Tennis Elbow

Tennis elbow is one condition that many tennis players end up with after several years of practicing this sport. Still people who do not play tennis at all can also suffer from it.

Tennis Elbow

The formal name that is found in medical books is lateral epicondylitis which translates into popular language as the inflammation of the outside elbow bone.

Many doctors believe that this condition has much more to do with middle age than with tennis playing or overuse of the elbow. So, it seems, there are no specific pieces of evidence to support that tennis is the real cause of this problem. Still, many tennis players complain about it, therefore it has gained the popular name of tennis elbow.

If you are not sure as to whether you may have this condition, the symptoms to be identified are as follows. First of all, tennis elbow manifests in pain located on the outer part of the elbow and a very tender point somewhere on the more prominent part of the elbow bone.

Moreover, when performing such actions as wrist turning and object lifting you may feel pain not only in the elbow but also in the wrist. Last but not least, many people who think they experience tennis elbow also complain about having their elbow and wrist stiff in the morning when they wake up.

If you need to be diagnosed then going to the doctor would  be a smart thing. Radiographies or the MRI might identify your condition as the tennis elbow.

Apparently, surgery does not fix the problem as the radiographies are not very evidence-wise as to stating whether surgery is definitely needed and likely to be successful.

However there are treatments that can be followed and that have given results in the case of many tennis elbow patients. Among the many options for treatment to be resorted to we can mention the use of anti-inflammatory drugs, the application of heat or ice and the wearing of a special elbow strap to make sure that strain on the elbow will be reduced.

The strap would most likely work as a prevention method as by wearing it you would avoid your elbow receiving even more damage than it has already suffered.

Other options would include injecting cortisone locally to reduce the pain, using splints meant to keep your forearm and elbow in one position for two or three weeks, ultrasound that would increase blood circulation in the elbow area, acupuncture and several others.