Your nickname doesn’t need to be Rafa to incur this injury! In fact, acute tennis elbow doesn’t even need to happen on the court.
The condition is actually caused by damaged muscle tissue when it anchors to the arm bone at the elbow. It occurs when more force is applied to an area than normal healthy tissues can handle. Some of the traditional roots of this type of tennis elbow include unaccustomed hand use (eg hammering), excessive gripping activities, and poor techniques.
Chronic tennis elbow, on the other hand, is associated with degenerative changes in the muscle tissues located at the epicondyle – the bony bump on the outside of the elbow.
Symptoms include pain when gripping objects or bearing weights, an elbow that feels swollen and difficulty flexing and moving.
After listening to your injury history and using some confirmatory clinical tests (we may refer for imaging if the clinical diagnosis is unclear), Andrew can clinically diagnose your type of tennis elbow and may determine and customise a suitable treatment.
Options may include icing, elbow straps, and performing a range of motion exercises designed to reduce stiffness, increase flexibility, strengthen and stretch muscles. As a final resort steroid injections and surgery may also be utilised.