Therapeutic Exercise for Epicondylitis (Tennis Elbow/Golfer's Elbow) Denver (2023)

FAQs

What is best exercise for tennis elbow? ›

Hold your arm straight out so your elbow isn't bent and your palm faces down. Use your other hand to hold the fingers of your outstretched hand and bend it back toward your body until you can feel it in your outer forearm. Hold for 15 seconds. Repeat three to five times.

Elbow bend

Stand up straight and lower your arm to one side. Bend your arm slowly upwards so your hand is touching your shoulder. Hold for 15–30 seconds. Repeat 10 times.

Straighten your arm and bend your wrist back as if signaling someone to “stop.” Use your opposite hand to apply gentle pressure across the palm and pull it toward you until you feel a stretch on the inside of your forearm. Hold the stretch for 15 seconds. Repeat 5 times, then perform this stretch on the other arm.

You should rest your injured arm and stop any activity that's causing the problem. Holding a cold compress, such as a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a towel, against your elbow for a few minutes several times a day can help ease the pain. Taking painkillers, such as paracetamol, may help reduce mild pain.

Golfer's elbow is a form of tendonitis that causes pain and inflammation in the tendons that connect the forearm to the elbow. The pain centers on the bony bump on the inside of your elbow and may radiate into the forearm. It usually gets better with rest. The medical term is medial epicondylitis.

To build strength, prevent and relieve pain, and increase flexibility, do the following exercises two times per day. Build up gently and gradually over time. Do these exercises before and after any activity that causes stress or strain. Be gentle and don't force any of the movements.

How does physical therapy treat golfers elbow? ›

Deep tissue massage to the forearm is a very effective method of easing tennis elbow and healing it much faster than rest alone. Deep tissue massage will enhance circulation and combining this with friction therapy to the tendons on the elbow joint, positive results are seen.

Support your elbow with pillows

To avoid such issues, tennis elbow sufferers can support their affected arm on a pillow. This can help relieve tension in the upper arm muscles, and it can also help hold your forearm in an untwisted position while you're sleeping.

"With tennis or golfer's elbow, you need to settle it down and rest it but after that, the best research and evidence points to exercise as the most effective treatment for healing," said Chris Zarski, a clinical assistant professor in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at Augustana Campus.

Bend your wrist, pointing your hand toward the floor. With your other hand, gently bend your wrist farther until you feel a mild to moderate stretch in your forearm. Hold for at least 15 to 30 seconds. Repeat 2 to 4 times.

Resisted Wrist Flexion With tubing wrapped around the hand and the opposite end secured under foot, keep the palm facing up and bend the wrist and hand upward as far as you can. Hold one count and lower slowly 3 counts. Repeat 10 to 20 times, two times per day. This exercise can also be done with a dumbbell.

Apply ice or heat therapy.

Brown explains that if the pain is occurring within the first 72 hours, ice therapy (such as an ice pack) could help alleviate pain from the affected area. However, if the pain is chronic and recurring, heat therapy (such as a heating pad), would be the preferred method.

Heat may be more helpful for chronic tendon pain, often called tendinopathy or tendinosis. Heat can increase blood flow, which may help promote healing of the tendon. Heat also relaxes muscles, which can relieve pain.

What are two treatments for tennis elbow? ›

Rest and over-the-counter pain relievers often help relieve tennis elbow. If conservative treatments don't help or if symptoms are disabling, your doctor might suggest surgery.

Tennis elbow is mostly caused by overusing your forearm due to a repetitive or strenuous activity. It can also sometimes occur after banging or knocking your elbow. If the muscles in your forearm are strained, tiny tears and inflammation can develop near the bony lump (lateral epicondyle) on the outside of your elbow.

With Cross friction massage, it can help you to recover from a golfer's elbow much faster than just by resting. By applying it to the tendon, it can help to stimulate the healing process. Massaging the forearm muscles can also improve their function. It also decreases the tension on your inflamed tendons.

