Tennis Elbow, or to give it its full name lateral epicondylitis, is a condition anybody can suffer from not just tennis players!! It is characterised by pain around the outside of the elbow and forearm and is often tender to the touch as well as on movement, particularly movements involving clasping the hand.
It is caused by the muscle groups in your forearm becoming too tight and starting to pull on the bones of the elbow where they attached. Historically it was something that tennis players would suffer with in their playing arm hence the name tennis elbow. This is also a similar condition which gives pain on the inside of the elbow called Golfers elbow as it is again commonly associated with golf players.
Treatment involves taking the strain off the boney attachment point by using massage techniques to reduce the tension in the forearm, certain types of strapping and tapping as well as ice therapy can also be beneficial
Interestingly in my experience I have most often seen this condition in gardeners who have spent alot of time using secateurs, so go careful with the pruning – don’t try and do it all at once!! It can also be associated with computer use, typing and using the mouse recruit the same muscle groups so can bring on the tension in these muscles that cause tennis elbow.
