The Best Treatments For Tennis Elbow
Tennis is a great activity to feed your warrior spirit and competitive instincts. After gaining basic tennis skills, notch it up and play competent matches with similarly-matched opponents and compete regularly. Even after only a few times a month, you might be experiencing tightness and/or soreness. There is an enormous amount of torque and strain on shoulder and elbow joints, with the elbow typically being the weaker of those two joints. This can lead to severe tendonitis and the painful soreness know as tennis elbow. Fortunately for competitive tennis players, tennis elbow treatments have come a long way from the icing and resting recommendations.
If you believe youre vulnerable to tennis elbow , your best treatment is preventing tennis elbow before it starts. Apply ice to your elbow joint after a tennis match, even if you do not feel pain or discomfort. The ice helps reduce swelling and inflammation in the joint. A low-dose anti-inflammatory product like acetaminophen or ibuprofen can further reduce discomfort and swelling. Use these treatments any time you feel any sensations of pain or swelling in your elbow or other joints.
A tennis elbow brace and/or compression sleeve helps constrict the movements that cause the symptoms of tendonitis. Wearing a brace allows to you continue playing with less worry of pain, though it may take a little to get used to playing tennis with a brace on.
How To Prevent Tennis Elbow
The key to preventing tennis elbow is to avoid overuse. Stop if you feel any elbow pain during an activity.
You may also bring on tennis elbow by using the wrong equipment, like a golf club or tennis racket that is too heavy or that has a grip that is too large. Bad technique — like using the wrong posture for a swing — can also lead to tennis elbow. You should also:
- Stretch and warm up before any sport or activity that will exercise your elbow or arm.
- Ice your elbow after exercise.
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If Your Symptoms Are Work
- Discuss your options with your employer.
- Seek help from an occupational physiotherapist or other health care provider. They will work with you to find strategies or solutions that allow you to continue with your responsibilities at work without making the pain worse.
- There may be other tasks you could do while your elbow is resting or there may be changes that could be made to the way you work that could reduce the risk of it reoccurring.
- Alternate tasks with different demands on the wrist and forearm, if possible, and take regular breaks when you are working.
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Fast Facts On Tennis Elbow
- Tennis elbow is caused by small tears in the tendons that join the forearm to the outside of the elbow.
- 50 percent of tennis players will experience tennis elbow.
- Overuse of the forearm with incorrect wrist action can lead to tennis elbow.
- Physiotherapy, support devices, and steroid injections can be used to treat the condition.
- Certain exercises that provide strength to the supportive muscles in the arm and shoulder, such as the Tyler Twist, can help symptoms.
- Stretch carefully ahead of racquet sports to prevent tennis elbow.
The most common symptom of tennis elbow is recurring pain on the outside of the upper forearm, just below the bend of the elbow. Pain may also be felt further down the arm, towards the wrist.
Pain can occur when the individual lifts or bends the arm. It is also felt while performing basic actions, such as writing or when gripping small objects.
Tennis elbow can cause pain when twisting the forearm. This can be noticeable when turning a door handle or extending the forearm fully.
Avoiding Or Changing Activities
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If you have tennis elbow, you should stop doing activities that strain the affected muscles and tendons.
If you use your arms at work to carry out manual tasks, such as lifting, you may need to avoid these activities until the pain in your arm improves.
Alternatively, you may be able to change the way you do these types of movements so they do not place strain on your arm.
Talk to your employer about avoiding or changing activities that could aggravate your arm and make the pain worse.
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Shockwave Therapy For Tennis Elbow
Shockwave therapy is a non-invasive treatment, where high-energy shockwaves are passed through the skin to help relieve pain and promote movement in the affected area.
The number of sessions you will need depends on the severity of your pain. You may have a local anaesthetic to reduce any pain or discomfort during the procedure.
Shockwave therapy, while safe, can cause minor side effects including bruising and reddening of the skin in the area being treated.
Research shows that shockwave therapy can help improve the pain of tennis elbow in some cases. However, it may not work in all cases, and further research is needed.
What You Need To Know
- Tennis elbow can be caused by trauma to the elbow or more often by repeated stress on the elbow tendons such as from sports or use of certain tools.
- Symptoms of tennis elbow can include pain or weakness when grasping and aches or pain in the elbow area.
- Treatment of tennis elbow includes: activity modification, ice, medicine, stretching, braces and injections. Surgery is rarely used to treat tennis elbow.
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Warm Up To Avoid Shocking Your Muscles
It’s always advisable to warm up before engaging in any physical activity. Whether lifting weights or performing simple exercises to keep fit, stretch for a few minutes to warm your muscles.
Warming up helps to boost blood flow in specific areas, which helps to avoid shocking your muscles. If you’re lifting weights, start lifting light weights and increase weight gradually. The trick is to give your muscles enough time to warm up and adjust to repetitive workouts or tasks.
