Helpful strategies to help relieve your TENNIS elbow pain

Helpful strategies to help relieve your TENNIS elbow pain.

Don’t neglect your neck

Neck pain is quite common in patients with lateral elbow tendinopathy. Physical impairments have been demonstrated on manual examination of cervical spine levels in patients with relatively localized symptoms of lateral elbow tendinopathy. We will assess your neck movement during a comprehensive assessment and address any issues with a combination of manual therapy and exercise.

Ergonomics

If your job involves repetitive arm and wrist movements, be it in sitting or standing, variety is key. Our bodies crave movement and therefore, it is no surprise when repeating the same movements constantly can lead to pain or other issues.

Consider holding your wrist in different positions when typing or when handling tools. Vary the wrist from flexed to neutral to extended. Take a few seconds away from what you are doing to perform a few simple wrist movements as shown above, to allow your muscles and joints to move in a different way than what they are used to.

Though there is no one perfect posture, there are some tips we can provide to prevent excess strain on certain body parts if your job requires a lot of sitting.

Keep your screen at eye level. A higher desk for your monitor or even using books to increase the height of your laptop can take the workload off of your neck muscles.

Use a chair with a supported back and arm rest so your body can be supported by your chair. Some of our clients find it helpful to use a footstool under the feet for support.

Variety is key when it comes to posture so vary your position often.

Activity modification

Here at Fox Physiotherapy, we love to get people back doing the things they like to do. Depending on your issue, we may work with you to come up with a plan to modify the everyday stresses and loads placed on your wrist extensor muscles.

You will guide the decision making process and we will aim to prioritise your most valued and most necessary activities, when adjusting your daily activities and workload.

Exercise

Isometric exercises are a really useful and evidence-based means of settling tendon pain. An isometric contraction of a muscle is a contraction without joint movement. Here are a few examples of isometric exercises for lateral elbow tendinopathy:

Stretching

Once your elbow pain has settled down following the isometric exercises, some gentle stretching exercises can be introduced. Try some of these exercises, but don’t stretch into pain.

Getting back to normal

Like all tendinopathies, lateral elbow tendinopathy is a load-induced issue. Ironically, the key to resolving this issue is further loading. The key is in finding a dose of loading or activity that isn’t too much or too little, a bit like a dose of medication.

Gradually expose yourself back to the activities that lead to your elbow pain i.e. type for 5 extra minutes a day and monitor your symptoms to find out if your body is ready for this extra workload or not.

Think of this like poking the bear. The bear is our nervous system. We are gradually pushing our system to let it know that it is safe to move. By doing this we are desensitising ourselves.

What’s too much?

Some pain during activities or exercises with this type of issue is okay, in fact, it’s actually desirable. Work from a pain scale of 0 to 10. Anything from 0-4 out of 10 is okay, as long as your symptoms are settling again 24 hours later. If you are still sore for a day or 2 after exercise or activity, then you need to do less. It means your tendon just isn’t ready for this loading yet.

Physiotherapy

There isn’t a better way to reduce pain, take control of your symptoms

and get back to the activities you love to do, then going to see a Chartered Physiotherapist.

Life’s too short to let pain dictate what you can and cannot do. For the vast majority of people with lateral elbow tendinopathy, physiotherapy will help reduce your pain and restore your mobility, getting you back moving well, feeling well and back to the life you want to lead.

A thorough assessment of your problem, with a clear understanding of your

wants, needs and goals and treatment plan designed with you by the expert physiotherapists at Fox Physiotherapy will help you back to your best.

Conclusion

To help lateral elbow tendinopathy, a number of different

strategies may be needed to find the best fit for

your issue. The Chartered Physiotherapists at Fox

Physiotherapy can help find the right fit for

your problem allowing you to get back to the

activities, hobbies and lifestyle you want to

lead without pain getting in the way.

If you are struggling with tennis elbow and want

to start on your road to recovery contact us via