Most avid tennis players are familiar with the agony of tennis elbow. When you pick up your racket, that burning pain along the outside of the arm indicates that you may have tennis elbow. Contrary to popular perception, tennis players are not the only people to suffer from painful tennis elbow.
Tennis elbow, medically know as lateral epicondylitis, is a wear and tear injury that creates inflammation where the tendons connect to the elbow joint. These tendons and muscles can become damaged by prolonged and excessive use. Tennis elbow brings an achy pain and immobility and causes a weakened grip. You can tell it is getting worse when it becomes a severe burning pain.
Tennis elbow is typically caused by any activity involving repetitive wrist twisting. These activities may include:
- tennis and other racquet sports
- swimming
- golfing
- playing musical instruments
- using hand tools
- manual labor
Tennis elbow affects between 1 and 3 percent of 30 to 50-year-olds in the United States1. Tennis elbow may heal on its own with minimal treatment. Treatment will depend on the severity of the symptoms.
Here are some top treatments for a tennis elbow:
- RICE protocol: or the combination of Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation, is often suggested as the first treatment to try for tennis elbow.
- Pain medication: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories may be suggested by your doctor.
- Physical therapy: After sufficient time for recovery, talk to your doctor or a physical therapist about special exercises to strengthen the forearm muscles and warm up the elbow joint to minimize injury.
- Corticosteroid injections: these anti-inflammatory medications are injected directly into the affected tendon, allowing the elbow joint to heal and helping aid in doing physical therapy effectively.
- PRP and stem cell therapy: Is an emerging treatment that rapidly changes the field of Sports Medicine and can help you get back on the court with minimal downtime. They work by harnessing the body’s natural healing potential and causing tissue regeneration.
- Surgery: When conservative measures fail to bring you the healing you seek, your surgeon may recommend surgery to remove the damaged tissue and repair the tendon. In most cases, the surgery is performed as a minimally invasive procedure in an outpatient setting.
If you are suffering from a tennis elbow or any musculoskeletal injury preventing you from doing the activities you love, schedule an appointment with Dr. Daneca DiPaolo for quality, compassionate, state-of-the-art orthopedic care, and get back to playing the game you love!
Dr. Daneca DiPaolo is an experienced board-certified orthopedic surgeon and hand specialist located in Grenada, Mississippi. She offers the newest orthopedic techniques, and provides quality, compassionate, state of the art orthopedic care.
