Tennis Elbow

tennis elbow 1aElbow pain is a common issue with patients who play racquet sports or who have jobs requiring repetitive wrist and hand motions (e.g.: electricians, carpenters, etc). If the pain is on the outside of the arm near the elbow, you may have “tennis elbow” (a.k.a. lateral epicondylitis).

Muscles that move the hand and wrist backwards are anchored near the elbow on the lateral epicondyle.

So if forcefully moving the wrist backwards (as though revving a motor bike) hurts the outside portion of the elbow region, your tennis elbow diagnosis is more likely.

tennis elbow 2a

You may also want to refer to our flow chart**:

tennis elbow FLOW CHART

HOME THERAPY
If you believe you may be suffering from tennis elbow (i.e.: lateral epicondylitis) try the following approach:

  • Do not perform activities requiring repetitive grasping, lifting or rotating of the hand/wrist
  • if you are healthy, take ibuprofen daily for 4 straight days
  • first thing in the morning, apply hot pack to elbow region for 10 minutes
  • in the evening perform a contrast therapy session:

contrast therapy elbow 1

contrast therapy elbow 2

If one week of the above protocol does not significantly decrease pain, see your chiropractor or physio for more aggressive clinical treatment.

**always see a professional for significant pain, this blog post is meant to be a guide for patient education and does not encourage you to self diagnose.

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