Grip Strengthening: For this exercise, all you need is a squishy ball or “stress ball.” Hold the ball in your hand and gently squeeze. Hold for five seconds, relax, and repeat ten times. This exercise is helpful for both tennis elbow and golfer's elbow.

Tennis elbow usually lasts between 6 months and 2 years, with most people (90%) making a full recovery within a year. The most important thing to do is to rest your injured arm and stop doing the activity that caused the problem.

Tennis elbow and golfer's elbow are actually somewhat opposite. They are similar conditions, both involving pain along the forearm and elbow. However, a patient with tennis elbow has pain on the outside of their elbow while a patient with golfer's elbow has pain on the inside of their elbow.

Massaging using essential oils or ice to reduce inflammation; Stimulating the muscles to improve blood flow; Using straps or braces to provide additional support until your elbow has healed sufficiently.

Golfer's elbow, also known as medial epicondylitis, is caused by damage to the muscles and tendons that control your wrist and fingers. The damage is typically related to excess or repeated stress — especially forceful wrist and finger motions.

The medial epicondyle is the common origin of the flexor and pronator muscles of the forearm. The pronator teres, flexor carpi radialis, palmaris longus, and flexor digitorum superficialis originate on the medial epicondyle and are innervated by the median nerve.

Vitamin A enhances and supports early inflammation during injury, reverses post-injury immune suppression, and assists in collagen formation to help repair tissue damage. Great sources of this include sweet potatoes, carrots, dark leafy greens, and fish.

How do you massage epicondylitis? ›

Pressure points for tennis elbow: If you are experiencing pain in the elbow and forearm, you might try using this acupressure point to help tennis elbow pain: LI11 (Large Intestine Meridian 11) – located right in the crevice of the elbow crease, applying pressure to this point can help move Qi and blood through the ...

Chin-ups, pushups and bench presses: All of these movements put a strain on your elbow's flexors, which can lead to further irritation of the lateral tendons of your elbow. Wrist exercises: It's best to avoid any wrist exercises, especially forearm dumbbell curls or barbell extensions.

Tennis elbow will get better without treatment (a self-limiting condition), but there are treatments that may improve symptoms and speed up recovery. You should rest your injured arm and stop any activity that's causing the problem.

There are many treatment options for tennis elbow, but the best place to start is with strengthening and stretching exercises. The following exercises focus on slow, deliberate motions. Squeezing a stress ball can improve grip strength. Eventually, you can graduate to using a hand grip strengthener.

warm up properly and gently stretch your arm muscles before playing a sport that involves repetitive arm movements. use lightweight tools or racquets and make their grip size bigger, to avoid putting extra strain on your tendons.

Things to Avoid for Tennis Elbow Treatment

If you're hammering those wrist and elbow stretches every day you're doing more harm than good. That's because when you stretch you're actually pulling and stressing the tendon attachment of your forearm muscles instead of letting the area heal.

Deep tissue massage to the forearm is a very effective method of easing tennis elbow and healing it much faster than rest alone. Deep tissue massage will enhance circulation and combining this with friction therapy to the tendons on the elbow joint, positive results are seen.

One of the most significant advantages of compression sleeves is their multifaceted benefits, especially for tennis elbow. From increased blood circulation to added support and relieving tension and pressure, there is a range of benefits tennis players may experience.

In most cases, true tennis elbow which does not heal after 6 to 8 weeks is due to a non-inflammatory issue. 80% of these cases do not recover, as the tendon matrix compromised by inappropriate loading; such as the overuse of the tendon. This may lead to early wear and tear of the tendon matrix.

Why is ice good for tennis elbow? ›

Cold is best utilized as a temporary solution, one that you use immediately after noticing symptoms. It will help immediately bring down the swelling associated with tennis elbow and help you feel better more quickly than heat.

“Clinicians who treat patients with tennis elbow often tell them to try a different size grip in order to alleviate muscle fatigue,” says Dr. Hatch. “Our study demonstrates that those recommendations have no scientific basis. Therefore, it is reasonable to recommend whatever grip size feels most comfortable for them.”