Tennis elbow treatment is often successful. The most important part of this treatment is giving the tendons rest from any activity that may be aggravating them so that they will have time to heal.

The rest required when treating tennis elbow may last anywhere from several weeks to several months.

In order for tennis elbow treatment to be successful it must start as soon as the symptoms appear. In addition to resting your elbow, you will need to use ice for the couple of days following the pain in order to reduce the pain.

You may also need to take some aspirin, Tylenol, Advil or Aleve. Furthermore, it is a good idea to stop doing the things that may be irritating your tendons and find a new way to do them.

Elbow splints may also be used as a part of tennis elbow treatment. However, it is important to understand that these splints are not meant to help with pain or recovery. They will help with any other bone, joint or tendon problems in that area.

Another type of elbow brace, known as a counterforce brace, can help with your rehabilitation after your injury has healed. This is a strap that is worn around your forearm, directly below your elbow, that spreads the pressure throughout your arm instead of placing it directly upon the tendon.

These braces will only help if you have been taught new ways to do things in order to avoid having the same injury in the future.

Rehabilitative exercises are also important as a part of your tennis elbow treatment. These are special exercises that will help with your flexibility and your strength. They include both stretching and strengthening exercises.

While most cases of tennis elbow will respond to this type of tennis elbow treatment, there are some cases in which tennis elbow will not improve or may get worse. In this case you may need to receive corticosteroid injections or ultrasound therapy.

Sometimes elbow surgery is used as a part of tennis elbow treatment. This type of surgery is only done in less than 5% of all cases. The surgery involves cutting the tendon, removing any damaged tissue and repairing any tears.

However, this form of tennis elbow treatment is only used if:

• Tennis elbow occurred due to an acute injury which left large tears in the tendon.
• Chronic overuse has led to the development of tennis elbow.
• Between 6 to 12 months of tendon rest and rehabilitation have been completed but have not relieved the pain.
• Corticosteroid shots have been attempted but they have not worked.

The type of tennis elbow treatment that your doctor will use depends somewhat upon whether the pain is affecting your livelihood. It will also depend upon whether you are able to change the activities that caused you to have tennis elbow in the first place.