What is tennis elbow?
The medical term for tennis elbow is Lateral epicondylitis, a condition where the outer part of the elbow becomes sore and tender. Although commonly associated with playing tennis many sufferers have been nowhere near racket sports! Tennis elbow develops when the tendon that joins the muscles of your forearm to your upper arm bone tears or becomes inflamed. This tendon is called the common extensor tendon. Tennis elbow most often happens when you have repeatedly overused your arm.
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Tennis Elbow Symptoms
The obvious symptom is pain in your forearm and the outside of your elbow. This can range from a dull ache to acute pain that shoots along your forearm. The pain tends to be below your forearm towards your wrist and is worse if you twist your wrist or try to grip tightly with your hand. If you mimic the actions of playing tennis and this causes pain you may well have tennis elbow.
When extremely severe, tennis elbow symptoms will show as difficulty in gripping small objects or writing or lifting and bending your arm. Sometimes you get what is known as referred pain in your shoulder or neck, this is your body trying to compensate for the weakness in your elbow and other muscles trying to do the job your forearm cannot do.
You may find it difficult to fully extend your forearm and your arm becomes progressively stiffer and weak. Unscrewing jar lids, opening doors and even shaking hands may prove painful. It usually affects the arm of your dominant hand; most of us are right handed as this is the side we tend to use most often. If you continue to use this arm you risk rupturing the tendon which is far more serious and will take longer to recover from. Generally speaking pain is a signal that something is wrong so heed the warning and go and see your medical practitioner.
What causes tennis elbow?
Whilst for some sports enthusiasts it is caused by racket sports, played excessively or without warming up properly, for the rest of us couch potatoes it is simply repetitive overuse of that arm. So a job that involves repeated hand, wrist and forearm movements, such as excessive keyboard or computer mouse use, using a screwdriver, plumbing, painting, even some factory production line activities can all result in tennis elbow.
Treatment for Tennis elbow
Obviously you need to stop doing whatever is causing the tennis elbow symptoms; this may be difficult if it is your job! The first step is rest. If you catch it early you can deal with it yourself by applying cold compresses to the elbow to reduce inflammation and taking pain relief such as paracetamol or ibuprofen to reduce the inflammation. Severe pain may require a steroid injection in the affected area. If it is your job that is causing the tennis elbow symptoms speak to occupational health about adjusting the tasks you do. Do not risk rupturing your tendon by continued use of the arm or you will end up having to have surgery for something you could have managed yourself.
