Tennis elbow affects the outside of the elbow and doesn’t necessarily involve playing tennis! Treatment should be started immediately for this condition to prevent it from getting worse.
Many people have jobs that require a lot of repetitive elbow movements such as:
- Plumbers
- Mechanics
- Jobs that involve a lot of lifting can get this injury.
What are the symptoms of tennis elbow?
- Pain on the outside of the elbow is the primary complaint, but also pain in the forearm and wrist
- Tenderness to touch along the muscles along the forearm especially near the outside of the elbow where these muscles insert.
- Weakness of the elbow, forearm, and/or wrist
Tennis elbow can easily be treated by a physical therapist and does not require any invasive treatment. It is something that can definitely last a long time if left untreated, and can decrease your ability to do your job, limit your ability to participate in recreational activities, or even normal daily activities such as cooking and cleaning.
You may now be asking what exactly can physical therapy do to address elbow issues?
- Address the muscles that are irritated by doing soft tissue work to increase blood flow
- Range of motion exercises if you are limited in wrist and/or elbow movement
- Initiate strengthening of the arm including grip strength if that is also weak
- Address postural deficits that may be contributing to overuse in the arm
- Give a home exercise program based on your needs
- Functional exercises that can include return to sport movements to assess form
Sure, you could wait and see how long it will take to feel better, by why wait when a physical therapist can speed up that process and return you to your normal activities pain-free! In addition, we can educate you so that the same thing doesn’t happen in the future.
By Devin Wurman, DPT
