TENNIS ELBOW
One of the most frequent injuries to the arm is tennis elbow
- not alas confined to tennis players. Other sports and every
day activities can cause it such as gardening and lifting.
The muscles on the back of the forearm, which straighten
the fingers and pull the wrist backwards, merge into one
tendon on the bony part of the outside of the elbow. This
is the common extensor tendon which can be strained by activities
which overwork or over stretch the forearm muscles, like
hard gripping movements or excessive wrist movements. It
can be caused by tennis usually when playing a backhand.
The sudden force of the ball bending the wrist forward whilst
gripping the tennis racket handle tightly damages the common
extensor tendon.
Once the tendon has become inflamed any
use of the muscles of the forearm can cause pain at the
elbow and often down the forearm. Gripping, lifting and straightening
the elbow can all cause pain. The patient complains of
a
gradually increasing pain over the outer bony part of the
elbow which is quite severe on certain movements. When
tennis elbow is very acute the pain is constant and any movements
that stress the tendon such as gripping, lifting and even
fine movements like pinching, writing or using a knife
and
fork can aggravate the elbow. The tendon also feels tender
and sore to touch. Patients with these early signs of tennis
elbow need to seek professional medical attention as soon
as possible. Even if the condition has been there a long
time it can still be treated. TREATMENT
Resting the arm will help to prevent aggravation - tennis
elbow is not condition that you can exercise through. Treatment
with Connective Tissue Manipulation
and Manual Lymph Drainage will
help to reduce the pain and stiffness and restore normal movement
and function. By improving the circulation to the tendon it
is able to settle the inflammation down and heal more quickly.
By reducing the tension in the tendon the fibres are able
to glide on each other and allow movement without causing
discomfort and pain. Tendon injury
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