If you experience excruciating pain on the outer part of your elbow, the shoulder or as far as the wrist and fingers, it is very likely that you are suffering from tennis elbow, also known as lateral epicondylitis in medical terms. When the arm is exposed to excessive strain of repetitive movements especially while gripping objects, it may cause tiny wears and tears on the tendons that connect the muscles and the bone on the elbow. The condition is called tennis elbow not because it affects tennis players only but because it is more prevalent in them. People who swing or throw their arms the way tennis players do the racket are vulnerable to this condition.
Treating tennis elbow
If it is detected in good time, the treatment for tennis elbow is as simple as preventing inflammation, quelling the pain and allowing the arm rest and heal naturally. However, it is important to consult a doctor to know the severity of the injury because it can be a big problem even if the torn tendons heal but not in the right position. This is when lateral epicondylitis surgery will be necessary to correct the healing and set the tissues where they are supposed to be. Whatever the case, you have to stop using the arm as long as the injury is there until the arms heals completely otherwise you risk causing irreversible damage to the arm elbow, wrist, shoulders and the arm in general.
There are three common treatment options for severe tennis elbow condition. These are trimming abnormal tendons, releasing tendons from the bone and ossatripsy. Tennis elbow surgery is often the last resort when everything else has failed or when the damaged tissues and tendons need surgical intervention to heal right or faster, therefore doctors use other treatment options before it gets to surgery. What is expected of you as a patient is to know what to do to prevent further damage and help the doctor assess the damage by providing every detail about the injury.
Recovery
After the surgery, it will take some time before the arm to heal completely. To accelerate the process and ensure that the arm heals right, there are some stretching tennis elbow exercises that start with simple massage and get more intense with time that can be performed on the injured arm. At the later stages of the injury, strength exercises can be used to return the arm to normalcy.
