Top Health Tips on Managing Tennis Elbow

Lateral epicondylitis, which is the medical name for tennis elbow, is a condition wherein the tendon in the upper arm develops a tear due to repeated motions. This is a very painful condition and can make your daily life difficult. It usually tends to affect your dominant arm i.e. the arm that you use the most.

Who does it affect and why does it happen?
As mentioned earlier, tennis elbow occurs due to repetitive similar movements of the elbows, forearms and wrists over a prolonged period. The common name for this condition came due to repeated occurrences with tennis players although it can happen to players of other sports as well as people in other profession too. Some of the people who are most susceptible to this could be from the following fields:

Sporting activities such as squash, tennis, fencing, cricket and many other sports where repeated arms movements are required.
Carpenters
Painters
Musicians playing certain instruments
Typing
Knitting work
Chefs and waiters
Cleaning
Road and construction workers
Symptoms

A slow exacerbation of pain over a period and gradual worsening can be a major symptom.
In certain cases, the pain may manifest suddenly which will make any movement very difficult.
Moving your arm may become very difficult, especially during any up or down movement of the arm.
In some cases, the pain may be experienced only when shaking objects or actions wherein squeezing or hard gripping is required.
Performing daily activities such as a tooth brush, trying to open jars or even trying to use a knife or fork can get extremely difficult.
How it can be treated?
Most treatment methods include keeping the elbow in a resting position and giving it time to heal automatically. However, some medication may also be given to relieve pain and quicken healing. Some of these are mentioned below.

Elbow straps: These fix the elbow in a comfortable position and don t allow it to move helping it heal on its own.
Ice treatment : This is the most common home treatment prescribed to relieve pain. You can use homemade icepacks or even buy gel pack, which can then be held against the area to relieve pain.
Painkillers: Ibuprofen and aspirin can be used to lessen the pain, although it is advisable to consult your doctors first.
Various physical therapies: Physiotherapy, acupuncture or specific doctor recommended exercises could be done to not only relieve pain but also quicken healing and to strengthen the tendons and the muscles of that area.

A Tennis elbow is a painful condition that affects the tendons due to a condition known as tendinitis, which causes inflammation. This condition will end up restricting the free movement of the elbow and the arm due to the pain and stiffness that it causes. This is due to the fact that these tendons are the tough band of connective tissues that hold the muscles and the lower arm with the bone. Repeated gripping motions and continued tugging as well as activities like weight lifting, tennis, squash and other like carpentry, painting writing and typing, can lead to this condition.

Here are a few methods of treatment and the questions that revolve around them.

Do I have to restrict my movements: Yes, when you have tennis elbow, the very first thing you must do is to give rest to the tendons by curbing those activities that have caused the condition or those which can aggravate the pain and stiffness. Lifting heavy objects, gripping things for prolong periods, other physical pursuits like tennis and other games and more will need to stop so that you do not stretch, strain or pull the tissue.
Can I take pain killers: Yes, you can take pain killers like ibuprofen and acetaminophen in case the pain is unbearable? Always ensure that an orthopedic specialist takes a look at your arm before prescribing the medicines to you.
Is an ice compress good for this pain: You can use the RICE method for acute pain that is less than 72 hours old. For more persistent pain, you must see a doctor. The RICE method refers to Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. In this method, you can keep your arm elevated and give it rest. You can also use an ice compress and keep it tightly wound with an elastic bandage so as to avoid swelling.
Can I take injections for this condition: Corticosteroid injections may be used for very severe cases. This contains the cortisol hormone and can give good results in the short run.
Are there any non-invasive methods for treatment: You can try non-invasive procedures like shock wave therapy which will help in fixing the pain and promote motion gradually. This procedure is usually conducted with the help of shock waves that are passed to the skin.
Is exercising a complete no: In this case, many orthopedic surgeons and doctors will ask you to go through physiotherapy so that you can get used to movements and motion after prolonged pain. These exercises will also strengthen the muscles of the area.
Talk to your doctor if the pain is particularly debilitating and discuss surgery for the same.

Hello!

I am Dr. Vikas Gupta from Hand2Shoulder Clinic. Today we will be talking about elbow stiffness. How do we define elbow stiffness? Elbow stiffness is the loss of elbow movement or restriction in elbow movement. There are many causes of elbow stiffness. Common ones are prolonged immobilization, any injury to the elbow joint. arthritis or new bone formation around the joint. How do we treat elbow stiffness? Elbow stiffness can be treated in many ways. First one is Arthroscopy. Arthroscopy is a minimally invasive procedure in which we make keyholes around the joint and insert a camera through one of the holes and instruments through another and we take care of all the adhesion and tissues which are preventing movements.

