Tennis and Golfer’s Elbow (Epicondylitis)
Tuck your elbows into your sides, the bony protrusion of the elbow making contact with your body is the medial epicondyle, discomfort in this area is known as golfer’s elbow. On the other side is the lateral epicondyle which is where you would feel discomfort if you had tennis elbow
Everybody will either know the feeling of Epicondylitis or at least heard of someone complain about the sensation… so what are the causes❓
- Tennis, Golf and other sports involving gripping or throwing.
- Jobs involving movements in an awkward posture – eg, arms lifted in front of the body, hands bent or twisted, and precision movements, particularly squeezing and twisting movements
- New and unaccustomed strains such as DIY, gardening, lifting a new baby, moving house, carrying luggage, etc.
- Lengthy computer use.
- Use of vibrating tools.
General advice
- Modify activities causing or exacerbating the symptoms
- Activity restriction: avoid lifting, gripping and twisting of the forearm
- Rehabilitation exercises. The key to treatment is to increase the strength of the tendons gradually while avoiding any activity that overloads the tendons.
- Rehabilitation exercises include painless passive wrist flexion and progressive resisted wrist extension.
- Massage and taping have a positive effect on reducing symptoms in both the short and intermediary term with changes in habit and strengthening exercises required for long-term resolution from what led to the development of this overuse injury.
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