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Tennis elbow, called lateral epicondylitis by medical professionals, is a common overuse injury that can affect your elbow. The pain of tennis elbow primarily occurs where the tendons of your forearm muscles attach to the bony prominence on the outside of your elbow (lateral epicondyle). Pain can also spread into your forearm. It's often caused by strenuous, repeated contraction of the forearm muscles that you use to straighten and raise your hand and wrist. This repetitive motion and stress may result in inflammation, or perhaps a series of tears, in the tendons that attach the forearm muscles to the bone at the outside of your elbow.
Signs and symptoms of tennis elbow may include pain that radiates, or travels, from the outside of your elbow into your forearm and wrist. The outside of your elbow may also be tender to the touch. A weak and painful grip is often noted, as well as pain when you extend your wrist.
Rest, ice, and over the counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) may help. Physicians may prescribe prescription medication for pain and inflammation, or perhaps recommend a cortisone injection to further reduce the inflammation. A referral to physical therapy is also a routine intervention for tennis elbow.
Physical therapists often use modalities to reduce your pain, and may fit you with a tennis elbow strap or wrist brace to decrease stress on the tendon insertion. They can also identify aggravating activities and suggest alternative positions that can reduce the repetitive demand on the muscle and tendon, thereby allowing the area an opportunity to heal. A customized exercise program including stretching and progressive resistive exercises to gradually strengthen the irritated muscles is often begun in therapy.
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