Do you suffer from Elbow Tendonitis or Tennis Elbow?

Elbow tendonitis, popularly known as Tennis Elbow affects millions of people, typically in the age group of 35-60 all over the world.

The association with the highly popular sport of tennis has made the medical condition tennis elbow famous. But the term tennis elbow creates a false impression. Tennis elbow’s exclusive association with the sports is false. The idea of elbow tendonitis being caused by tennis alone is a misconception. Cases of tennis elbow have been reported from people and parts or the world, who haven’t even watched tennis on TV!

Tendonitis doesn’t just affect the elbow. In fact tendonitis or severe and repetitive pain in the ‘tendons’ can and does occur in other joints in the human body too.

Elbow tendonitis symptoms

The major symptoms of Elbow tendonitis are severe and recurrent pain at the elbow joint, especially when stressed to lift a weight or during sudden movement.

In pure medical terms, the ‘elbow’ is the joint at the meeting of the upper and lower arms, where the humerus (upper arm bone) meets the twin bones of radius and ulna (lower arm bones) and the connecting tendon tissues covering both sides is called lateral epicondyles. Hence, in medical terms, the problem is referred as lateral epicondylitis. The suffix ‘itis’ is used in medical terms to convey, pain at times associated with inflammation.

Symptoms may also include tenderness on the outside of the upper arm at the elbow (lateral epicondyles) and swelling associated with pain to the touch at the inflamed joint.

Causes of Elbow tendonitis

What exactly are the causes of this syndrome, if tennis alone is not the culprit? The most important cause of Elbow tendonitis is repetitive strain on the tendon (including tennis) due to work habits such as heavy manual labor, lifting of heavy objects in the factory or porters lifting heavy cases and weight lifters.

Elbow tendonitis and Age

Elbow tendonitis may occur due to advancing age, which causes the ‘hardening’ of tendons and consequent losing the flexibility at the joint.

Injury induced elbow tendonitis

Elbow tendonitis can occur at times due to ‘one-off’ stressing of the elbow joint by putting the joint and the tendons to very high stress levels that they are not used to. This is often referred to as ‘injury induced’ tendonitis.  This can also happen to athletes, body builders, weight lifters etc, who in an attempt to reach their self-defined goals, over-stretch themselves, leading to injuries. Elbow tendonitis may also occur due to injuries due to accidents, especially in the aged, who in trying to cushion a slip or fall may cause injury.

Medical conditions that may cause or trigger elbow tendonitis

Other existing medical conditions such as arthritis, diabetes may either cause or trigger elbow tendonitis. Some sports such as mountain climbing, rock climbing etc may suffer ‘thermal ‘injuries leading to tendonitis.

Treatment of elbow tendonitis

Treatment of elbow tendonitis to a great extent depends on what exactly has caused the problem.

Rest

In cases other than previous medical problems, the first treatment is to give the joint ‘total rest’ which may at times require application of suitable harness or bandaging. This helps the body’s natural recuperative process to take charge and repair the damage.

Ice Treatment

Use of ice is recommended for tendonitis triggered by injury or sudden extreme stress. Hot or cold compression helps to reduce the inflammation and tenderness at the side of the joint.

Arm elevation

Keeping the arms elevated above heart level relieves pain and help in countering swelling. Once these have failed to give desired relief, consult a doctor, who in extreme cases may suggest surgery.

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Kind Regads,
Tim Allardyce DO MCSP SRP

Tennis Elbow Pain Cure