Pain in your lower arm can signal a case of tennis elbow, even if you don’t play tennis. Stress and repetitive strain from common activities, like typing or painting, can stress the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in our arms, leading to pain that can make simple tasks unbearable.
Over-the-counter pain medications can help, but chronic pain needs a more permanent solution. While your first instinct may be surgery, you may be surprised to learn that chiropractic care offers the pain relief you’re looking for.
What Is Tennis Elbow?
Tennis elbow, sometimes called lateral elbow pain or lateral epicondylitis, is a repetitive motion injury in your wrist, hand, forearm, and elbow joint. It can be acute or chronic, but often happens due to degeneration in a tendon.
What Causes Tennis Elbow?
Unlike some conditions that are caused by a single injury, repetitive motions and muscle strain often lead to tennis elbow.
Your elbow joint has three bones:
- Humerus. The upper arm bone. The bottom of the humerus has bony bumps called epicondyles, which form the top of your elbow. The bump on the outer elbow is the lateral epicondyle.
- Ulna. The large bone in the bottom part of your arm (forearm). It’s the big bone on the pinky side of your arm. The top end of the ulna is the pointy part of your elbow.
- Radius. The smaller bone in your forearm. It’s on the thumb side of your arm and helps your arm rotate.
A number of muscles in your upper and lower arm attach to the elbow. The tendons in your forearm are the extensors, and they connect your muscles to the lateral epicondyle. The extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB) is one of those muscles, and it stabilizes your wrist when you straighten your elbow.
When you grip, lift, or extend your wrists, you can stress and overload the ECRB. Over time, this overload causes tiny tears where the ECRB attaches to your bone. As you move and bend your elbow, these tiny tears worsen, leading to inflammation and pain that, eventually, becomes too hard to ignore.
Tennis elbow is rightfully associated with tennis players. Stretching the arm, stabilizing the lower arm, and hitting the tennis ball with the racquet are stressful motions repeated through a set or match. However, many non-athletes can and do develop tennis elbow because of the repetitive motions and strain placed on the ECRB. Some common activities outside of tennis that can cause tennis elbow are:
- Golfing
- Frequent typing
- Using a mouse
- Carpentry
- Working in a warehouse
- Giving massages (as a therapist)
- Cutting and styling hair (as a profession)
- Painting
- Playing the violin
- Rowing
Are There Different Types of Tennis Elbow?
In most cases, tennis elbow happens slowly and over a long period of time, not due to a one-time injury. However, tennis elbow can be acute or chronic.
Acute tennis elbow occurs from repetitive arm movement that places stress on the muscles. It causes pain and inflammation in your ECRB and in the outer part of the elbow. The pain may last a few days but usually responds to at-home care and treatment, like ice, compression, and elevation. You can also gently stretch and massage your elbow and forearm to increase blood flow and reduce any lingering tension.
Chronic tennis elbow is more common in non-athletes between 35 and 55 years old. A normal part of aging is the degeneration of tendons, muscles, and ligaments throughout our bodies. When you overuse the ECRB, those tiny tears may heal and form scar tissue. You may notice nothing early on, but scar tissue is more prone to injury, making it more likely that as you age and repeatedly stress the ECRB, you feel pain in your elbow.
What Are the Common Symptoms of Tennis Elbow?
In most cases, tennis elbow symptoms start slowly. You may feel a slight ache or twinge in your elbow every now and again. But with time, that pain can worsen.
The most common tennis elbow symptom is pain radiating from your elbow into your forearm and wrist. You may also feel pain in the lateral epicondyle or the upper and lower parts of your arm. Most times, the pain is in your dominant arm. However, some activities, like typing, can cause tennis elbow pain in both arms. The pain may be annoying or intense, making it difficult to do something as simple as hold a cup or turn a doorknob.
- Tennis elbow pain may also feel like:
- Elbow swelling
- Weak grip strength
- Wrist or forearm weakness
- Difficulty extending your forearm
Chiropractic Treatment for Tennis Elbow
Some cases of tennis elbow respond to at-home care, but if your symptoms don’t resolve in a few days, a chiropractor may be able to treat tennis elbow and provide relief. While more studies are needed, some research indicates that chiropractic care and adjustments may provide pain relief and improve functionality in the wrist and elbow.
Depending on the severity of your tennis elbow, your chiropractor may use a combination of:
- Chiropractic adjustments. Gentle force and trust in the elbow, wrist, and shoulder can reduce any pain caused by nerve compression and the resulting inflammation. This allows your tendons and muscles to heal while reducing strain.
- Myofascial release. A specialized type of soft tissue massage therapy that can help reduce scar tissue while releasing muscle tension and improving blood circulation to help your body heal.
- Spinal adjustments. The spine may not seem related to your tennis elbow, but realigning your spine can improve neck pain, which is associated with tennis elbow. When your cervical spine (neck) irritates the nerves that connect to your elbow, you may feel pain. But you may also create tension in your neck to compensate for a weak elbow, which creates a feedback loop of more pain in your elbow.
How Do I Prevent Tennis Elbow?
The best way to stop tennis elbow from recurring is to avoid repetitive motions that strain the lateral epicondyle tendon. However, this isn’t always possible, especially if your job duties involve certain repetitive motions, like typing or using a hammer. And if you like certain activities, like racquet sports, including pickleball and tennis, you may not be able to avoid tennis elbow.
Instead of quitting your job or giving up your favorite hobby, preventive measures can protect your elbow.
- Stretch. Before engaging in an activity you know will stress your forearm, stretch and warm up your muscles.
- Build strength. Squeeze and release exercises strengthen your wrist muscles to help you avoid future injury.
- Brace. If you have to engage in an activity that will cause repetitive stress on your elbow, using a tennis elbow brace will take the strain off those tendons while they heal.
- Take a break. Frequent breaks will reduce strain and tension, giving your muscles a chance to rest and recover.
Can a Chiropractor Fix Tennis Elbow?
Whether done alone or paired with targeted exercises and physical therapy, chiropractic treatment can treat the inflammation and pain associated with tennis elbow and prevent it from recurring.
The compassionate team of chiropractors at Flourish Chiropractic Spa will create a treatment plan that targets your tennis elbow pain, restores your mobility, and has you back on the court in no time. Schedule an appointment today.
