|
Tennis elbow, so to speak,
got its name from the famous game tennis and the common injury of the
players of this game who tended to get it. Medically known as Lateral
Epicondylitis, tennis elbow is an inflammation or degeneration of the tendon
which attaches muscles to bone (lateral epicondyle) on the outer arm or
elbow.
Symptoms to tennis elbow
disorder are: frequent pain on exterior of the upper forearm just below the
bend of the elbow that spread out down the arm towards the wrist; pain in
lifting, bending the arm or even clasping light objects like a coffee mug;
difficulty in extending the forearm completely because of inflamed tendons,
muscles and ligaments; and soreness that lasts for six to twelve weeks, the
uneasiness could continue for as slight as three weeks or as lengthy as
numerous years.
The injury that “tennis
elbow” sustain consists of small tears in a part of the tendon and muscle
layers. Even when these muscles heal from the initial injury, they often
tear again leading to hemorrhaging and formation of rough, granulated tissue
including calcium deposits within the surrounding tissues. Leaks of a
protein called Collagen around the injured areas cause inflammation
resulting to pressure that can cut off blood flow and squeeze the radial
nerve, one of the main nerves that control muscles in the arm and hand.
Tendons as mentioned earlier, attach the muscles to the bone and they do not
get the equal quantity of oxygen as muscles do, so they heal more slowly
that results to some cases of tennis elbow lasting for years even if the
inflammation subsides within six to twelve weeks.
Tennis elbow in many cases
is a form of tendonitis, but if it involves the muscles and bones of the
elbow joint and not the outside of your arm, the case may be “bursitis”,
which happens when the lubricating sacs in the joint becomes inflamed. If
swelling is seen, then you may want to look into other possible conditions
such as arthritis, infection gout or tumor.
How do you aid tennis
elbow? The most effective usual and substitute treatments for tennis elbow
is resting the arm until the pain vanishes, then massaging it to ease stress
and tension in the muscles, then you can exercise to strengthen that part
and avoid re-injury. Also, the best way to ease tennis elbow is to
discontinue anything that aggravates your arm.
Different medicines that
offer treatments for tennis elbow can also be taken, from drug injections to
surgery. But re-injury is expected without enough rest of the arm, the pain
will never go away completely unless stressing the joint is stopped. Even
after you have overcome your tennis elbow injury, you still have to continue
taking care of your arm, warm up your arm five to ten minutes before doing
any activity involving your elbow, and if you feel severe pain after doing
so, pack your arm with ice for fifteen to twenty minutes and call your
doctor.
|