Tennis Elbow (or Lateral epicondylitis) is an overuse injury and is one of the most common injuries around the elbow. Despite its name, only 5% of these injuries come from tennis! Learn more about this condition below.

Tennis elbow is caused by repetitive overloading when the muscles and tendons in your forearm are strained due to repetitive or strenuous activities, such as computer use, heavy lifting or any forceful rotation of the forearm e.g. weightlifting, athletes, racquet sport players, as well as physically demanding jobs such as a carpenter, mechanic and painter.

Symptoms of Tennis elbow pain are typically localised to the outside (lateral) aspect of the elbow. Since it is an overload of the tissue, pain can be felt at different times throughout the day depending on your symptoms

There will be pain and tenderness around the bony bump on the outside of your elbow where your forearm extensor muscles attach via a tendon. Pain can also spread into the forearm. Your grip strength and ability to twist your wrist may be weakened and painful.

• Decrease the stress of exercise/loading around the elbow. Try to minimise the activity causing the pain by taking more frequent breaks, and/or completely avoiding in when pain starts to increase.
• Icing/heat therapy is easy to apply and can be effective in reducing the symptoms. Recommendations would suggest between 10-15 minutes of either an ice or heat pack depending on which you find most beneficial.

Tennis Elbow is a chronic loading condition. This often means that we see patients who have been suffering with their injury for several months before making the decision to seek medical advice. It is important to be mindful that if it takes several months for tennis elbow, as well as other conditions to develop, then it can take just as long to fully recover!

At Prohealth Sports & Spinal, our physiotherapists will start your consultation by taking a thorough subjective assessment to better understand your pain and how it affects you.

Then they will move on to an objective assessment to physically to identify the specific movements/activities that trigger or relieve your pain. From there, they will discuss with you the best fit treatment plan that tailored to your individual needs.

If you have been experiencing pain in your elbow, don't hesitate to reach out to us! Our certified physiotherapists can provide a treatment and recovery plan that is tailored to your individual needs.

Book a session with our friendly physiotherapists for an in-depth assessment.