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Tips for Managing Tennis Elbow (Lateral Epicondylitis)

By Richard Lane

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Published: 14Apr2010
Word count: 753
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Though it may sound like something that only professional athletes suffer from the reality is that tennis elbow is incredibly common among the average person. In fact, over 90% of all people who suffer from it have never even play the sport. Instead, they engage in activities that utilize their elbows significantly. Typically, the movement associated with their activity involves the repeated rotation of the joint. That repetitive rotation can lead to a case of tennis elbow or to use the technical term, lateral epicondylitis.

Tennis elbow begins with a consistent soreness or even a slight ache. Typically, this will start only when you are actively using the joint. However, as the condition worsens you may start to experience more severe pain for a prolonged period of time. But this does not mean that you just have to accept with it. There are things that you can do to help manage your general tennis elbow pain.

The first thing that you need to do is to pay attention to your pain. If your body is hurting you it is trying to signal you to an underlying problem. That means that you need to ease off of the task that is causing you pain. Pay attention to your body's signals. If the pain starts to subside you can start to participate some of the previous activities that caused you pain. However, take care not to jump in too fast. Instead, you will want to take things slowly and keep careful tabs on how your elbow is feeling.

A gentle massage can also help to ease the affected area. When you are suffering from tennis elbow your muscles may be tight and tender. By gently rubbing the surrounding area you may be able to release some of that tension and release some of the trigger points. Specifically, you are going to want to focus on the area between your wrist and elbow, the forearm extensors. When you are massaging these muscles then there may be spots of particular tenderness (away from the elbow) - applying static pressure to these points until the tenderness subsides can ease the sypmtons.

Tennis elbow can be complicated by swelling that may occur in the affected area. That swelling can make it even more difficult for your joint to move and function properly. You can treat that swelling in a couple of different ways. Perhaps the best choice is to apply ice to the swollen area (of course do not apply the ice directly onto the skin but wrap in a cloth and only apply for up to 15 minutes at a time).

If pain persists then you should consult a suitable health care professional such as a physical therapist, physiotherapist, osteopath, chiropractor or massage therapist. A physical therapist may suggest that you wish to have the elbow immobilised. There are many different elbow braces and supports on the market and the therapist should be able to suggest a suitable one for you. Wearing one of these will help you to prevent extraneous elbow movement during your day to day activities. Additionally, the simple act of wearing a brace like this can help to remind yourself and others that you are injured. This can be a good thing if you are someone who tends to push themselves too far.

Homeopathy may also be something that you want to look into. There is a homeopathic remedy that is geared toward soothing elbow pain. Ruta graveolens are actually made to treat your tennis elbow. If you follow the dosage instructions you can count on experiencing some improvement in your condition. You can typically find these in your local health food stores.

Once you start to experience a bit of improvement your path to good health is not finished. In fact, this is really where your work starts. You need to start to strengthen the muscles surrounding your elbow. To do this accurately you are going to want to use a combination of stretches and strength training activities. Consultation with your physical therapist will provide you with the directions for what exercises are appropriate for you. Again, you need to be careful to pay attention to your body's signals while you are trying to work out.

You must try to be patient with your case of tennis elbow. In general, tennis elbow is one of those things that takes a bit of time to respond to treatment. You do not want to push yourself too far too fast or you may risk injuring yourself further.

Richard Lane is a qualified remedial and sports massage therapist providing mobile massage Sydney. He also provides a directory for remedial massage therapists in Australia, including a listing for Remedial Massage Rousehill.

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