You might be surprised to know that 95% of those diagnosed with tennis elbow are not tennis players! Most of the time, the injury is not even sports-related. While the condition is not common among youths, it can occur at any age.
How Do I Tell If It’s Tennis Elbow?
Common symptoms of tennis elbow include
- Wrist weakness
- Tenderness over the outside of the elbow
- Pain when lifting or bending the arm
- Difficulty extending the forearm fully
- Pain when gripping, lifting and carrying
Tennis elbow is not an injury to the elbow. It’s actually an inflammation of the tendon, which attaches to the outside of your elbow. Classified as an overuse condition, the name comes from the fact that the muscle involved is used when hitting a backhand in tennis. Golfer’s elbow is a similar condition involving the tendon on the inside of the elbow.
Tennis elbow can be very painful in certain positions, movements, and activities, and fine in others. It may also limit the use of your upper extremities. Certain positions or movements, such as turning the knob on a radio, putting a car in gear, washing your hair, playing sports; even writing or other actions using your hands, may cause pain.
How Chiropractic Can Help
- It can help make sure the alignment of your extremity is correct. This includes adjusting the shoulder, elbow, and wrist to take the stress off of the tendon attachment.
- We can also address the inflammation with Class IV Laser therapy. Another method we use involves Chinese herbal patches, with which we have had success with. The patches are placed on the inflamed tissue to stimulate the tissue and tendon to heal quickly.
- After the inflammation has subsided, at-home exercises can help rehabilitate the area and help prevent future issues. We’ll recommend and show you how to do some exercises commonly used for relief, like the elbow bend, wrist flex, wrist lift, and wrist turn. Grip strengthening exercises may also prove helpful.
Think you might have a case of tennis elbow? Contact our office and schedule a visit to get it checked out. We’re here to help!