Tennis Elbow (lateral epicondylitis)
Unlike the name suggests, tennis elbow is more often caused by poor desk posture, lifting, cleaning, gardening or hand tool use. The point at which the muscles in the forearm connect on to the elbow (tendon), gets over stressed and becomes painful. As the cause is often multifactorial, physiotherapy is important in helping to assess all the contributing factors to ensure these are addressed.
Pain would be located over the outside aspect of the elbow, and cause pain and weakness with tasks that involve computer use, gripping, squeezing and/or lifting. If you're having trouble opening doors or jars, if you feel a weakness or pain when you try to pour from the kettle or lift a saucepan off the stove, then you could be suffering from lateral epicondylitis. If you experience any of these symptoms, please contact us at Back in Motion Physiotherapy, Melbourne on Collins so we can help.
Not only does physiotherapy involve addressing the contributing factors of the injury, but also helps to reduce pain and build strength back in the muscles. Treatment may involve but is not limited to dry needling, massage, manual therapy, ergonomic advice, lifting technique education and strengthening exercises. A strengthening program is absolutely paramount to restoring full function of the elbow and for strengthening the muscle tendons. Without a guided strengthening program, it's highly likely that the condition will persist and create long lasting issues. Like with most injuries, rest is rarely recommended outside of the initial 48 hour acute phase as this just causes the muscles to weaken further which isn't helpful at all! Similarly, like most injuries, the sooner you seek assistance and treatment, the sooner it is resolved and the less likely it is that you will have a long term problem.
Here at Back In Motion Physiotherapy, Melbourne on Collins, we are experts in the treatment of tennis elbow so if you'd like to get your pain checked out by one of our Physio's, please call 9602 3332 for a free initial assessment.