Do I have tennis elbow?

Tennis elbow. We’ve all heard that word thrown around somewhere – along with the words golfer’s elbow, and perhaps if you are a baseball fan or player, Tommy John surgery.

But what is it, exactly? And how do I know if I have it?

“Tennis elbow” is a layperson’s term for what we call in the medical field as “lateral epicondylitis”. Though, I should really say what we used to call lateral epicondylitis. We now have moved away from this term because more often than not we don’t see them as acutely anymore (as a “-itis” would, by definition mean it’s inflamed). But we still do use this term interchangeably but I find that most often I see these patients as lateral epicondylalgia (or lateral elbow tendinopathy).

So what does it mean when I have lateral elbow tendinopathy?

“-opathy” as in tendinopathy, refers to any dysfunction of said body part – in this case, the tendon. In the lateral elbow, there is a bony prominence called the lateral epicondyle. And at this bony prominence, most of our extensor muscles of the wrist and hand attach. This means that every time you want to open up your hand or extend your wrist, or grip something and lift, these muscles are working hard to do the task you’ve given it to do.

Doing these movements repetitively, or doing it under loads that we are not used to, can cause some discomfort or pain in the lateral elbow. When it is an acute or a one-time thing – for example, you had to do a lot of shearing of scissors one day for some reason, or you actually played tennis for 4 hours having never played for more than 15 minutes at a time – you can truly have lateral epicondylitis. You have acutely inflamed lateral epicondyle tendons. And this type of injury typically heal relatively quickly – especially with the help of a physiotherapist.

But what I find clinically the most is the ones that have had on and off pain or discomfort for a few weeks or months, thinking it will dissipate or go away on its own, but they start to get worse and worse where it gets to a point where they’re feeling very stiff in the mornings or having pain picking up small items, even. And that’s when they come in to see me for their elbow.

If that’s you, it’s not all bad news.

Of course, it would have been easier and faster healing (typically) if you had come in earlier, but there is still hope for you!

Through the past 8 years of experience, what I found to be the most effective in treating tennis elbow is a combination of intramuscular stimulation (IMS), some modalities (if necessary), home exercise program, and a brace while it heals up!

Depending on your injury, it could take anywhere between 12-18 weeks for you to fully feel recovered. And of course, there’s no cookie-cutter treatment that works for everyone, and there will be ongoing discussion and re-planning of treatment if necessary.

If you think you have tennis elbow, book an appointment with a physiotherapist here, and get back to the best version of yourself!