How To Treat Tennis Elbow At Home
Tennis Elbow Causes
Do you get pain on the outside of your elbow? Are your elbows sore after deadlifts or kettlebell Swings? How do you go opening up jars at home or turning door handles? You may be struggling with a case of Tennis elbow otherwise known as Lateral epicondylitis. The first thing you want to do is release tension from the muscles, then work on strengthening them up to prevent the pain from coming back.
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What Is Tennis Elbow?
The muscles that extend the wrist (bend back of the hand towards the elbow) attach onto the outside of the elbow. Overuse or repetitive movements inflame the tendon and cause pain. Muscles get a lot of blood supply to help fuel them and keep them moving. Tendons (bits that attach a muscle to a bone) on the other hand do not. Due to this increased blood supply, the muscle is able to heal itself quicker than tendons. This is why you get pain in the tendon, but really it is a problem with the muscle.
How to Fix It:
If you get pain on the outside of the elbow it’s important to get it checked out quickly. In the first 6-8 weeks of pain, irritation of the tendon causes the pain. If pain persists longer than 3 months, the way the brain perceives pain changes. This means pain can linger long after the elbow has healed. This leads to a longer rehabilitation time. So more treatment will be needed to get you out of pain.
If this sounds familiar, settle it down by releasing the muscles from which the tendons come. There are several muscles that come together to form the common extensor tendon (the tendon that attaches onto the outside of the elbow). These muscles are located in the meaty part of the back of the forearm. Get a ball into this muscle and release them using the technique shown in the video. It will help the muscles to contract and relax easier and place less stress on the tendon.
What Next?
Next, it’s time to start strengthening up the muscles in your forearm, making sure they are stronger than the demands you are putting them under. We love farmers carries because they work on wrist strength without bending the elbow. This means you aren’t putting extra stress on the tendon, but still strengthening the muscles. Our Favourite Farmers Carry variations can be found HERE: The Cure For Lower Back Pain.
If the ball release doesn’t work and you are still experiencing pain. You may need to add a little rest to your treatment plan. If the combination of rest for a week or 2 and the ball release doesn’t settle down, then it is recommended to get it checked out by your physical therapist. Pain in the elbow can also be due to issues in the neck and nerve irritation of the nerves that supply the elbow and wrist.
So, If you found this helpful and are located around Brookvale, Manly, or on the Northern beaches of Sydney, book online or give us a call today.
