Tennis elbow, is a common clinical condition. It is actually the common name for the external epicondylitis of the humerus. It refers to the local pain and painful wrist extension resistance caused by injury to 1-3 tendon stops located in this area of the lateral epicondyle of the humerus with excessive strain and strain. Of course, in severe cases, a tear of the tendon can occur, which usually requires surgical repair treatment. For patients who have not been ill for too long (usually 1-3 months), most of them can be completely relieved through self-protection, rehabilitation and treatment. Of course, the first step is to seek professional diagnosis, and only after the doctor thinks it is suitable for conservative treatment, can you follow the methods of self-treatment I describe below.
Self-treatment mainly includes three aspects.
1, to protect the injured area from further damage.
(1) that is, if the cause of the injury caused by excessive force or repeated strain, you should first avoid continuing to repeat the injury action (cause), so that the injured tendon to get sufficient rest, so that the basis for healing, otherwise, if you keep repeating the injury, and how can it be successfully cured?
(2) The best time to work or force (of course, should be minimized, but sometimes there is no way), then you can apply a Velcro elbow protector, (Figure 1, note that the elbow protector should be worn in the thickest part of the arm in front of the elbow joint, that is, the most muscular part, the best effect) to reduce the pulling force on the tendon when force.
Figure 1.
2. Increase the strength of the muscles associated with the injured tendon and enhance its ability to resist external overuse injuries.
This is mainly muscle strength exercises, mainly resistance exercises, introducing several classic movements to everyone:.
(1) wrist extension resistance exercises: is the most important action, but also directly enhance the muscle strength of the injured tendon.
See Figure 2: Note that the weight of the dumbbells used to practice must be light, I advocate 500 grams can be. This will prevent yourself from grasping the intensity of the exercise, but instead cause unnecessary injury aggravation.
Figure 2.
The arrow on the left side refers to the site of pain, and the arrow on the right side refers to the direction of the wrist joint force
(2) Flexion wrist resistance exercises: see Figure 3, because the flexion and extension of the wrist muscles are equivalent to a group of confrontation and collaboration of two sources of strength, the balance of power is the best, so the flexion wrist muscle strength also need to practice.
Figure 3.
(3) Wrist lateral muscle strength exercises: see Figure 4, in order to enhance the strength of other wrist muscles, more help to enhance the entire forearm labor and reduce the occurrence of overuse injuries.
Figure 4.
The arrow refers to the direction of force
But here is a reminder: there are methods and indicators for the exercises. The method is repeated practice, each action well can do 3-4 groups, each group of exercises effective indicators is the muscle feels fatigued enough. Then you can rest 1-2 minutes, and then repeat. There is also an important indicator is to pay attention to the reaction of the pain area after the exercise, if it is getting better or the pain is not aggravated in the short term, it means that you can continue to practice so. If it is obviously aggravated or feel the trend of aggravation, you should pause and seek professional medical advice on how to practice properly.
3, or I want to emphasize, if the injury is relatively recent, you should ice it for 5-7 days, it should have an effect. Also, and more importantly: after each practice of muscle strength, if the pain in the painful area has increased, or if you feel swelling, you should apply ice 1-2 times after the practice, which can make the congested tissue contract so that the swelling does not increase and affect the recovery.
Other treatments for tennis elbow
This disease, also known as humeral epicondylitis, manifests as pain in the external epicondyle of the humerus. It is mostly seen in tennis, table tennis and other sports. This injury is mostly caused by chronic strain that leads to end-stop disease of the tendon of the humeral epicondyle, degenerative changes of the tendon and the soft tissue inflammation under it, limited synovitis of the humeral radial joint, and degenerative changes of the annular ligament. In a few patients, the disease is caused by direct impingement. Clinically, the patient presents with lateral elbow pain radiating up and down; inability to lift heavy objects in the hand with symptoms of loss of strength; pressure pain in the external epicondyle of the humerus on examination; spasticity and stiffness of the forearm extensors; painful wrist extension resistance; and a positive Mill’s test. The disease can be treated surgically and conservatively.
In the early stage of the disease, the treatment should be based on braking or reducing the activities, and avoiding the movements that cause the injury, such as wringing towels and lifting heavy objects as much as possible. If necessary, it can be fixed in a cast for 2~3 weeks or wrapped with an elastic bandage around the proximal forearm to reduce muscle contraction and pulling stimulation. It can also be combined with massage, physical therapy, such as local laser irradiation, as well as local tendon stopping point injection of prednisolone class drugs closed treatment. Chronic strain injury that does not heal: surgery can be considered. Surgical methods such as tendon stop release, degenerative tissue and inflammatory tissue removal are effective. Minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery can also be used for cleanup.