Tennis Elbow Remedies – Is that elbow pain caused by tennis arm?

So what exactly is tennis elbow pain?

Predominantely, it’s a searing  pain in your elbow joint (normally right on the outside tip of the bone). This sharp burning pain will be apparent when you play tennis or anything else where you push against resistance with your elbow (just like a backhand tennis shot). If you imagine the action of hammering nails into wood, that’s the sort of thing I’m talking about here. Tennis elbow symptoms include a sharp burning sensation whenever you try to raise your forearm (even light items such as mugs of tea or coffee can be enough to cause nasty pain in the elbow joint and surrounding areas). It can also show up as forearm pain. I’ve tried all sorts of items like tennis elbow straps, splints and braces. Some have worked for a while, others have not.

The medical term for tennis elbow is as lateral epicondylitis. The area where the forearm tendons are attached to the elbow bone gets inflammed and very painful.

The pain becomes most noticeable around the elbow joint whenever you grip, squeeze or pull something with the palm of the hand facing downwards. Even shaking hands can be excrutiating Even medical people have differing opinions on the exact cause the exact cause, although wear and tear and constant repetitive motions exacerbate it. So, are there any tennis elbow remedies available? Although not 100% sure of the cause, we are fairly sure about what helps to allieviate the pain caused. In most cases this is enough to ensure good treatment or even complete cure of tennis elbow pain.

Tennis Elbow Remedies – What are the usual signs of Tennis Elbow?

First and foremost, you WILL know if you have tennis elbow!. It will be a pain on the outside of your elbow. It will be a sharp burning pain that will get worse as you try to either lift or even grip something. Even things like lifting a glass of water can be excruciatingly painful. If you are like me, you will have probably dropped that glass of water or mug of coffee.

Sometimes the sharp pain will shoot down the forearm as well. This can be in addition to general soreness in the elbow area. If it gets better with rest, that is another indication of a tennis elbow injury. Sometimes there will be swelling as well. There even be bruising (if there is, get it seen to at once). You will notice that Sod’s law dictates that you will always bang the swollen elbow area on the door jamb as you walk through!  If it has got really bad, the swelling may even restrict your ability to straighten your arm.

Detecting tennis elbow tendinitis

Nothing beats experience. Even X rays do not always show the evidence of tennis elbow pain. The trick is to give the clearest description possible of the pain and symptoms to the medical expert. One guy I saw just grabbed my wrist, stuck his thumb in a certain place and then squeezed. As I shrieked with pain, he said “yes, you’ve definitely got tennis elbow”! The next stage was to look for the most effective tennis elbow remedies.

What’s the best treatment or cure for tennis elbow?`What are the best tennis elbow remedies?

These are many and varied and can include surgery, hot / cold treatment and a number of exercise and physiotherapy regimes. In other words, although there are many tennis elbow remedies, there is no ONE cure for tennis elbow.

 Tennis elbow cures – Immobilisation, Inflamation and cortisone.

It’s important to rest the arm, rather than immobilise it. The idea of resting and raising is to help reduce inflamation. If you encase the arm in some sort of mechanical brace, you will end up restricting the movement. This could well lead to scar tissue building up, which in turn, reduces movement and puts more strain on the injured elbow. Though it reduces the pain in your elbow, it stops the range of movement of the joint. Long run, this allows scar tissue to construct up in the injured space, notably in the ligament attachment area.. This really slows down the healing process. 

whilst we want to reduce inflammation (and therefore pain), we still need it as part of the repair process. It becomes a toss up between inflammation (repair) and pain reduction. This is why steroid type injections can be a false “cure”. You are taking both the pain and the repair facility away.

The problem is that once the pain is taken away, the affected person feels free to return to doing what caused the problem in the first place. This time however, they are doing it with a damaged joint such as tennis elbow. The jab effectively masks the pain, rather than solving the reasons behind that tennis elbow pain.

Who gets tennis elbow joint pain?

Who does tennis elbow most affect? Strangely enough, only about one in twenty tennis arm sufferers actually play tennis. The bulk of people fall into two categories, sportsmen and manual workers (although there is a surprise third category – see below). Most of these will be between thirty and sixty five years old.

Manual workers such as panel beaters, plumbers, gardeners, carpenters (anyone using hammers) and building workers. It’s pretty much anyone that works against resistance for long periods, can get forearm or elbow pain on the outside of the elbow. Engineers and mechanics who use wrenches for long periods of time also get that horrible sharp pain that we know (but definitely don’t, love).

Sports people are susceptible if they use there arms for long periods of time. For example, rowers and windsurfers as well as athletes are vulnerable due to the repetitive motions involved. People in athletic throwing disciplines (shot, javelin, discus) are prime candidates for tennis elbow as well. Obvious ones include racquet sports players such as squash or badminton as well as tennis. It can affect anyone who has to put up with wear and tear in the elbow joint of forearm.

The third and maybe most surprising group is office workers and artists. Working at a computer when you are not at the right height can put a lot of strain on your elbow joint. People who paint can also suffer a soothing pain in the forearm after stretching over a canvas for long periods of time. Often these can be harder to cure as the sufferer has to do a job at work that makes the elbow joint problem worse.  Are you in one of these groups (I just about fit in all three!)?

Tennis Elbow Inflammation – Should I apply ice or heat?

An important thing to consider when looking for tennis elbow remedies (and a big source of confusion) is whether to apply ice or heat. Every sports injury expert and doctor I have spoken to recommend applying ice to a damaged, swollen painful elbow. This is a general list of things that they recommend.

As soon as you damage a muscle or joint you will get inflammation. Rather than taking drugs, the key is to get ice onto the area as soon as possible.

Tennis Elbow Treatment – How to apply ice properly for maximum pain relief.

Here’s a quick recommendation. ALWAYS keep a large ice pack in the freezer. The quicker you get ice onto an injury, the better. There’s nothing more frustrating than hurting yourself and then waiting a few hours for your freezer to make some ice. I’ve found that you need some volume (a big block of ice stays frozen longer), so get a small (say salad sized) plastic container and fill it with water. When it is frozen solid, transfer the ice to a plastic bag (stops it dripping all over you later on) and put it back in the container in the freezer.

If you do not have any ice handy, use a packet of frozen vegetables (peas or sweetcorn, the smaller the better as they “wrap” around the leg, arm elbow, whatever). It’s not as good as a big block but better than nothing. Anyway, back to the painful elbow…

1/ Put a clean towel or flannel over the affected area (clean the skin first). This will prevent you burning your skin. Apply your ice directly onto the outside of your elbow. Hold it there for at least twenty minutes. On the day of the injury, do this every hour for say, the next six hours (don’t forget to put the ice back into the freezer to re freeze).

2/ On the second day, repeat the above treatment (twenty minutes) every three to four hours.

3/ Repeat this on the third day or until the swelling goes down. If it is still as bad after three days, it may be something more serious than a tennis elbow injury. It could even be something like a fractured elbow bone, or a ligament rupture. Get some medical attention quickly.

Tennis elbow treatments; raising the arm.

Most of them also recommend lifting the swollen area up above your heart (easier when lying down). This is standard procedure in most first aid boks and courses.

Here’s what I don’t recommend. I tend to be lazy and it is very rare that I have ever carried out the above instructions to the letter!  If I do, then my injuries clear up better. Maybe that’s the key when looking for tennis elbow remedies, actually doing what you are told!