You don’t need to be a tennis player to suffer from tennis elbow. You can very well be a weight-lifter, rower, swimmer, basketball player, carpenter, butcher, or professional painter or a writer.
Tennis elbow is a kind of tendinitis that causes severe pain in the elbow and arm. It’s a painful condition caused by repetitive motion, overstrain, or sudden wrong movement that puts excessive pressure on the tendons and supporting muscles that connect the arm to the bone, causing wear and tears in the tissue. It can affect anyone of any age, but in non-athletes, it’s more commonly seen in those above 35. It can even occur overnight after a traumatic incident or accident.
How to Detect Tennis Elbow
If you feel a dull or acute pain in the bony knob at your elbow that connects the tendons to the bone, chances are you have the condition. The pain can diffuse into the upper or lower arm. It can prevent you from lifting an object, get a firm grip, operate equipment, or even flex your arms or wrists without flinching in pain. If the inflammation is chronic, it gets challenging to even lift a glass of water. The repetitive stress on frequently used muscles and tendons of the elbow flare up into acute inflammation and tendon degeneration if it’s not treated on time.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between a tennis elbow and other similar conditions such as a golfer’s elbow that arises from injured tendons inside the elbow. It’s best to consult a professional chiropractor for a proper diagnosis. A chiropractor conducts a thorough exam assisted by imaging tests. X-rays and MRIs give a clear confirmation about the condition after which a customized treatment plan is prescribed.
Tennis Elbow Treatments
Chronic tennis elbow can occur without warning in a healthy individual as a result of a single traumatic event or repetitive stress. Some of the treatments used to treat this condition are:
- Active Release Therapy (ART) and Graston Technique use an instrument to identify and rectify adhesions in the affected areas. Your chiropractor uses it to detect and resolve adhesions in the muscles and tendons.
- The extracorporeal shockwave therapy heals using acoustic shock waves into the affected bone and tissues to provide pain relief and restore mobility. It’s a non-invasive therapy that treats chronic pain without the use of painkillers.
- A few exercises can prevent the tennis elbow. Stretching the overused muscles helps them get stronger and more flexible over time. Squeezing and releasing exercises can strengthen the area considerably greatly too. Grip soft squeeze balls, hold for a couple of seconds, then release.
Oshawa Chiropractic & Physiotherapy Wellness Centre
It’s important for tennis elbow to be treated right away through a qualified chiropractor. It may require several sittings to properly strengthen the muscles, along with supporting rehabilitating exercises, spinal manipulation, or other customized treatments to build resilience, flexibility, and mobility. Call our clinic today to ensure you recover from painful tennis elbow symptoms fast and continue to maintain a pain-free lifestyle!