Best Tennis Elbow Creams That Work And Are Cheap
For anyone who has had tennis elbow or is currently suffering from this repetitive strain injury, getting relief can sometimes seem impossible.
In today`s article I am going to give you the top 8 best tennis elbow creams.
It really is a painful condition in which the forearm extensor muscles become irritated from overuse and inflammation develops directly at the lateral epicondyle of your elbow.
Here you can jump straight to the products:
Tennis elbow creams can be a source of temporary relief but only in the short term.
Why only in the short term?
I will get to the exact reason a little further down in this article so stay with me!
If you are looking for another product that helps with tennis elbow pain relief, check out this brand-new product called tennis elbow flexbar. It is proven to help overcome tennis elbow fast!
One of the most frustrating aspects of tennis elbow, is that tasks we take for granted become such a nuisance and it starts to affect your quality of life.
It can get so bad, that individuals start to lose their independence and rely on others for help and assistance.
In the never ending search for instant pain relief you can rub some creams, apply topical gels or even a spray to your affected elbow.
And the best part
With little or no side effects. Perhaps sometimes staining your shirt.
The fact is that when you have tennis elbow, like all the other repetitive strain injuries your tendons need to be healed and repaired.
1) Non-Medicated / Herbal Cream
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How Do You Treat Tennis Elbow At Home
There are a few effective home treatments you can try for tennis elbow. If youve got a mild case of tennis elbow, these may relieve it completely and you can move on with your life. For most developed cases of tennis elbow, you probably need to see a healthcare professional. Still, these are worth a try and theyre not going to make it worse.
Countertension brace. Countertension braces work by taking the load off of the damaged tendon and providing another anchor point for the muscles to pull on. Theyre not expensive, not that intrusive to wear, and can help tennis elbow heal. This is the one I recommend for my patients.
Heat or alternating ice and heat. Inflammation isnt the issue when it comes to tennis elbow, so throw the old heat will just increase inflammation notion away. Heat will bring more blood and important cells that help the healing process. Sometimes alternating with some ice creates a pumping sort of action and is helpful. Stay away from primarily icing the area. Dont heat/cool for longer than 15 minutes.
Self Cross-Friction Massage. Believe it or not, this can help. Rubbing perpendicular to the painful tendons can encourage the action of healing cells to heal tennis elbow. It also feels pretty good usually.
If youre interested in whether he or another AccessHealth chiropractor can help you, navigate to our contact page or follow this link to request an appointment.
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Treatment For Tennis Elbow
The good news about treatment is that usually tennis elbow will heal on its own. You just need to give your elbow a break and do what you can to speed the healing. Types of treatment that help are:
- Icing the elbow to reduce pain and swelling. Experts recommend doing it for 20 to 30 minutes every 3 to 4 hours for 2 to 3 days or until the pain is gone.
- Using an elbow strap to protect the injured tendon from further strain.
- Taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory , such as ibuprofen, naproxen, or aspirin, to help with pain and swelling. However, these drugs can cause side effects, such as bleeding and ulcers. You should only use them occasionally, unless your doctor says otherwise, since they may delay healing.
- Performing range of motion exercises to reduce stiffness and increase flexibility. Your doctor may recommend that you do them three to five times a day.
- Getting physical therapyto strengthen and stretch the muscles.
- Having injections of steroids or painkillers to temporarily ease some of the swelling and pain around the joint. Studies suggest that steroid injections don’t help in the long term.
Most of the time, these treatments will do the trick. But if you have a severe case of tennis elbow that doesn’t respond to two to four months of conservative treatment, you may need surgery. In the procedure, the damaged section of tendon usually is removed and the remaining tendon repaired. Surgery works in about 85%-90% of cases.
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Physical Therapy For Tennis Elbow
Tennis elbow is common among athletes who participate in racket sports, such as tennis and squash, because of the high and repetitive forces these sports place on the wrist extensor muscles, says Rami Hashish, PhD, DPT.
Hashish is the founder of the National Biomechanics Institute and the founder and chief technological officer of pareIT. He says the fundamental goal for physical therapy is to help restore function while managing inflammation and pain.
The approach is to utilize exercise to help improve the strength, flexibility, and endurance of the affected muscles and tendons, he says. Other techniques, such as ice massage, electrical stimulation, or bracing may also help control pain and inflammation.
According to Hashish, strengthening exercises that help treat tennis elbow include some of the moves listed above, such as the weighted wrist extension, weighted wrist flexion, and weighted wrist rotation, as well as ball squeezes and towel twists.
In addition, stretching the wrist extensors and flexors also improves the flexibility of these muscle groups.
According to Hashish, for weighted wrist flexion and extension, you want to keep your elbow at approximately 90 degrees, hold a weight in your hand, raise your hand, and then slowly lower your hand.
In the case of wrist extension, you rotate your palm down, whereas in wrist flexion, you rotate it up.
