Physical therapy for tennis elbow

Tennis players are not the only ones who suffer from tennis elbow. While the injury is a common sports injury, it can be acquired from everyday activities. Spending hours at the computer, cooking and any other activity that requires repetitive movements at the elbow can lead to tennis elbow. 

Tennis elbow occurs when the tendons at the end of the elbow develop small tears due to these repetitive motions. Hitting a ball with a tennis racket over and over again or typing for hours at your keyboard can aggravate these small tears. These tears cause pain on the back of the arm and the elbow. This injury usually only requires minor treatment; however, left untreated it can become chronic. Before you toss out your keyboard, whisk or tennis racket, know that physical therapy can help heal and relieve the pain.  

How physical therapy can help with tennis elbow

Physical therapy can provide pain relief for tennis elbow, healing and the prevention of repeated injury. This is done through education and exercise.

• Education — A physical therapist will teach you how to manage the pain. This can be done through proper rest, cold therapy, muscle stimulation, and the use of tape or braces for support. Once the pain is manageable, the physical therapist will instruct you on exercises to heal and prevent future injuries.
• Therapeutic exercise — Physical therapy for tennis elbow consists of various exercises. These often include finger stretches, squeezing a soft ball repetitively, wrist stretches and turns, and light weights. The goal is to improve the strength and flexibility of the forearm. A physical therapist will guide you in gradually training the muscles and tendons to tolerate exercise without overstimulating them. A balancing act of rest and exercise is important.
• Isometric exercise — Isometric exercises are a key part of many tennis elbow treatments because of their low impact and demand. These exercises do not place any additional strain on your tendons that are trying to recover. Other exercises work by contracting and releasing the muscles, but isometric exercises do not force your muscles to grow shorter or longer. The result is achieving stronger muscles without putting additional pressure on the inflammation in your tendons.
• Eccentric exercise — Many exercises are designed to engage the muscles and force them to contract. Eccentric muscles aim to achieve the opposite to help the muscle relax. An example of an eccentric exercise would be holding a weight and slowly letting it lower. The force of gravity pulling against the weight while your muscles slightly resist by slowing its decline strengthens the muscles.

With the help of our trained specialists, you’ll be back to the activities you love and equipped with the skills necessary to prevent future injury. 

Visit SSOR for tennis elbow injuries

The main objective of physical therapy for tennis elbow is to build strength and flexibility. At SSOR, our physical therapists will evaluate your injury and develop an individualized plan to help you recover and prevent tennis elbow. Contact us today to learn more and to schedule your first appointment.