Once we are we have removed these tissues we can mobilize the joint and after the surgery again physiotherapy is done to regain the movements and maintain the movements. The second kind of a treatment in which Arthroscopy cannot be done or if there is a new bone formation or if there are any scar tissues around the joint or there is a pre-implant from the previous surgery then we have to do open surgery or we call it Arthrolysis. In Arthrolysis we open the joint, remove all the scar tissues, implants and new bone formation around the joint which is blocking the movement. Once we have removed all the things which are blocking the movement we regain the movements and which is maintained again by physiotherapy. For some weeks physiotherapy is done so that we can initiate the movements and patient can have movements for lifelong.

If these two procedures are not working or the joint is destroyed completely like in the Arthritis in which the whole of the joint are destroyed or the articulate surfaces are gone. The articulate surface is a smooth lining of the joint on which the bone moves, the joint moves. If that is gone then we don't have any other option but to do a joint replacement. In joint replacement, we use the artificial component metal and plastic inside the body and regain the joint movements and if these movements are good then the patient can lead a normal lifestyle after joint replacement. So today we have talked about elbow stiffness. But again I will repeat that physiotherapy is the most important component of treatment of elbow stiffness.

Hello!

I am Dr. Vikas Gupta from Hand2Shoulder Clinic. Today we will be talking about elbow problems. One of the most common problems of elbow is stiffness. By stiffness, we mean that there is a decreased movement. There could be many causes for the stiffness- it could be after injury, could be after arthritis or it could be just simple swelling which resulted in immobilization and stiffness. So each of the causes can be treated differently. Commonly simple stiffness can be treated by physiotherapy. Good amount of physiotherapy and exercises can relieve most of the patients. But some of the patients who cannot become better by physiotherapy would require surgery.

There are many types of surgery we do. One is Arthroscopy which is a minimally invasive surgery or we can say keyhole surgery in which we use the camera and few instruments, make few holes around the joint and go inside the joint, locate the things which are causing the stiffness and remove them. Sometimes what happens is stiffness is very severe and their causes are newborn formation or there is an extra bone which is formed around the joint which cannot be tackled by arthroscopy or minimal invasive surgery.

In such cases, we do open surgery or we called arthrolysis of the elbow. In such cases, we have to open up the whole joint and remove all the causes of stiffness, all the particle which are causing the movement restriction are removed and we make the joint mobile which is followed by physiotherapy and movement is restored. But many time the joint is completely destroyed like Arthritis. In such cases, it is very difficult to restore movements in the normal joint. In such cases, we go for the replacement arthroplasty where we replace whole of the joint with artificial joint and start the movements after physiotherapy and we expect good movement after joint replacement.

A Tennis elbow is a painful condition that affects the tendons due to a condition known as tendinitis, which causes inflammation. This condition will end up restricting the free movement of the elbow and the arm due to the pain and stiffness that it causes. This is due to the fact that these tendons are the tough band of connective tissues that hold the muscles and the lower arm with the bone. Repeated gripping motions and continued tugging as well as activities like weight lifting, tennis, squash and other like carpentry, painting writing and typing, can lead to this condition.

Here are a few methods of treatment and the questions that revolve around them.

Do I have to restrict my movements: Yes, when you have tennis elbow, the very first thing you must do is to give rest to the tendons by curbing those activities that have caused the condition or those which can aggravate the pain and stiffness. Lifting heavy objects, gripping things for prolong periods, other physical pursuits like tennis and other games and more will need to stop so that you do not stretch, strain or pull the tissue.
Can I take pain killers: Yes, you can take pain killers like ibuprofen and acetaminophen in case the pain is unbearable? Always ensure that an orthopedic specialist takes a look at your arm before prescribing the medicines to you.
Is ice compress well for this pain: You can use the RICE method for acute pain that is less than 72 hours old. For more persistent pain, you must see a doctor. The RICE method refers to Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. In this method, you can keep your arm elevated and give it rest. You can also use an ice compress and keep it tightly wound with an elastic bandage so as to avoid swelling.
Can I take injections for this condition: Corticosteroid injections may be used for very severe cases. This contains the cortisol hormone and can give good results in the short run.
Are there any non-invasive methods for treatment: You can try non-invasive procedures like shock wave therapy which will help in fixing the pain and promote motion gradually. This procedure is usually conducted with the help of shock waves that are passed to the skin.
Is exercising a complete no: In this case, many orthopedic surgeons and doctors will ask you to go through physiotherapy so that you can get used to movements and motion after prolonged pain. These exercises will also strengthen the muscles of the area.

Tennis elbow is a condition, which is characterized by the inflammation of the tendons occurring in the elbow region due to excess use of the muscle groups present in the overarm. Tennis elbow can cause a lot of distress once it occurs so it is best to perform certain exercises to strengthen the muscle groups in your overarm so that muscle strain does not occur during your physical activities.

