Tuesday, 1 April 2025

Is Your Morning Cuppa Fighting Back? Understanding Lateral Elbow Pain


Understanding Tennis Elbow: 

If you have ever felt a sharp or burning pain on the outer part of your elbow that just will not go away, you might be dealing with tennis elbow. Despite its name, you do not have to be the next Wimbledon champion to suffer from it. Tennis elbow, or lateral epicondylitis, is an overuse injury that affects the tendons attaching to the lateral epicondyle of the humerus. In simple terms, the tendons for your wrist extensors are unhappy.

Causes and Symptoms: 

Tennis elbow is caused by repetitive activities such as gripping, twisting or lifting; often in jobs or hobbies that involve excessive wrist and forearm use. Tradespeople, office workers, and yes, tennis players, are all at risk. The repeated stress can create microscopic tears in the extensor tendons, leading to inflammation, pain and weakness in grip strength.
Symptoms include pain and tenderness on the outer elbow, often worsening with lifting, gripping or even shaking hands. You might also experience stiffness in the morning or discomfort when holding a cup of coffee. The condition does not improve with simple rest and can last months if left untreated.

Treatment and Recovery: 

Physiotherapy is ideal for treating tennis elbow. Treatment focuses on reducing pain and restoring strength through hands-on techniques, stretching, and progressive loading exercises to promote tendon healing. Activity modification and ergonomic changes are crucial to preventing re-injury.

Bracing and taping can help offload strain, while dry needling may assist in stubborn cases. Recovery varies, but most cases improve within a couple of months, while stubborn cases may drag out to six months even with proper rehabilitation.

If your elbow pain is turning simple tasks into a challenge, your physiotherapist can help you get back on track before you start wondering how to manage with one good arm.

More Information: 



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