Tennis elbow can affect anyone, not just tennis players. It affects between 1% and 3% of all Americans. This condition is caused by using your elbow too much for activities like painting with a roller or using hand tools. Muscles and tendons under too much stress cause pain on the outside of your elbow, and the pain can radiate to your wrist.
The first step to feeling better is ending the overuse. Rest your elbow for a few days to a week, or until the pain begins to subside. You can help reduce pain while you take it easy with ice, compression or anti-inflammatory medication like ibuprofen. Next, consult professionals at REPAIR SI about physical therapy.
Are you ready for a few exercises?
When it’s time to get moving again, you can try exercises that REPAIR SI physical therapists often use to treat tennis elbow symptoms. You can consult us for an exercise routine tailored to you, your pain and your needs for recovery.
We suggest three exercises for tennis elbow:
1. Wrist extension and flexion
Hold your affected arm and hand out in a “stop” gesture. Use your other hand to bend the hand toward you (extension), hold the stretch for 20 to 30 seconds and let go. Your palm should face away from you again. Use your other hand to pull it downward (flexion), toward your body, before holding for 20 to 30 seconds and releasing the stretch.
2. Wrist flexion with weight
Sit at a table or in a chair with arms, with your elbow supported and bent at 90 degrees. Hold a one- to three-pound weight, or a weight that feels comfortable and manageable for you. Use your wrist to curl the weight toward you, then lower it slowly. Straighten and raise your arm slowly, then return it to rest on the table or chair. Practice this exercise without weight first to make sure that you can do it comfortably.
3. Forearm supination and pronation
Following the exercise above, hold the weight with your palm facing your side. Rotate your hand to face upward (supination), to your side again and then downward (pronation). Allow the weight to pull your hand in each direction as much as is comfortable.
Depending on the cause and extent of your symptoms, additional physical therapy exercises for tennis elbow may be helpful. You can consult a physical therapist to design an exercise plan. At REPAIR SI, we can also provide additional treatments to ease your discomfort.
Contact our team today for more information about how we can support your tennis elbow recovery or to schedule an initial evaluation.