Read on more to find about all the different ways to strengthen your muscle groups to prevent tennis elbow:

Staying in good physical shape overall tones your body and strengthens your muscle groups, thus reducing the likelihood of tennis elbow.
It is also important that the physical activities, which are performed by you are done using proper technique as otherwise undue strain might cause unnecessary discomfort and pain.
You should try strengthening the muscles in your shoulder, arm and upper back to reduce the stress your elbow undergoes during physical activity.
Using a counterforce brace for activities, which include twisting or grasping of the arm can also help. The use of a counterforce brace is to distribute the pressure throughout the arm, which reduces the stress on the elbow. The brace is highly recommended for people who are likely to develop tennis elbow. One should consult a doctor before opting for a counter brace.
However, it is not a substitute for rehab exercises. If repeated arm movements or certain physical activities are causing discomfort or pain in the elbow region, check for alternative ways of performing the task. If you have taken up tennis, cricket or golf as a sport, it is highly recommended that you take proper lessons in technique as these sports involve twisting and grasping your arm, which can cause injuries if you do not follow proper techniques. Also keep in mind to choose sports equipments which are at par with your physical fitness, flexibility and strength.

For daily activities, take a note of the activities, which involve putting stress on your elbows. In such instances follow techniques or different ways to perform the tasks, which will put minimum stress or pressure on your elbows. Also, apart from using the technique one has to stay fit, for which getting regular body health checkup is very important.

Elbow pain may be caused due to a variety of reasons from injuries to fractures and ligament pulls or tears. This is most commonly experienced by people who are into sports, including those who play tennis, golf and other such sports that require intense arm movements.

So, let us look at the six most common reasons behind elbow pain:

Medial Epicondylitis: This condition creates pain in the inner tendon within the elbow and is usually termed as 'golfer's elbow'. It basically occurs due to the constant swinging and throwing motion that a sports person may indulge in. When these movements are repeated on a constant basis, there is wear and tear as well as acute pain in the area. Also, an injury to the wrist can cause this pain in the elbow.
Lateral Epicondylitis: This condition is commonly known as 'tennis elbow'. The affected area under this condition includes the outside tendons of the elbow. This is caused due to swinging, hitting, hammering and punching motions that are repeated too often. It is commonly experienced by cooks, artists, carpenters, automobile workers, and plumbers and people who use heavy tools.
Olecranon Bursitis: This condition is also known as 'student's elbow' and usually occurs due to constant writing and gripping motion which affects the bursae. These are small fluid filled sacs that lubricate the joints even as the protection happens. The symptoms include swelling and pain. There is also risk of infection and redness in this condition.
Osteoarthritis: The cartilage of the joints gets affected in this condition which is the connective tissue that exists in the joints. This condition causes wear and tear of the joints and bones which leads to pain in the various areas including the elbow. Medication and physiotherapy are good measures for treatment.
Fracture: Sometimes, dislocation or fracture may lead to pain in the outstretched arm or elbow. Dislocation may take place when a bone moves from its aligned spot. The symptoms will include obvious swelling and acute pain in the elbow.
Ligament Damage: Strains and sprains in the ligaments within the elbow joint can lead to this damaging condition. Torn or stretched ligaments are the most common outcomes in this kind of injury and damage.
To find out which reason may be the culprit behind your elbow pain, you will need to see a general physician or an orthopedic specialist who will run you through a series of tests and examinations including X rays, MRI scans, and others in order to ascertain the cause and treatment. A sports injury specialist can also help in diagnosis and treatment.

Elbow pain may be caused due to a variety of reasons from injuries to fractures and ligament pulls or tears. This is most commonly experienced by people who are into sports, including those who play tennis, golf and other such sports that require intense arm movements.

So, let us look at the six most common reasons behind elbow pain:

Medial Epicondylitis: This condition creates pain in the inner tendon within the elbow and is usually termed as 'golfer's elbow'. It basically occurs due to the constant swinging and throwing motion that a sports person may indulge in. When these movements are repeated on a constant basis, there is wear and tear as well as acute pain in the area. Also, an injury to the wrist can cause this pain in the elbow.
Lateral Epicondylitis: This condition is commonly known as 'tennis elbow'. The affected area under this condition includes the outside tendons of the elbow. This is caused due to swinging, hitting, hammering and punching motions that are repeated too often. It is commonly experienced by cooks, artists, carpenters, automobile workers, and plumbers and people who use heavy tools.
Olecranon Bursitis: This condition is also known as 'student's elbow' and usually occurs due to constant writing and gripping motion which affects the bursae. These are small fluid filled sacs that lubricate the joints even as the protection happens. The symptoms include swelling and pain. There is also risk of infection and redness in this condition.
Osteoarthritis: The cartilage of the joints gets affected in this condition which is the connective tissue that exists in the joints. This condition causes wear and tear of the joints and bones which leads to pain in the various areas including the elbow. Medication and physiotherapy are good measures for treatment.
Fracture: Sometimes, dislocation or fracture may lead to pain in the outstretched arm or elbow. Dislocation may take place when a bone moves from its aligned spot. The symptoms will include obvious swelling and acute pain in the elbow.
Ligament Damage: Strains and sprains in the ligaments within the elbow joint can lead to this damaging condition. Torn or stretched ligaments are the most common outcomes in this kind of injury and damage.
To find out which reason may be the culprit behind your elbow pain, you will need to see a general physician or an orthopaedic specialist who will run you through a series of tests and examinations including X rays, MRI scans and others in order to ascertain the cause and treatment. A sports injury specialist can also help in diagnosis and treatment.

