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It’s that pain you feel on the outer part of your elbow… In the medical field, we call this lateral epicondylitis. To almost everyone else, it’s known as tennis elbow, or shooter’s elbow, or archer’s elbow, or whatever you want to call it… we know it hurts.

 

The name suggests a correlation with racquet sports. The reality is that tennis elbow can be caused by a variety of activities, with symptoms occurring at the extensor tendon that originates at the lateral epicondyle. Some common causes include overextension of the arm, lifting heavier loads with the palm down, or suddenly pulling on an object. In some cases, direct trauma to the elbow may also result in tennis elbow.

 

Prevention is definitely the best option. If we’re simply talking about playing the game, there are a few things you can do to minimize your risk of developing tennis elbow.

 

• Decrease the amount of playing time if you feel pain or discomfort in the elbow. This can be very difficult to do, but remember that giving up the short-term playing time is better in the long run.

• Work on strengthening the muscles in your forearms. This will likely increase the load you can put on your arms before you become injured. However, this doesn’t mean you should overdo it!!!

• Use the proper playing equipment for your ability, strength, and body size. It doesn’t make sense to use a bigger racquet if you can’t control it with one hand.

 

At Brio, one of the ways we treat tennis elbow is with laser therapy. The laser doesn’t zap away the pain. Instead, it triggers your body to heal itself. Laser light reduces pain and inflammation by increasing circulation to the injured area. We also have at our disposal a device called “the stick,” which helps to relieve muscle

tension, especially in areas that are difficult to stretch.

 

Let us help you feel relief so you can get back to playing that game you love!