Celebrating 24 Years of Service
in the 21st Century !
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Celebrating 24 Years of Service |
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Tennis Can Be A Pain in the Elbow Siegfried Kubler, the inventor of the wide-body tennis racquet, is said to have devised a radical treatment for his tennis elbow; burning it with a soldering iron. By enduring the pain for 10 seconds, he attracted white blood cells in his elbow, hoping they would bring their healing powers to bear on the entire area. Three weeks later, his tennis elbow was gone for good. If that sounds like an excruciating solution, consider the painful effects of tennis elbow. It hits one in every 10 tennis players and can linger for years without proper care. Ground strokes aren’t all that suffer. Starting a car, opening a door or even shaking hands can be agonizing. Tennis elbow, or lateral epicondylitis, strikes the tendon on the outside of the elbow and the attached muscles that extend to the wrist and fingers. Microscopic tears in the soft tissue cause an aching, burning sensation that runs from the elbow about halfway down the outside of the forearm. The game’s most basic elements, the racquet and the stroke, are the primary causes of tennis elbow. Modern racquets, which have wider, stiffer frames, are great for generating power. But they absorb far less shock, meaning the arm must absorb more. Faulty technique – striking the ball with too much wrist – also inflames the soft tissue in the forearm and the elbow. Before Hitting the CourtYou don’t necessarily have to buy a new racquet or revamp your stroke to protect against tennis elbow. Common remedies range from wearing counterforce elbow bands for extra support to getting cortisone shots. Neither is a long-term solution. “The key to preventing tennis elbow is warming up and strengthening the appropriate muscles and tendons,” says Peter Towne, P.T. of Peter A. Towne Physical Therapy, Inc. “Simply hitting the ball around lightly before a match doesn’t cut it.” In addition to designing warm-up and strengthening exercises, physical therapists can treat tennis elbow with ultrasound and electrical nerve stimulation. Talk with your physician if you have these symptoms, and explore whether physical therapy is an option for you. You may also call any of our four offices for more information on tennis elbow. |
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