Tennis Elbow

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Tennis Elbow

Tennis Elbow

This is a common condition causing pain at the elbow and down the forearm. The group of muscles that extend (lift back up) the hand and fingers have a common point of attachment at the small bony bump (epicondyle) on the outside of the elbow. Tennis elbow, sometimes called lateral epicondylitis, is an injury, a sprain, of the tendon that is tethered to that epicondyle and which expands to form the muscles of the forearm that lift your hand. Most of the time the sprain is right at the tendon origin at the point of the epicondyle, five per cent of the time the sprain is above the epicondyle and sometimes it is lower in the muscles themselves.

Tennis elbow typically causes pain when you use your hand to grip and lift because the muscles contract and pull on the injured tendon. The pain can be felt right down the forearm occasionally as far as the middle finger. Scar tissue and adhesions form at the site of the lesion (the bodies attempt to heal it) but the scar is less elastic than the original tissue and is prone to re tearing then re healing - too short to function as the tendon should then reoccurring again. Without treatment it is said to last for two years.

Only five per cent of the suffers are tennis players and anyone who uses their hand a lot can get a tennis elbow. Repetitive users such as hairdressers and butchers and these days those who use computers and the mouse for a living are suffering this disabling condition.

We have successfully treated thousands of cases of tennis elbow over the years and people travel form far to seek our help. After locating the exact site of the lesion, we break up the scar tissue that has formed with friction massage and shock wave therapy then a special stretching technique that we have developed to stretch the muscle / tendon and we show you how to stretch it. The structure heals long enough to work without constant relapses.

We sometime recommend the use of a tennis elbow support in the short term and we show you how to shake hands, use the mouse etc. in a way that won’t aggravate the condition. We usually fix this condition in three to six visits.

Golfer’s Elbow is a similar sprain on the inside of the elbow and is usually easier to resolve. The treatment is also similar, and the results are quick.