Tennis Elbow pain is…well……. very bothersome and painful…….and it takes forever to go away and then it comes back again. The tennis elbow strap can be good, it can be annoying, anti inflammatories help but then they don’t really. Steroid injection is OK for a while. It seems tennis elbow is really had to get rid of.
Tennis elbow is not about your serve, forehand or backhand. It is all about activities that require gripping an object in your hand. To grip effectively, the wrist must extend backwards, which it does by the wrist extensor muscle group that attach to the elbow – hence the site of the pain. Problems arise when there is a change in gripping demands – be it tennis, digging, brick laying, gardening or cooking.
The hard part about treating tennis elbow is making a correct diagnosis. The first place to start is to skilfully determine if the pain is being generated in the neck and referred to the elbow; or if it is due to overload of the wrist extensor muscles. As expected treatment for a stiff neck compared to treatment for overloaded muscles is completely different. With a correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment, pesky elbow pain will become a distant memory.
To diagnose a true wrist extensor tendinopathy
- there will be a description of an identifiable change in gripping activities
- elbow pain with gripping (we expect to measure; men 50kg, women 30kg, R-L 95%)
- pin point pain on the outside bone of the elbow
- trigger points in the forearm muscles
- pain with resisted extension of the 3rd finger
Tennis Elbow Treatment
Treatment will always start with hands on treatment at the elbow and the muscles to reduce pain.
Physiotherapy Exercise Treatment will ALWAYS involve gripping exercises. It is vital the home program does not cause pain as the elbow pain can be stirred up if exercises are too hard.
The source of the problem is a weak muscle, so get it strong. Don’t stretch it, it feels good at the time but then just annoys everything.
Tennis elbow straps can be useful to change the point of pulling away from the elbow so pain is less. But the only way to get better is with specific treatment exercises to get the muscles stronger, which will take 4-8 weeks of dedication.
So if you are ready to break the never ending elbow pain cycle and want to start on the road to strength and recovery, book an appointment.
