Tennis elbow: The facts   Tennis elbow: The myths

1. You only get it from playing tennis – WRONG
2. You can’t do anything about it -WRONG

Tennis elbow : The truth

1. It is usually due to a problem with the rather tongue twisting named muscle & tendon unit : extensor carpi radialis brevis or ECRB for short.
2. You can get it better. The research shows that physiotherapy is more effective than a cortisone injection in the mid to long term.   (Barr 2009)
3. It is characterised by pain at the lateral/outer side of the elbow typically on gripping and lifting activities and the area is tender when pressed firmly.
4. Pain can be referred from the neck, shoulder or elbow joint itself so it is important to rule these out.
5. Most commonly it affects the dominant arm and is most prevalent between 35-54 years of age.
6. The average duration of a typical episode is between 6 months and 2 years(Smidt 2006)
7. Recurrence rate ranges between 33-50% after 18 months (Berglund 2008).

Everyone is different, but once a specific diagnosis has been made,treatment options include:

Work ergonomics, Improving flexibility, Improving strength, manual therapy, taping & acupuncture.

Want to get rid of the pain quickly and prevent it coming back?

Get in touch and book in!

References

• Alizadehkhaiyat (2007) Upper limb muscle imbalance in tennis elbow: a functional and EMG assessment. Journal of Orthopaedics Research. 25;1651-7
• Barr S, Cerisola FL & Blanchard V (2009) Effectiveness of corticosteroid injections compared with physiotherapeutic interventions for lateral epicondylitis : A systematic review. Physiotherapy, Dec; 95 (4): 251-65.
• Berglund KM, Persson BH & Denison E (2008) Prevalence of pain and dysfunction in the cervical and thoracic spine in persons with and without lateral elbow pain. Manual Therapy 13;295-299.
• Bunata R, Brown D & Capelo R (2007) Anatomic factors related to the cause of tennis elbow. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. 89;1955-63.
• Green S, Buchbinder R, Barnsley L, Hall S, White M, Smidt N, Assendelft WJJ. (2008) Acupuncture for lateral elbow pain. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews Issue 1.
• Kibler B& Sciascia A (2004) Kinetic chain contributions to elbow function and dysfunction in sports. Clinical Sports Medicine. 23;545-552.
• Pasternack I (2001) MR findings in humeral epicondylitis. A systematic review. Acta Radiologica. Vol. 42 (5), pp. 434-40.
• Smidt et al (2006) Lateral epicondylitis in general practice: Course and prognostic indicators of outcome. Journal of Rheumatology.33;2053-9.
• Struijs (2003) Manipulation of the wrist for management of lateral epicondylitis: a randomized pilot study. Physical Therapy 83(7);608-16
• Trinh K (2004) Acupuncture for the alleviation of lateral epicondyle pain: a systematic review. Rheumatology 43; 1085-1090.

•Woodley (2007) Chronic tendinopathy: effectiveness of eccentric exercise. Br J Sports Med.41:188-198