Tennis Elbow Treatment - Brisbane MSK Therapy Clinic

The medically named condition Lateral Epicondylitis (Tennis Elbow) can occur for many reasons and is commonly seen and treated in the MSK Clinic setting. Many people are more familiar with the widely known term, tennis elbow. Tennis players are not the only ones to suffer from lateral epicondylitis symptoms. Tennis players can experience tennis elbow symptoms due to many factors relating to technique, equipment, surface, training, the forces involved and repetition. Many other activities rely heavily on forearm extensor muscles, including hammering, playing many instruments and intricate dextrous work. The forearm extensor muscles are easy to see when lifting a weight, such as in the kettlebell image. However, Tennis Players may also suffer from Golfer's Elbow or Medial Epicondylitis. Tennis elbow is a type of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) is common in certain professions or trades like mechanics, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, manual therapists, office workers, hairdressers and musicians.

Although myofascial trigger points may have a controversial historical basis, evidence continues to demonstrate their relevance in myofascial pain conditions _[1,2,3,4]. Myofascial trigger points appear to develop due to trauma and overuse, which is the widely agreed consensus within the research community _[5]. Such injury mechanisms are also the primary causes of Tennis Elbow pain and studies have detected the presence of myofascial trigger points _[6,7,8].

Biotensegrity effectively explains how force application changes within the body and affects biomechanics, (see the Biotensegrity Article). Lateral epicondylitis occurs due to two main injury mechanisms, direct trauma or overuse. The human body's response to injury and healing involves an inflammatory response. Tennis elbow is no different and results in inflammation affecting forearm extensor muscles and the tendon(s) near their origin of the elbow. Often people ask what the difference is between tennis elbow and tendonitis. In acute or early stages of Tennis elbow the condition is a form a tendonitis, with minimal cellular structural changes to the tendon and surrounding tissues.

Many MSK-related inflammatory conditions tend to be easily irritated, leading to conditions becoming chronic if poorly managed, (see the article on Persistent Pain). If tennis elbow goes untreated and further damage occurs, the injured tendons can develop tendinosis. Repeated injury and attempts by the body to heal tissues can result in microscopic physical changes to the cell structure of tendons. Changes result in the collagen fibre cellular structure becoming disorganised, resulting in a thickening of the tendon. These microscopic changes then negatively impact the properties of the tissue and function. Hence, stopping activities that rely heavily on forearm extensor muscles is usually best and, while symptomatic, like lifting weights. Luckily, the tennis elbow is easily treatable with the right approach, and early intervention is best.

In some cases, such as obvious trauma, the reason for symptoms of the lateral epicondylitis symptoms may be clear, though this is often not the case. Even with a specific direct trauma, many people never seek any treatment, often resorting to anti-inflammatory medications, rest until symptoms appear to subside or resort to a tennis elbow brace. Direct traumas often occur due to blunt force trauma, such as a fall or bashing one's elbow. Falls can typically impact many body areas, even if the elbow appears to have taken the brunt of the fall.

As with many types of inflammatory type conditions, symptoms often include pain, swelling and evening a burning sensation. Sometimes symptoms can feel better with activity or as tissues warm up, only to worsen later. Equally, depending on the types of activities that one does, symptoms may seem to improve throughout the day and then seem worse in the morning or after rest. One may also feel that stretching the affected area makes symptoms seem better at the time, though only to feel much worse later. Tennis elbow pain is classically felt on the outside forearm near the elbow, with symptoms of tenderness. Besides pain, forearm muscle weakness is another common symptom, such as grip strength weakness.

A reasonable degree of research supports the effectiveness of using specific myofascial release techniques to treat tennis elbow (Lateral epicondylitis). However, there is very little research into the treatment of Golfer's Elbow (Medial Epicondylitis), which is most likely due to the difference in condition prevalence. It is essential to understand that there are limitations of the research, and equally, Tennis Elbow is a far more commonly seen condition than Golfer's Elbow. There are many ways to treat tennis elbow and various forms of self-help and professional help. However, it is important to understand that although tennis elbow symptoms may be similar between people, actual causes or injury mechanisms can vary substantially. Hence, effective treatment approaches need tailoring to individual circumstances and not a one-fit-all approach. Self-help can prove useful, though there are limits on what is achievable. Many patients take over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications (pills or creams), ice the area, stretch the tissues, use a tennis elbow brace etc. These strategies may provide short-term relief but tend not to resolve the actual cause. There are also well-known longer-term issues with relying on anti-inflammatory medications or other over-the-counter pain relief medications. Equally, some people use kinesiology tape, which in many respects can prove helpful and much like a tennis elbow brace in the short term. However, constantly relying on tape can prove expensive and not address the reason for symptoms.

There are also many professional-based treatment options and varying cost levels. Some therapists still treat soft tissue injuries with ultrasound or newer, more expensive technologies such as shockwave therapy. In the author's 16 years of clinical practice, he has found that myofascial release techniques can work exceptionally well in treating many musculoskeletal conditions and injuries, including tennis elbow. The research is slowly catching up with what the author has observed in clinical practice. Some soft tissue therapy treatment methods have little to no research, as nobody has performed any. Clinically a technique with no apparent research could be very effective, as research limitations exist. However, there are also many other soft tissue therapies with an increasing research base. Myofascial release treatments cover a broad category of specific soft tissue techniques that work directly or indirectly with myofascial trigger points. Trigger point Dry Needling is one such method with a good evidence base for the treatment of tennis elbow _[9,10,11]. However, there are also many dry needling techniques, some of which, such as "pecking" and electro-needling, can prove more painful/unpleasant than other techniques. Studies have also shown other myofascial release techniques involving ischemic compression is just as effective as trigger point dry needling _{[12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19]}. Such ischemic compression techniques might include Neuromuscular therapy or Positional Release Technique.

Massage can be good for tennis elbow pain, but massage is a general term, and training can also vary hugely. Massage therapy could easily worsen symptoms if the therapist has not identified the root cause and or applies the wrong treatment approach. Individual injury characteristics and professional experience dictate the most appropriate techniques in any given situation. Often patients ask if heat is good for tennis elbow, though heat increases blood flow (fluids) to the injured tissues. The inflammatory response is a critical aspect of soft tissue repair, though too much inflammation and fluids can create additional cellular damage. Hence, often it is better to cool the injury site within the first 72 hours using cold gel packs (icing) or similar to reduce initial inflammation levels. However, tissue still need to heal and too much icing can effectively slow down the healing process.

Sadly, one often sees patients with previous unresolved injuries that have led to further injury or different and seemingly unrelated injuries. Typically, other such injuries manifest over time or with a change in activity or frequency thereof. Activities do not need to be sport-related and can involve work, hobbies, or anything involving how one uses one's body. Sometimes it is a case of making simple changes to one's workspace setup, taking breaks and taking other preventative measures (see the article on setting up an Ergonomic computer setup). Most computer work is repetitive, and a poor setup can easily lead to tennis elbow symptoms and other conditions such as Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI), Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and more. Equally, incorrect training techniques can easily result in excessive tissue demands and tennis elbow symptoms. The articles on injury prevention help explain some general injury avoidance strategies and many possible variables involved in training-related sports injuries, (see the Basic Sports Injury Prevention Strategies article).

Prevention is always the best option, followed by treatment if and when needed. One cannot underestimate the value of a good and reputable coach as part of an injury prevention strategy in sports. Advice relating to equipment and technique can play a considerable role in injury prevention. Many variables can contribute to injury, and a coach can advise on racket material, racket head size, grip size, string type and tension, playing surfaces, balls and more.