Lifestyle Changes For Tennis Elbow

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Interferential Current Therapy Oakville
IFC is an electrical modality that our chiropractors use to reduce pain and inflammation around painful joints and muscles. The electrical stimulation helps to block pain signals and relieve some discomfort. Our machines use suction cups to hold conductors against the skin and stimulate the painful joint and/or muscle. The machine feels like tingling, and our patients love the results!
Braces Splints Gear And Tools
Some of the following might help with your recovery:
Braces: Wearing a supportive brace on your forearm may also help take some pressure off the tendons in your elbow. Talk with your doctor or physical therapist about whether you should use one and the right kind of forearm brace for you.
Splints: You might ask your doctor about using a wrist splint at night. This can rest your muscles and tendons.
Sports gear: If tennis really is at the root of your tennis elbow, a stiffer racquet with looser strings may help once youâre up for some light playing again. A few other tips:
- Work with a tennis pro to improve your swing so you don’t overwork the elbow again. The same idea can apply to other racquet sports.
- Make sure you have fresh, dry tennis balls. Wet or “dead” tennis balls can aggravate your elbow.
- Finally, be sure you warm up and stretch your arms gently before playing racquet sports .
Work tools: If on-the-job equipment is playing a role, you may need to try different tools or techniques. Ask your physical therapist for advice. A few other tool tips:
- Hold tools with a looser grip take some of the tension out of your hand, if you can.
- Use hammers with padding to help absorb shock.
- Get some training in different methods of doing your job.
- Use power tools instead of hand tools if possible.
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Use The Right Equipment
Along with the form, it’s important to use the right equipment that allows your muscles to flex as required. If you’re a golfer, consider using lighter graphite clubs instead of the old ones. For tennis players, the right choice of racket is vital. Remember that heavier rackets can increase the likelihood of experiencing elbow injuries.
Symptoms Of Golfer’s Elbow
When dealing with a golfer’s elbow, one feels pain in the “funny bone.” You may also experience pain when twisting the forearm or lifting your hand. Tenderness in the inflamed area is another common symptom. If the issue lasts for several weeks, other symptoms you might experience include weakness in the wrist or hands or stiffness in the elbow.
Golfer’s elbow symptoms can occur gradually, or you might suddenly experience some or all of the above symptoms. However, it normally starts with pain and tenderness and increases with time if left untreated. Certain movements, including lifting weights and swinging a golf club, can easily worsen the condition.
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Prp Injections For Tennis Elbow
Platelet rich plasma is a treatment that may be offered by a surgeon in hospital to treat tennis elbow.
PRP is blood plasma containing concentrated platelets that your body uses to repair damaged tissue. Injections of PRP have been shown to speed up the healing process in some people, but their long-term effectiveness is not yet known.
The surgeon will take a blood sample from you and place it in a machine. This separates the healing platelets so they can be taken from the blood sample and injected into the affected joints. The procedure usually takes about 30 minutes.
Prevention Of Tennis Elbow
You may be able to prevent tennis elbow by taking steps to protect your arm muscles and tendons. If your activities involve repeated arm and wrist movements, make sure youre doing them the right way, taking breaks and using the right equipment. If youve had tennis elbow before and you want to prevent it from happening again, you may need to change some of the activities you do.
If youre playing sport, particularly racquet sports, you might find it helpful to get a coach to make sure youre using the right techniques.
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Best Creams Used For Tennis Elbow
1. Sub Zero Cooling Pain Relief Gel
Sub-zero provides advanced fast cooling pain relief when applied on the tennis elbow. Sub Zero pain relievers contain menthol gel, cats claw herb, and a mixture of other herbs that help to provide sudden & penetrative pain relief on the spot. This pain reliever cooling gel is colorless and non-greasy which has long-lasting pain relief. Try sub-zero pain relief gel for back pain, arthritis pain relief, and tennis elbow treatment.
2. Blue-Emu Lidocaine Pain Relief Cream
It targets Pain Receptors with 4% lidocaine HCL and Contains Real Emu Oil that provides Numbing Pain Relief for Topical Pain with lidocaine Cream. It targets the pain area and provides sudden relief. Use a sponge to apply lidocaine Creams on the tennis elbow so that hands are not numb after applying.
3. Topical Capsaicin Cream
Capsaicin cream is a topical analgesic that is used to treat joint pain. Therefore it can be used to treat joint pain associated with tennis elbow.
Capsaicin is a natural active ingredient found in hot peppers, when applied on skin, it releases chemicals that are related to pain from the body. You can expect to feel a burning sensation for a few minutes that will provide pain relief. This cream should not be with a heating pad.
4. Penetrex Cream
5. Tennis Elbow Grease
6. Tri Relief Analgesic Pain Relieving Cream
7. Theragold Pain Relief Cream with Manuka Honey
8. Voltaren Gel
But here is what you must understand
Why?
But here is what really works