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Tennis elbow is a condition involving the tendons connecting your forearm muscles to your upper arm.
If you're experiencing pain or discomfort, our orthopaedic specialists can provide accurate diagnosis, expert advice and effective medical treatment for tennis elbow.
At HCA UK we offer:
Tennis elbow, clinically known as lateral epicondylitis, is a common overuse or strain injury causing pain on the outside of the elbow. It's often confused with golfer's elbow, which refers to medial epicondylitis (on the inside of the joint).
The pain from tennis elbow usually stems from inflammation of the tendons that connect your forearm muscles to a bone structure at the base of your upper arm bone (humerus).
Although it is possible for the condition to heal naturally, repeated strain without treatment can worsen symptoms over time. The most serious cases result in microscopic tears of the tendon as overuse pulls fibres away from the bone, needing much longer and more drastic measures to recover.
Despite its name, you can develop tennis elbow from any activity where repetitive movement of the forearm fatigues the muscles and overloads the tendons around the joint. This is why people who play racket sports are more susceptible, just as professionals who rely on hand tools or repeat the same motions are as well.
What are the symptoms of tennis elbow?
Tennis elbow isn't just a sports injury, as the name suggests. Lateral epicondylitis can develop in anyone repeatedly straining their forearm muscles or overloading them in sharp bursts.
Repetitive movements of your forearm can quickly fatigue its relatively small muscles. When this happens, the tendons connecting your muscles to the lateral epicondyle (the bony bump on the outside of your elbow) take more of the strain. If they become consistently overloaded, this can cause inflammation, pain and eventually tearing of the tendon.
Tendons are tough, cord-like tissues which move our limbs as the muscles they're connected to contract and relax. They're also important to absorb the various impacts and strains of movement. However, overloading tendons can strain the fibres and eventually tear them. Both medial and lateral epicondylitis are forms of tendonitis.
The tendon most likely responsible for tennis elbow symptoms is the one attached to the extensor carpi radialis brevis muscle, but any of the four muscles in the forearm could be affected by repetitive strain and lead to tendon damage.
Your consultant will first assess your medical history and discuss your symptoms with you. A physical examination, checking for swelling, stiffness and any pain around the elbow joint during movement, should provide much of the information needed to diagnose tennis elbow, if that is the issue.
In some cases, additional testing may be needed to rule out any nerve damage, arthritis or fractures causing the pain. This may include:
Living with lateral epicondylitis can make it more difficult and painful to carry out everyday tasks. It may even impact your ability to work and relax, so finding the best relief for tennis elbow is crucial.
The condition can get better on its own with enough rest. However, treatments may help to speed up the recovery process or heal the damage if it's not doing so naturally.
A shoulder and elbow consultant will first suggest non-surgical treatments for tennis elbow. These are often effective in the earlier stages of the condition and less severe cases.
Physical therapy may be recommended by shoulder and elbow consultants as an effective treatment for chronic lateral epicondylitis. It's more common in cases where symptoms have persisted for a long time or the pain is more severe.
With the support of a physiotherapy specialist, you'll learn how to strengthen the muscles in your forearm to ease the burden on your tendons and gradually restore movement and flexibility around the elbow. This is typically achieved with a range of stretching and strength exercises.
Physiotherapy treatment for tennis elbow may also include manual techniques such as massage.
If physiotherapy and other non-surgical treatments are unsuccessful in restoring pain-free movement to your joint, tennis elbow release may be recommended by your consultant.
The procedure can be done by elbow arthroscopy (a type of keyhole surgery) or open surgery to give the surgeon better access to the joint and surrounding tendons. Your consultant will discuss the type of anaesthetic you'll be placed under beforehand, with there being pros and cons to both local and general anaesthetic.
For elbow arthroscopy, you may only need local anaesthetic. This means you'll be awake during the surgery, but you won't feel any pain and you'll avoid the side-effects that can accompany general anaesthetic, such as nausea.
Your surgeon will make small incisions on both sides of the elbow and insert a tiny surgical camera to allow them to assess the damage likely to be causing your pain and take the necessary steps, whether that be removing a bone spur or cutting and removing damaged muscles and tendons to promote healthy regrowth.
If open surgery is needed, a cut will be made on the outside of your elbow. Once the lateral epicondyle and the surrounding tendons have been exposed, the surgeon will assess the damage and make repairs or cut away any bone, tendon or muscle that is preventing healing.
Your consultant will discuss everything regarding the surgery in a pre-appointment meeting and can answer any questions you may have. Most tennis elbow release procedures are day cases, so no overnight stay required. However, arranging a pick up in advance to take you home after your surgery is advised.
Following your operation, you'll need several weeks to make a full recovery. Your consultant will outline any ongoing physiotherapy exercises to help restore your strength and movement.
There are ways to prevent tennis elbow from developing or stop it reappearing after successful treatment, including:
Use our consultant finder to select a tennis elbow specialist who can help you with lateral epicondylitis. You'll also be able to check their working locations, areas of expertise, accreditations and Doctify consultant rating.
Tennis elbow can sideline you from sports, work and other activities for weeks and months without the right treatment. By getting in touch with one of our orthopaedic experts you will receive the best treatment options for your tennis elbow troubles. You can make an appointment with one of our experienced tennis elbow specialists by using the link below to choose your consultant and book into their diary directly.
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