dive a little deeper into the causes and symptoms of the infamous “tennis elbow.”
What is it?
Lateral epicondylitis, commonly known as tennis elbow, is an overuse injury of the extensor tendons that attach on the bone on the outside of your elbow.
It is most common in the dominant arm and can affect up to 3% of Adult Americans a year.
How did this happen to me?
Tennis elbow is an overuse injury, which is where it gets its nickname from. This injury is super common in racquet players (tennis, pickleball, squat, etc) because of the motions of the wrist that are repeatedly performed.
This injury can also happen to any labor workers who handle heavy tools, repetitive lifting, or gripping activities such as weightlifting.
This leads to the start of a local inflammatory cycle at the tendons that attach on that bone. We may not realize this inflammation at first, so people tend to continue to do the activity that caused the inflammation over and over again. Eventually, it becomes too late and the pain has become unavoidable and annoying.
Why won’t it go away?
One of the tricky things about Tennis elbow is the muscles that are irritated are used in everyday things such as gripping utensils, typing, working out and basically anything else you do with your hands.
This presents a challenge in appropriately prescribing treatment to ensure proper tendon healing and is why people often struggle to manage this injury themselves.
Does anything help?
Typically, if these injuries have gone on long enough, they can stick around from 10-20 months if not managed appropriately.
Good news is that with physical therapy, prescribed strengthening and soft tissue work can help expedite this recovery process and reduce the severity of the injury.
If you or someone you know is struggling with tennis elbow, you can schedule a discovery call/visit with us to determine if we will be a good fit in helping you get back to your activities!
Check out our upcoming blog for some tips on how to manage tennis elbow.
Sources:
J Orthop. 2019 Aug 10:17:203-207. doi: 10.1016/j.jor.2019.08.005.eCollection 2020 Jan-Feb.