What is Tennis Elbow?

Tennis elbow – lateral epicondylitis – is an afflicted condition that happens when tendons in your elbow get overloaded, typically by repeated motions from the arm and wrist.

Regardless of its name, athletes and those who are active aren’t the only ones that succumb to tennis elbow. Individuals whose jobs feature the kinds of motions that can cause tennis elbow include those in the plumbing industry, painters, carpenters, chefs, butchers, and the like.

The affliction of tennis elbow ensues mainly where your tendons of the forearm muscles are attached to the bony bumps on the outside of your elbows. This could also advance into your forearms and wrists.

Rest and OTC pain relievers usually aid in the alleviation of tennis elbow. When conservative treatments aren’t any help or if symptoms are debilitating, your doctor might recommend surgery.

Symptoms

The pain with tennis elbow can spread from the outside of the elbow through your forearm and possibly your wrist. Pain and debility can make it challenging to:

• Shake hands or gripping objects
• Turning a doorknob
• Opening a car door

When to go to the Doctor

Speak with your doctor when self-care measures like rest, ice and use of OTC pain relievers don’t alleviate your elbow pain and soreness.

Causes

Tennis elbow is an overload and muscle tension injury. The cause is continual compression of your forearm muscles that are used for straightening and raising your hand and wrist. The continual motions and stresses to the tissue could lead to a sequence of miniscule tears in the tendons that join your forearm muscles to the bony bulge near the outer part of your elbow.

As its name implies, participating in tennis — particularly continual use of the backhand stroke with substandard technique — could be one potential cause of this affliction. Nevertheless, a lot of other general arm motions can be the cause lateral epicondylitis, including:

• Using plumbing devices
• Painting
• Screw driving
• Cutting up cooking ingredients, specifically meat
• Continual computer mouse use

Risk Considerations

Considerations that may increase your risk of tennis elbow comprise of:

• Age. While tennis elbow impacts individuals of every age, it’s most typical in adults between  the age of thirty and fifty
• Occupation. Those that have jobs that involve continual movement of the wrist and arm are most likely to develop the affliction. Some include plumbers, woodworkers, painters, butchers, and chefs.
• Certain sports. Partaking in racket sports increases your risk of tennis elbow, particularly if you implement substandard stroke technique.

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