What is Tennis Elbow?
Tennis elbow presents itself as pain on the outside of the elbow where the wrist extensor tendons attach. The pain can be localised around the outside of the elbow or extended down into the forearm. The pain can be aggravated by everyday activities such as turning a doorknob or picking up and gripping objects. It is very common among sportspeople and manual workers who repeatedly extend their wrist, hence the term Tennis Elbow.
How Does Tennis Elbow Happen?
Tennis elbow is caused by overuse and/or repeated incorrect loading of the tendon, or by poor biomechanics that cause micro tears in the tendon. This occurs around their attachment site to the side of the elbow. It is no longer known as a tendonitis as there are no inflammatory cells present around the site. Thorough physiotherapy assessment is needed to rule out pain referral from other areas of the body such as the neck.
How Complete Care can treat your Tennis Elbow
- Soft tissue therapy and/or dry needling to release the tight muscles in the forearm and neural pathway in your arm
- Specific exercises – activity modification of the aggravating activity initially to let symptoms settle down. Specific eccentric loading exercises can be done to strengthen and remodel the collagen within the tendon. We will also look at your exercise program in order to modify and correct your technique to prevent your condition coming back.
- Taping and occasionally a brace can be used to change the load going through the tendon
