Patient Guide to Understanding Tennis Elbow

This is the first among our series of articles on patient guides on treatments and understanding a particular medical condition written by one of our Doctors from Wockhardt Hospitals. We start with one of the most common Sports Injuries"Tennis Elbow"

What is tennis elbow?'

Tennis elbow is an inflammation around the bony knob on the outer side of the elbow. It occurs when the tissue that attaches muscle to the bone becomes irritated. The bony knob is called the lateral epicondyle, and tennis elbow is also called lateral epicondylitis (ep-ih-kondah- LY- its).

Causes

Playing a racket sport can cause tennis elbow. So can doing any thing that involves extending your wrist or rotating your forearm- such as twisting a screwdriver or lifting heavy objects with your palm down. With age, the tissue may become inflamed more easily.

Symptoms

The most common symptom of tennis elbow is pain on the outer side of the elbow and down the forearm. You may have pain all the time or only when you lift things. The elbow may also swell, get red, or feel warm to the touch. And it may hurt to grip things, turn your hand, or swing your arm.

Understanding your elbow problem

The muscle that allows you to straighten your fingers and rotate your lower arm and wrist are called the extensor muscles. These miles extend from the outer side of your elbow to your wrist and finger. A cordlike fiber called a tendon attaches the extensor muscles to the elbow. Overuse or an accident can cause tissue in the tendon to become inflamed or injured.

When the tendon is in flamed

When the tendon is inflamed, the nerves around the tendon become irritated. Then moving your elbow is painful. Turning your hand or grasping objects can also be painful.

Diagnosing tennis elbow

Your doctor can usually diagnose tennis elbow from your symptoms and from the look and feel of your elbow. He or she may order an x-ray to be sure the bone is not diseased or fractured. In some cases, other tests may be needed.

Treating tennis elbow

Your treatment will depend on how inflamed your tendon is. The goal is to relieve your symptoms and help you regain full use of your elbow.

Rest and medication

Wearing a tennis elbow splint allows the inflamed tendon to rest, so it can heal. Using your other hand or changing your grip also helps take stress off the tendon. And oral anti inflammatory medications and heat or ice can relieve
pain and reduce swelling.

Exercise and therapy

Your doctor may give you an exercise program, or refer you to a therapist, to gently stretch and then straitened the muscles around your elbow.

Anti-inflammatory Injections

Your doctor may give you injections of an anti inflammatory, such as cortisone, to help reduce the swelling .You may have more pain at first, but in a few days your elbow should feel better.

Surgery

If your symptoms persist for a long time, or other treatments don't relieve them, your doctor may Recommend surgery to repair the inflamed tendon.

Preventing flare-up

To prevent flare-up after treatment , you may need to change the way you do some things. Gripping with the palm up, lifting heavy objects with both hands ,or vary activities through out the day will help reduce stress on the tendon. When you play racket sports or golf ,be sure to condition your muscles ,do warm-up and cool-down exercises, and use the correct strokes.

About Wockhardt Hospital, Bone and Joint care :The Wockhardt Hospitals Bone and Joint care is one of our super specialties and is a center of excellence with highly skilled clinical expertise.

The Wockhardt Bone and Joint Care is equipped to treat all types of musculo-skeletal problems ranging from Trauma Surgery to Minimally Invasive Arthroscopy Surgery. The hospital also specializes in surgery for joint replacements, sports medicine, ligament repair, knee surgery, spine surgery and physical therapy for rehabilitation.

Wockhardt Bone & Joint Care has complete technology and advanced skills to perform Microscopic Lumber & Cervical Discectomy, Endo-scopic Spine Surgery and Arthroscopic surgeries such as Ligament Reconstruction in the knee, Subacromial Decompression in the shoulder.For online appointments write into enquiries@wockhardthospitals.net or logon to our website at wockhardthospitals