You can be diagnosed with a tennis elbow even if you have never been on a tennis court! A tennis elbow refers to tendinitis or swelling of the tendons in the elbows and arms. Tough tissue bands that join the muscles of the arm to the bone are known as tendons. This affliction is one of the most common reasons for elbow pain and can affect men and women at any age. However, it is most commonly seen in patients who are around 40 years old.

Tennis elbow develops gradually and is triggered by repetitive motions that strain the muscles or put too much pressure on the tendons such as sports that involve swinging a racquet, weight lifting or hobbies like carpentry, knitting, typing or painting.

Most cases of tennis elbow resolve themselves with time as long as you rest the elbow and give your tendons a break. Some things you could do to speed up the healing process are:

Soak the elbow in an ice bath for half an hour every 3 to 4 hours. This should help relieve the pain and reduce swelling.

Use an elbow strap to support the arm and prevent further strain in the injured tendon.

Exercising the arm to reduce stiffness and increase the possible range of motions. This will also make your tendons more flexible. However, exercises should be done only under a physiotherapist s guidance so as to prevent any further damage. Additionally, your doctor may also suggest physiotherapy, to strengthen and stretch the arm muscles.

Over the counter, anti-inflammatory medicines such as ibuprofen or aspirin can also help reduce the pain and swelling. These drugs should not be used without a doctor s guidance as they can cause a number of side effects. In some cases, these side effects can slow down the healing process.

Painkiller or steroid injections may also be prescribed to temporarily ease the pain and swelling around the elbow.

In some cases of severe tennis elbow, these forms of treatment may not be effective and if you are still suffering from pain and swelling for over 4 months, you may need to consider surgery. Surgery for tennis elbow involves removing the damaged section of the tendon and repairing the remaining part.

Recovery from a tennis elbow may seem slow but it is essential to be patient and avoid lifting weights or putting any strain on the arm during recovery. Once the swelling has completely gone down and you feel no pain or tenderness in the area, only then should begin using your arm normally.

For a sportsman, coming face to face with sports injury is no big deal. But what is important is that he/she gets the correct treatment in order to recover fast and get back to the field, giving their best performance in their field of sports. With regular medical check ups, physiotherapy sessions, training sessions, exercises and gymnasium sessions, sports injuries are treated effectively. However, all variants of a treatment may not fit with all kinds of injuries. Thus, treatments are always injury-specific for a more effective progression.

Here are some of the most common sports injuries and their most effective treatments as prescribed by sports specialists.

Ankle sprain: Ankle sprains are common among sportsmen and sportswomen when the ligaments of their ankles tear. Such injuries are very common, but also unfortunately, extremely painful and demand a lot of recovery time. With such an injury, even though they are advised bed rest, it is important to continue with some kinds of exercises. This would help in preventing the stamina and muscle strength in your ankles. It would also help you to recover fast.
Knee injury: Another very common form of sports injury is the knee injury where one can experience excruciating pain. Although, proper rest and exercises heal most injuries in a month or two; those that are serious might even need a surgery.
Tennis elbow: Tears in the tendons of the elbow due to its recurring use can cause tennis elbow. It has a natural healing process with just a few exercises. In fact, it is recommended you give proper rest to the elbow so that it can heal faster. Even after healing, to avoid chances of recurring tennis elbow, stress should be lowered in this part of the body.
Hamstring Strain: Hamstring is that part of the body, which is formed by three muscles behind your thigh. Hamstring is mostly a forgotten part of the body and one hardly remembers it. But, it is very prone to sprains and injuries, if exercises involving the hamstring are not carried out properly. In fact, there are specific exercises pertaining to hamstring, which are performed to prevent it from injuries. Hamstring injuries have a very long recovery period. It might actually take up to a year for full recovery because it experiences constant pressure when you walk, letting it heal slowly. Thus, incorporating hamstring exercises in your daily routine would help in faster healing of such injuries.
These are some of the most common types of sports injuries and the methods of treating them as recommended by medical practitioners.