Pain in your lower arm can signal a case of tennis elbow, even if you don’t play tennis. Stress and 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 and adjustments can treat your tennis elbow.
What Is Tennis Elbow?
Tennis elbow, sometimes called lateral elbow pain or lateral epicondylitis, is a repetitive motion injury that affects your wrist, hand, forearm, and elbow joint. Performing the same task over and over strains the tendons and muscles in some or all of these areas, which can lead to painful sensations in your lower arm.
Your elbow joint has three bones, the humerus, radius, and ulna.
The bottom of the humerus has bony bumps called epicondyles, and the one on the outside of your elbow is the lateral epicondyle. The tendons in your forearm are the extensors, and they attach your muscles to the lateral epicondyle. The extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB) stabilizes your wrist when you straighten your elbow.
When your ECRB is stressed or strained, you’ll experience inflammation and pain, AKA tennis elbow.
What Causes Tennis Elbow?
Despite the name, non-athletes can, and often do, develop tennis elbow. It can be acute or chronic.
Acute tennis elbow is caused by repetitive stress on the forearm muscles, like swinging a tennis racket to hit a ball to your opponent. You’ll feel pain and inflammation in the tendon and bony bump at the outer part of your elbow. The pain can last a few days and usually responds to at-home treatment and care.
Chronic tennis elbow is more common in non-athletes between 35 and 55 years old. As we age, our tendons, muscles, and ligaments degenerate. This is part of normal aging, but when you overuse your forearm, you may develop tiny tears in the ECRB. As it heals, scar tissue is formed. While this is part of the healing process, scar tissues are more prone to injury.
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
What Are the Symptoms of Tennis Elbow?
The most common tennis elbow symptom is pain that radiates from your elbow into your forearm and wrist. You may also feel pain in your lateral epicondyle (the bony bump on the outside of your elbow) or in the upper and lower parts of your arm.
While you’ll usually experience this pain in your dominant arm, you can feel it in both arms from something like typing. The pain may range from annoying to intense, making it difficult to hold a cup or turn a doorknob.
Other tennis elbow symptoms include feeling pain when you:
- Lift something
- Make a fist
- Grip an object
- Open a door
- Raise your hand
- Straighten your wrist
- Type
You may also find it difficult to extend your forearm, have a sore or tender elbow, or even experience swelling in the affected areas.
At-Home Care and Treatment for Tennis Elbow
Chiropractic treatment may not be necessary for acute cases of tennis elbow and can often be treated at home. You can:
- Rest. Don’t use the affected arm or arms for a few days, specifically the repetitive motion that likely caused the injury.
- Ice. Icing can reduce inflammation and pain. Apply a cloth-wrapped ice pack to the affected area for 20 minutes every two to three hours.
- Compression. Gently wrapping a compression sleeve around your elbow gives the tendons and muscles support so they can rest and heal.
- Elevation. Elevating your arm above your heart can decrease swelling.
- Anti-inflammatories. Taking an anti-inflammatory can help reduce pain and swelling.
However, if these at-home remedies don’t relieve your pain within a few days or continues for several weeks, you may need professional care for your tennis elbow, and chiropractic care can help.
Chiropractic Adjustments to Treat Tennis Elbow
Chiropractic adjustments treat back pain, but they also improve neck pain. Interestingly, one study found that people experiencing neck pain also had lateral elbow pain, like tennis elbow. While the study did not examine if chiropractic adjustments improved tennis elbow, chiropractic care can be a minimally invasive and drug-free treatment for tennis elbow that relieves pain and restores flexibility.
Some examples of chiropractic treatment for tennis elbow are:
- Chiropractic adjustments. Chiropractic adjustments in the elbow and wrist can decrease any pain caused by compression and reduce inflammation.
- Myofascial release. This type of massage therapy can release muscle tension and improve blood circulation.
- Electrical stimulation. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) uses electrical currents to reduce muscle tightness and promote healing.
- Spinal adjustments. Spinal adjustments can improve neck pain, which is associated with tennis 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 requires typing, painting, or, yes, playing tennis.
The next best step is to take preventive measures before engaging in repetitive motions. You should:
- 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 stress 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.
Chiropractic Care Can Help Tennis Elbow Sufferers
When paired with targeted exercises and physical therapy, chiropractic treatment can treat the pain and inflammation 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.
