What are the causes of tennis elbow?

It is because of overuse of muscle Strain injury

There is a repeated contraction of the forearm muscles, while raising your hand or wrist. As repeated stress out motions to the tissue, it may result to tiny tears into the tendon that are attached to forearm muscles. As muscle gets tired by loading and  overuse, tendon have to take more load and ultimately muscle gets fatiqued. This overloading can cause inflammation and pain, known as tendinitis.

Improper stroke technique while playing

What are the symptoms

• Difficult to grip object, because of pain and weakness
• Pain may radiate from outside elbow to forearm
• Pain at night
• Pain is triggered by certain movements, like wrist movement , twisting or bending your arm
• Swollen elbow joint that is tendon to touch

Anatomy

• The elbow joint is a joint made of three bones, humerus, lower arm bone, radius and ulna, bony bumps, called epicondyle.
• Bony bumps on the outside of the elbow is called “ lateral epicondyle”.
• Muscle, ligament, tendons hold the elbow together.
• The tendon usually involved in the tennis elbow is called “ extensor carpi radialis brevis” ( ECRB )
• ECRB muscle helps to stabilize wrist, when elbow is straight. With overuse, ECRB becomes weaken and microscopic tear develops in tendon. This leads to pain and inflammation.
• As the elbow bends, the muscle rubs against bony bumps. This can cause gradual wear and tear of the muscle over time.

Which age group are affected?

Mostly age of 30 to 50.. only 3% of the population has tennis elbow.

Does tennis elbow affect one arm or both arm?

It affects your dominant side.

How we diagnose?

When we apply pressure to the outer side of elbow, we find tenderness. We ask you to try straighten your wrist and fingers against resistance with your arm fully straight to observe if this causes pain. If it reproduces pain, then your muscles may not be healthy.

Which tests to be done for diagnosis?

• X –ray ; to rule out arthritis of the elbow.
• MRI ; to be done to rule out the extent of the damage in the tendon or to rule out injuries.

Treatment of tennis elbow

• Rest to your elbow: you will have to stop participation in sports, heavy work activities. Avoid movement that aggravates your pain.
• Pain Killers;  like NSAIDS to reduce pain and swelling.
• Try to over counter pain reliever, naproxen, along with physical therapy
• Ice Application: you can apply ice or cold pack for 15 minutes, 3 to 4 times per day.
• Physical therapy: once pain is subsided, you can do physical therapy for strengthening the muscle of the forearm.
• PRP Therapy: it involves taking small sample of your blood from your arm, and centrifuge it to obtain platelets from the solution. It contains high concentration of growth factors, which can be injected into painful area.
•  It restores the function and reduces the pain.
• Cortico-steroid injection: direct inject of this injection to the site, may heal pain and inflammation.

How can I preven tennis elbow?

• Warm –up and stretch muscles , before any activities.
• Avoid as much as repetitive movement.