Tennis elbow is an overuse injury of the extensor muscles of the forearm. The pain can be so severe it takes weeks or months for the injured person to return to normal activities.
The pain can occur without any warning, and you may be unaware you’re developing a tennis elbow unless someone tells you about it. At that point, there’s not much anyone else can do except help take care of your pain and prevent future incidents by educating yourself through research into what causes tennis elbow and how best to care for yourself during recovery time.
Where do you feel the pain?
The pain from a tennis elbow injury usually starts in the outside area and then moves inward toward the bone. You can have pain shooting down your forearm, along with numbness and tingling. The injured area may swell and lose function before it gets better or require surgery to heal completely.
What causes a tennis elbow?
Tennis elbow injuries are mostly due to overuse of the elbow flexors—the front of your forearm muscles that extend your wrist and bend your fingers. Suppose you’re a player who plays tennis or a similar sport with extensive arm movements. In that case, you’re probably more likely to develop a tennis elbow.
How can you treat a tennis elbow?
You can take steps to treat the pain or make the injury worse if you don’t take these steps. The first thing you should do is rest the injured area and possibly ice it. You need to remove all stresses from your arm, from any activities that may make it worse (like working on a computer with your elbow bent over your desk), and anything that could affect the healing process (like drinking alcohol).
There’s little evidence that using an anti-inflammatory medication on a tennis elbow will have much effect. The most important thing is to rest the injured elbow and give it plenty of time to heal.
Many people can try stress-relief activities such as yoga or meditation. The main idea is that tennis elbow pain is simply too stressful on your body, so you need to do something that helps relieve stress on your body at least some of the time while you’re recovering from the injury.
If you’re experiencing a tennis elbow, and it’s not going away, then you must consult a physiotherapist. If you’re looking for a physiotherapist in Preston, 5 STAR CLINIC LTD can help you.
We have professional physiotherapists with years of experience who can diagnose and treat your tennis elbow. We also offer neck pain relief, back pain treatment, and more.
Contact us today to learn more about our services.