Dealing with tennis elbow: How to treat and prevent it

Weber UK

It doesn’t need to be game, set and match with tennis elbow. Read up on how best to deal with the sometimes work-limiting injury.

The irony of tennis elbow is that you probably won’t get it from playing tennis. Known as lateral epicondylitis, tennis elbow occurs when you strain the tendons in your forearm – the same ones you would use to grip a tennis racket. Any activity that involves a gripping and twisting motion can bring on the strain and cause you problems when it comes to lifting your arm.

Arising mostly in those involved in sports or a trade, including bricklayers, plasterers, renderers, tilers, carpenters, and decorators, the overexertion of the wrist causes microtears near the ECRB (extensor carpi radialis brevis muscle). These tears lead to swelling and a burning sensation around the elbow, after which you may find that your grip becomes weaker and you will more than likely feel pain further down your arm.

What are the best ways to prevent it?

Avoid repetitive tasks:

  • Make sure you warm up and stretch regularly
  • Carry out regular exercise
  • Take regular breaks during work
  • Check your equipment isn’t too heavy or strenuous
  • Make sure your technique when active is correct
  • Do forearm exercises
  • Consider using a tennis elbow strap

What are the best ways to treat it?

Rest and non-prescription pain medication are usually the first methods suggested in order to heal from tennis elbow. Using a brace on the back side of your forearm can reduce pain and allow stiff and tight muscles and tendons to rest. A doctor may recommend steroid injections to lessen swelling and to allow other symptoms to settle while you heal on your own.

For some, rest and/or steroid injections may not prove effective, in which case, other therapeutic means are available, such as acupuncture, massage therapy, specialised injections, ultrasound-guided release of the tissue with a needle, and surgery.

Surgery to treat tennis elbow is usually considered a last resort. However, it might be deemed necessary if conservative treatments have failed and your symptoms have persisted longer than six months.

What are the best exercises for it?

Below are a list of exercises that should help in strengthening your forearm and surrounding muscles and tendons, as recommended by WebMD. Before trying them, make sure you wait for any swelling to go down. Also, if you’ve been to see a doctor make sure you check with them that it is okay to exercise the affected area.

Exercise #1: Wrist turn

  1. Bend your elbow at a right angle by your side so it forms an L
  2. Hold your hand out palm up
  3. Gently turn your wrist so your palm faces down
  4. Hold for 15 seconds
  5. Repeat three to five times
  6. Do this two or three times a day

Exercise #2: Finger stretch

  1. Touch your fingers to your thumb and put a rubber band round them, including your thumb
  2. Slowly open your thumb and fingers all the way, then close them
  3. Repeat up to 25 times
  4. Do this for up to three times a day

Exercise #3: Eccentric and concentric exercises

  1. Start with a 1lb/2lb dumbbell and sit on a chair at a table that has an edge
  2. Bend the elbow at 90 degrees; palm should be facing the floor. Slowly lower the weight, then slowly raise. This may be painful, but raise and lower the weight 10 times or until you can’t anymore
  3. Rest a few minutes
  4. Fully straighten the elbow flat across the table, with your palm facing the floor. Slowly lower and raise the weight 10 times
  5. When the 10 repetitions have become easy to do, increase the weight by one or two pounds. Continue the exercises once a day for about three months. The pain should begin to subside in a month to six weeks.

Exercise #4: Ball squeeze

  1. Hold a tennis ball or soft rubber ball in your hand
  2. Squeeze and release up to 25 times
  3. Do this stretch up to three times a day

Exercise #5: Wrist flexor stretch

  1. Hold your arm straight out so your elbow isn’t bent and your palm faces up
  2. Use your other hand to hold the fingers of your outstretched hand and bend it, back toward your body until you can feel it in your inner forearm
  3. Hold for 15 seconds
  4. Repeat three to five times
  5. Do this two or three times a day

Exercise #6: Wrist extensor stretch

  1. Hold your arm straight out so your elbow isn’t bent and your palm faces down
  2. Use your other hand to hold the fingers of your outstretched hand and bend it, back toward your body until you can feel it in your outer forearm
  3. Hold for 15 seconds
  4. Repeat three to five times
  5. Do this two or three times a day

Exercise #7: Forearm strengthening

  1. Grab a 1lb dumbbell – or a tool like hammer or wrench – and take a seat
  2. Support your forearm on your thigh or the edge of a table so that your wrist hangs over the edge
  3. Grasp the bottom of the dumbbell – not the middle, as usual
  4. Slowly turn your hand so your palm faces up. Make sure to only move your forearm, not your elbow
  5. Slowly turn your palm to the ground
  6. Repeat 10 times
  7. Do this one or two times a day, more if you’re up to it

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