Having a basic level of knowledge about an injury can be very helpful to you. For instance, it can help you understand why a physical therapist is using specific therapy methods in your treatment program. Such information can also help you avoid the same type of injury in the future. With these points in mind, here is some basic information about tennis elbow and its treatment.
What is tennis elbow?
Known as lateral epicondylitis in the medical community, tennis elbow is a repetitive motion injury that often affects tennis players. This injury is a form of tendinitis, and it affects the tendons that attach the muscles of the lower arm to your upper arm bone, or humerus.
Although this condition is typically associated with tennis players, many people have developed tennis elbow without ever playing tennis. In fact, this condition can be caused by any activity that uses repetitive elbow movements. For instance, weight lifting can lead to lateral epicondylitis. Also, some job or hobby-related movements can lead to this condition, and this includes movements performed in activities such as:
- Painting
- Raking
- Knitting
- Carpentry
- Typing
If you do any of these activities regularly, you may develop the symptoms associated with tennis elbow.
What are the most common tennis elbow symptoms?
There are several symptoms that patients with tennis elbow commonly have. Pain is by far the most common symptom of this condition. Typically, tennis elbow-related pain is felt near the knob of bone on the outside of your elbow. You may also feel as if the pain is radiating down your lower arm to your hands.
Even though this injury is located in the elbow, the pain is most likely to worsen when you’re doing activities with your hands. This may cause a decreased ability to do certain normal tasks. For instance, lifting objects can increase your tennis elbow pain. Making a fist to grip an object, such as when gripping a door knob, can also lead to an increase in your pain. In addition to pain and limiting tasks you can do, tennis elbow may also decrease the range of motion in your elbow. However, a physical therapy-based tennis elbow treatment plan can help you treat these symptoms.
Border Therapy Services can help you find the best tennis elbow treatment
At our 9 clinics in El Paso and Horizon City, Texas, and Las Cruces, New Mexico, our Border Therapy Services team is ready to help you get effective tennis elbow treatment. Our treatment plans for this condition may include physical therapy methods such as:
- Therapeutic stretches
- Kinesio taping
- Manual therapy
- Targeted strengthening exercises
Using these and other therapies, our team may be able to help you get many benefits. For instance, our plans are designed to help reduce the pain of tennis elbow. They’re also intended to help reduce the time it takes for your injury to heal, and it may help increase range of motion in the elbow. Our tennis elbow treatment plans are also designed to restore your ability to perform normal daily activities and improve your quality of life.
If you’re ready to take the next step to treat your tennis elbow, Border Therapy Services is here to help. Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.