What is tennis elbow?
Pain on the outer aspect of the elbow that gradually gets worse. Tennis elbow is caused by overuse of the extensor muscles of the forearm. Pain is present on the tendon where it inserts into the elbow known as the lateral epicondyle. Repeated microtrauma to the tendon leads to disruption and degeneration of the tendon’s internal structure. This is a degenerative condition in which the tendon fails to health properly after repetitive microtrauma injuries.
As the name suggests, tennis elbow is seen a lot in tennis players. Constant backhand strokes cause overuse or repetitive microtrauma to the tendon and the tendon fails to heal properly. Overtime this becomes worse and could lead to tendon ruptures in severe cases. Tennis elbow can be caused by other repetitive movements as well, like hairdressers holding hair dryers the whole day, sitting in front of the computer and working with the mouse and any repetitive movement that will aggravate the extensor muscles.
Treatment:
Treatment usually involves resting the arm. In other words avoiding to use the affected arm and hand a lot. Ice works very well for treating pain and taping the affected muscles can aid in supporting the muscles so that they don’t get worse.
Stretching and strengthening of the muscles when pain free is essential as the above mentioned treatments might only be short term fixes and decreases pain but might not solve the problem. People might have jobs where it is virtually impossible to rest the arm, like hairdressers. In these cases the extensor muscles needs strengthening in order to cope with the repetitive movements.
Pain from Tennis elbow can last for an extended period of time and without adequate rest, treatment of the condition becomes very tricky as strengthening exercises might aggravate the condition. It is therefore essential that the person be painfree before starting strengthening exercises. Early rehab will consist of range of motion exercises with no resistance, stretching, taping, and massage of the affected muscles.
It is advised that if you start feeling symptoms of tennis elbow, to immediately consult with your Biokineticist. Early detection and treatment is vital to successful rehab and to prevent the condition from returning in the future.
