Tennis and Golfer’s Elbow

Don’t be misguided, tennis elbow or golfers elbow doesn’t just affect athletes and sport enthusiasts (particularly to those specific sports), it can be caused by a variety of reasons, which includes trauma or overuse.

Tennis elbow (or Lateral Epicondylitis) is a condition that affects the tendons that attach to the bone around the outside (lateral) part of the elbow. The purpose of tendons are to latch the muscles onto the bone, therefore pain can be caused if these tendons tear or get inflamed and can aggravate the muscle extensor carpi radialis brevis, which is the one that helps extend and stabilises the wrist.

An activity that causes stress on the tendon attachment repetitively can cause tennis elbow, and these stresses can come from both sports and other energetic activities, such as holding a racquet, paint brush, plumbing etc. According to research, up to 30% of repetitive hand workers suffer from tennis elbow and up to 40% of tennis players.

A sudden force to the elbow can cause swelling around the tendon that can lead to degeneration, which means that trauma to the elbow is often considered a likely factor as a cause of tennis elbow.

People with tennis elbow can also experience motor system impairments, which means that small changes in the muscle surrounding the elbow have been made that will influence your ability to use them properly. Due to the fact that adjustments have been made in your muscle fibres, you might still have the same strength but it takes a bit longer to reach your maximum because of pain caused.

If you think you’re suffering from tennis elbow or golfers elbow then be sure to give Bristol Chiropractic Clinic a call as we’re committed to work through the symptoms with you and determined the best treatment to ease the pain. We will work with you to plan a specific recovery treatment that suits your individual needs and excel healing to the affected area in order to improve your quality of life. A specific exercise plan will be drafted by both the chiropractor and yourself to ensure you can use them as often as you need in order to strengthen the tendons and muscles rapidly.

If you are struggling with tennis elbow symptoms then remember you don’t have to suffer alone, give Bristol Chiropractic Clinic a call and a friendly yet professional member of staff will be more than happy to assist you.