Tennis Elbow

What Does Tennis Elbow Mean?

Tennis elbow is also known as lateral epicondylitis, and is usually the results of overuse of the elbow from repetitive movements of the wrist and arm from certain activities such as playing tennis. Interestingly, athletes are not the ones who are diagnosed with tennis elbow. Rather people whose job requires repetitive movements, such as plumbers, painters, or butchers are most commonly diagnosed with this condition.

Common symptoms:

Through the repetitive movements of the arm, small micro tears in the tendon thereby causing the pain. Most patients initially experience pain on the outside of the elbow that then radiates to the forearm and wrist.To identify if you have tennis elbow, your doctor will do a physical exam by applying pressure and ask you to move your elbow, wrist, and fingers in order to elicit and reproduce your symptoms.

Treatment:

The combination of rest and anti-inflammatory medication may help relieve the pain for mild cases. Additionally, your doctor may recommend physical therapy to help strengthen the muscles of the forearm. Otherwise, this can be treated in the office with a new state of the art technique, which involves the removal of the affected inflamed tendon fibers and which often leads to excellent results if the properly chosen patients.

If you would like more information on tennis elbow, we invite you to review an educational website endorsed by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

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