What is Tennis Elbow?

It is called lateral epicondylitis in medical language. It is a painful disease caused by overuse of the elbow. Tennis elbow is an inflammation or sometimes tearing of the tendons that join the forearm muscles on the outside of the elbow.

Forearm muscles and tendons are damaged by overuse. If the same movements are repeated for a long time and continuously, pain and tenderness occur on the outside of the elbow. For this reason, the probability of this disease is high in connection with movement in many sports fields such as tennis. While diagnosing the disease, the patient's history is primarily listened to by the doctor. A physical examination is then performed. The definitive diagnosis is made with examinations such as MRI and X-ray.

What Are the Symptoms of Tennis Elbow?

Pain in the outer part of the elbow (lateral epicondyle), tenderness, stiffness, burning sensation, prominence in the elbow, swelling in the elbow, weakness in the forearm, difficulty in lifting the arm, difficulties in holding small objects, difficulties and pains when opening jars or lids.

What Are the Risk Factors for Tennis Elbow?

A tendon is a tough cord of tissue that connects muscles to bones. The tendon in tennis elbow is called extensor carpi radialis brevis. It is usually seen between the ages of 30-50. Occupation emerges as a separate risk factor. It is a risk factor in occupational groups that include repetitive movements of the wrist and arm. In some sports, such as cooks, butchers, tennis elbow may develop due to synchronized and long-term repetition using the wrist and arm.

What are the Treatment Methods for Tennis Elbow?

Tennis elbow can heal on its own in some cases. At the same time, some treatment methods are effective for reducing and improving symptoms and pain. It is possible to reduce inflammation by resting the arm with painful or tennis elbow, applying a cold compress, pain relievers such as Paracetamol and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Steroid injections and applications known as tennis elbow tape are also supportive. Apart from medication and some precautions, physical therapy is recommended to reduce the symptoms of the disease. Physical therapy methods such as massage, TENS, electrotherapy, hot-cold application and exercises are performed. Surgical removal of the damaged part of the tendon is used as a last resort depending on the severity of the disease. The ESWT method is applied as the gold standard in electrotherapy in tennis elbow and gives successful results.