Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) is one of several overuse injuries that can affect your elbow. As you might assume, playing tennis is one cause of tennis elbow — but many other common activities can cause tennis elbow. Any activity where one is overusing the wrist extensors or supinators can cause pain to arise.
The pain of tennis elbow occurs primarily where the tendons of your forearm muscles attach to the bony prominence on the outside of your elbow (lateral epicondyle). Pain can also spread into your forearm and wrist.
A Note from the Doctor: We have good results in treating tennis elbow in a limited number of visits utilizing myotherapy, stretching, and rehabilitative exercises. The primary issue with tennis elbow is inflammation within the tendon at the attachment on the lateral epicondyle and a lack of blood flow due to restrictions within the tissue. With myotherapy, we are able to break down these restrictions and create more blood flow to the injured area and allow the injury to heal quicker and more efficiently. Rest may also be advised.
Many people that suffer from tennis elbow opt for cortisone injections which will help decrease the inflammation but is often described as “masking the pain” because it does not address the underlying problem. It can be a quick way to relieve the pain associated with tennis elbow and depending on the individual can have a long-lasting effect.