Tennis Elbow

Tennis Elbow - A Common Tennis Injury

Tennis elbow, so to speak, got its name from the famous game tennis and the common injury of the players of this game who tended to get it. Medically known as Lateral Epicondylitis, tennis elbow is an inflammation or degeneration of the tendon which attaches muscles to bone (lateral epicondyle) on the outer arm or elbow.

Symptoms to tennis elbow disorder are: frequent pain on exterior of the upper forearm just below the bend of the elbow that spread out down the arm towards the wrist; pain in lifting, bending the arm or even clasping light objects like a coffee mug; difficulty in extending the forearm completely because of inflamed tendons, muscles and ligaments; and soreness that lasts for six to twelve weeks, the uneasiness could continue for as slight as three weeks or as lengthy as numerous years.

The injury that "tennis elbow" sustain consists of small tears in a part of the tendon and muscle layers. Even when these muscles heal from the initial injury, they often tear again leading to hemorrhaging and formation of rough, granulated tissue including calcium deposits within the surrounding tissues. Leaks of a protein called Collagen around the injured areas cause inflammation resulting to pressure that can cut off blood flow and squeeze the radial nerve, one of the main nerves that control muscles in the arm and hand. Tendons as mentioned earlier, attach the muscles to the bone and they do not get the equal quantity of oxygen as muscles do, so they heal more slowly that results to some cases of tennis elbow lasting for years even if the inflammation subsides within six to twelve weeks.

Tennis elbow in many cases is a form of tendonitis, but if it involves the muscles and bones of the elbow joint and not the outside of your arm, the case may be "bursitis", which happens when the lubricating sacs in the joint becomes inflamed. If swelling is seen, then you may want to look into other possible conditions such as arthritis, infection gout or tumor.

How do you aid tennis elbow? The most effective usual and substitute treatments for tennis elbow is resting the arm until the pain vanishes, then massaging it to ease stress and tension in the muscles, then you can exercise to strengthen that part and avoid re-injury. Also, the best way to ease tennis elbow is to discontinue anything that aggravates your arm.

Different medicines that offer treatments for tennis elbow can also be taken, from drug injections to surgery. But re-injury is expected without enough rest of the arm, the pain will never go away completely unless stressing the joint is stopped. Even after you have overcome your tennis elbow injury, you still have to continue taking care of your arm, warm up your arm five to ten minutes before doing any activity involving your elbow, and if you feel severe pain after doing so, pack your arm with ice for fifteen to twenty minutes and call your doctor.