Tennis elbow medically referred as lateral epicondylitis is severely painful than elbow injuries. In this condition, the tendons of an elbow get overloaded as a resulted of the repetitive movements of wrist and arm. As the name indicates not only tennis players are the victims of this condition. The elbow injuries leading to the damage of these tendons are the main causes that necessitates tennis elbow treatment. Workers like plumbers, carpenters, painters, butchers etc whose job requires frequent usage of elbow, wrist and arms are also vulnerable to this disease. If medications and treatment are not producing any satisfactory results your surgeon may advice elbow surgery for elbow replacement.
Symptoms
Pain due to tennis elbow radiates to your forearms and wrists. The pain makes it difficult to perform the following actions.
- Shaking hands or gripping an object
- Turning a door knob
- Holding a cup of tea
Causes
Over use of the muscles and injury of the tendons and ligaments are the common causes for tennis elbow. The repeated movements cause tearing of the tendons and ligaments. Repeatedly playing back hand stroke in tennis or similar actions in day to day life can lead to the formation of tennis elbow. The other common causes for tennis elbow are furnished below.
- Using of plumbing tools
- Painting
- Cutting meat for cooking
- Continuous use of computer mouse
Risk factors
Age: The most probable ages for the occurrence of tennis elbow are between 30 and 50.
Occupation: Jobs with repetitive movement of wrist and arms can increase the risk of tennis elbow.
Certain sporting activities: Taking part in sporting activities that uses a racket can lead to the formation or tennis elbow.
Treatment
Tennis elbow often gets cured on its own within a short period after its formation. Over the counter medications and complete rest are useful in containing the symptoms. Sever cases of tennis elbow may require surgery.
Therapy
If your tennis elbow is caused as a result of playing tennis your doctor may ask to evaluate your technique of playing so that suitable steps to reduce the strain can be worked out. With the help of a physical therapist your doctor may attempt to strengthen your muscles in the fore arms and wrists. A fore arm strip will be useful in some cases.
Other procedures
Injections: Injecting platelet rich plasma has been found to be extremely beneficial in improving the condition of a tennis elbow affected patient. Botox or other form of prolotherapy is injected using dry needling.
Ultrasonic tenotomy: in this treatment procedure, the doctor inserts a needle into the damaged portion of the tendon. With the help of ultrasonic energy the needle is vibrated swiftly and the damaged tissues are liquefied and taken out.
Surgery: If the patient is not getting any relief even after a period of 6 to 12 months of conservative treatment, than he can be considered as a suitable candidate for elbow surgery by an elbow surgeon northern va. Laparoscopic procedures are now available for elbow replacement surgeries.