...

Tennis Elbow

Tennis Elbow

Tennis elbow is a painful injury that can derail your game and your life.

The pain and inflammation caused by the tennis elbow can be debilitating and have an impact on your mental health, but it doesn’t have to ruin your life.

Laser therapy has been proven to reduce the pain of tennis elbow without medication, surgery or side effects.
Cold laser therapy is widely recognised as an effective treatment for severe tennis elbow. It can also reduce pain in other chronic pain injuries.

Create Balance Knee Pain

What is Tennis Elbow?

Tennis elbow, also known as lateral epicondylitis, is an uncomfortable condition that results from tendon overloading in the elbow, usually as a consequence of frequent wrist and arm movements. Athletes aren’t the only ones who get tennis elbow; it can also happen to plumbers, painters, carpenters, and butchers who perform repetitive wrist and arm movement tasks. Tennis elbow pain is felt in the area where your forearm muscles attach to a bony prominence on the outside of your elbow. Pain can also extend to your wrist and arm. Tennis elbow is caused by a variety of factors, including genetics, injury, arthritis, Bursitis, overuse syndrome.

Is Tennis Elbow an Overuse Injury?

Yes, tennis elbow is an overuse injury that leads to a strain of the forearm muscles, brought on by the repeated flexing and raising of your hand and wrist using your forearm muscles. The repetitive motions, as well as the pressure on the tendon connections between the forearm muscles and the bony prominence at the outside of your elbow, may result in multiple tiny tears in the tendons, resulting in inflammation and pain and acute and chronic injuries to the elbow area.

Create Balance Tennis Elbow Treatment

Most Common Causes of Tennis Elbow

Tennis elbow may be caused by a number of factors, the most common of which is overuse or misuse of the backhand stroke. These include:

  • ZDrilling with a pipe wrench
  • ZUsing Plumbing Tools
  • ZDrill Screws
  • ZCutting up food
  • ZPainting

Risk Factors

Factors that may aggravate your risk of tennis elbow include:

Age

Even though tennis elbow can affect people of all ages, it’s most common in adults between the ages of 30 and 50.

Occupation

People who have jobs that involve repetitive motions of the wrist and arm are more prone to developing tennis elbow. Examples include: plumbers, painters, carpenters, butchers, and cooks.

Particular Kinds of Sport

Playing sport that involves the use of a racket increases your risk of tennis elbow, especially if you have poor stroke technique.

History

People who have had episodes of tennis elbow in the past are more at risk for future attacks than people who haven’t.

Gender

Male athletes are more likely to develop tennis elbow than female athletes, probably because women tend to use their playing strokes more efficiently.

Create Balance Tennis Elbow Tennis Players

Early Age Risk Factors For Tennis Elbow

Starting to play a high risk (for tennis elbow) sports at an early age is another factor that adds to your risk of tennis elbow. Your risk is higher if you begin training earlier in life to achieve a specific goal. For example, tennis players have a much higher chance of developing tennis elbow than football players because of the early starting age at which they enter the sport. People who have a history of a previous injury to the armour to other areas, or hold sustained supination postures for prolonged periods of time are also at greater risk.

Physical Conditions That Increase Your Risk Include of Tennis Elbow

  • ZCartilage damage or bone spur development from an injury that occurred earlier in life
  • ZArthritis or inflammation of the tendons from an injury that occurred earlier in life
  • ZInjuries to other areas of your arm, wrist, elbow, shoulder.

Symptoms of Tennis Elbow

The symptoms of tennis elbow vary according to the severity of the condition. They include:

  • ZNumbness and a tingling sensation along the outside of your arm, hand and fingers.
  • ZAching pain in your elbow.
  • ZPain when you extend your wrist or bend your elbow.
  • ZFlexing your thumb causes a sharp pain at the site of injury.
  • ZIncrease in severity if you continue to use the affected area.
  • ZTenderness when pressing on the bony prominence on the outside of your elbow.
Create Balance Tennis Elbow Tennis Player

Diagnosis

Diagnosis of tennis elbow is usually made on the basis of your medical history and a physical examination. A doctor may ask you to complete a questionnaire about your pain, which includes information about how long you’ve suffered from it, where the pain is located, how intense it is, what makes the pain better or worse, and how long it takes to recover. Your doctor will evaluate your symptoms and determine the severity of your injury. In some cases, a cortisone injection may offer relief. Your doctor can also authorise physical therapy or recommend surgery options for you.

Create Balance Laser Therapy offers a unique and non-invasive solution to help relieve the pain and inflammation associated with tennis elbow. We understand the discomfort and frustration that comes with this condition and our team is here to guide you through your treatment.

How Does Laser Treatment Therapy Work as a Pain Management Tool for Tennis elbow?

Harvard university and NASA researchers support the use of low-level laser therapy (LLLT), also known as photobiomodulation, because it is a safe, non-invasive, and painlessly effective treatment for both acute injuries and chronic discomfort.

Over 400 studies have been done on laser therapy devices, and 4,000 laboratory studies.
The treatment is rapid, pain-free, simple to use, and effective.

Low-level laser pain therapy, commonly known as cold laser, benefits tennis elbow because it desensitises inflamed nerves that cause discomfort that can result in nerve irritation.

The anti-inflammatory effect produced by laser therapy helps the site of the pain to heal, and allows for mobility and tissue regeneration.

The therapy’s main function is to reduce inflammation rather than repair physical damage such as bone, tendon, nerve, and other related structures. Laser therapy offers a drug-free pain relief solution. The therapy is non-invasive, painless and poses no long-term side effects.

Other Injuries That Can be Treated With Laser Therapy

Laser therapy can help to bring back the balance to your nerves and also promote the release of endorphins, which relieves the pain and helps you to relax. Laser therapy can treat many types of injuries besides tennis elbow. These injuries include:

  • ZPlantar fasciitis
  • ZSports injury
  • ZBack and neck pain
  • ZCarpal tunnel/RSI
  • ZFrozen shoulder
  • ZJoint pain and stiffness
  • ZNerve Pain
  • ZNight pain
  • ZAcute traumatic injuries
  • ZAchilles tendinitis
  • ZSciatica
  • ZRotator cuff injury
  • ZStress injuries

How Do I Know If My Tennis Elbow Will Get Better Without Surgery?

The answer to this question is typically determined by the resolving of your pain and easing of your discomfort.

A cortisone injection into the bursa (the fluid-filled sac surrounding the tendon) provides quick relief, but it doesn’t last for long, maybe 6 to 8 weeks.

​This option may be helpful if you’re in chronic tennis elbow pain that keeps you from performing daily activities like cooking or washing dishes.

Therapies such as heat packs, ice packs, acupuncture, splints/braces and other methods are done before scar tissue develops to prevent it from happening If these treatments fail at alleviating tennis elbow then surgery may become one option for consideration.

However, if you’re experiencing pain in your elbow and you feel that it may be tennis elbow, you have nothing to lose, and everything to gain, by trying laser therapy as a means to having your symptoms evaluated and relieved. Visit our Laser Pain Therapy website for more information.

    Book Your Appointment With Us Today

    If you have any issues booking your appointment online, don’t hesitate to contact us.