Learn what's actually happening with tennis elbow that causes pain on the outside of your elbow that can be extremely stubborn to relieve. Tennis elbow, formerly known as lateral epicondylitis but now better known as lateral epicondylopathy, happens after microtearing of the common extensor tendon which ultimately leads to a failed healing process. The painful area has a naturally poor blood flow which makes the healing process difficult. The tendon then subsequently degenerates and the elbow is painful, irritated, and often tender to the touch.

Microtearing of the common extensor tendon is caused by repetitive wrist extension (bending your wrist so your fingers point upwards) as well as supination (turning your palm up) and pronation (turning your palm down.) From research, we know that there's no chronic inflammation in tennis elbow, but instead, the healing process is failing over and over. The period of inflammation typically only lasts a few days after injury, and many cases of tennis elbow last much longer than this.

The failed healing response of the comment extensor tendon eventually causes degeneration in the tendon and predisposes you to a partial or fullthickness tear in the tendon. These more complex injuries can become difficult to rehab and surgery often becomes an option, unfortunately.

Despite its name, tennis elbow is more often caused by other actions than playing tennis. 13% of the general population suffers from this condition each year. It's more common in females 4060 and if you have high cholesterol or are a smoker you're at a higher risk for this condition. Common professions that suffer are bluecollar workers like carpenters, bricklayers, or those who use hand or power tools. In this video, I demonstrate how simple something like swinging a hammer can lead to tennis elbow.

It's exceedingly common in desk/computer workers who use a mouse or keyboard as well because of an extended wrist position for long hours of the day. I demonstrate in the video how this position can contribute to tennis elbow.

Many presentations of tennis elbow will resolve without care, but ones that persist longer may respond well to treatment. In my office, I use a number of treatments to treat tennis elbow, including home rehab exercise programs, dry needling, Graston Technique IASTM, heat, and periodically ultrasound or Estim.

The number one thing I recommend to my patients is consistency with their rehab exercise program. It can sometimes take months for this condition to resolve, but recovery is often based on the damage to the tissue and how long it's been bothersome. Make sure you check out some of my other videos where I demonstrate rehab exercises for the elbow.

If you want to read more about tennis elbow, golfer's elbow, or other common conditions we treat at our Cary, NC chiropractic care office you can check out our website here:

https://www.accesshealthchiro.com/

If you have any questions about tennis elbow that I didn't answer, feel free to ask them and I'll do my best to respond or record another video answering them.