What is Tennis Elbow?

Tennis elbow, medically known as lateral epicondylitis, is an overuse injury. It occurs when tendons, which attach muscles to bones, become overloaded, resulting in inflammation, degeneration, and potential tearing. While it commonly affects tennis players who grip their racquets too tightly, anyone can develop this painful condition.

The tendon most likely involved in tennis elbow is called the extensor carpi radials brevis. A tendon is a tough cord of tissue that connects muscles to bones.

What are Causes and Risk Factors of Tennis Elbow?

Tennis elbow affects up to 3% of people, mostly between the ages of 30 and 50.

Any activity that strains the muscles around your elbow over and over again can cause tennis elbow.

In tennis, hitting a backhand puts some stress on your forearm muscles, which clench when you hit the ball. If your technique is off or if you grip the racquet too tightly, it puts more stress on the tendons that connect your forearm muscles to your elbow. That can cause the tendons to get small tears.

You can get tennis elbow from playing other racquet sports, such as squash or racquetball. You can also get it from jobs or activities that involve repetitive arm motion, such as:

• Cutting down trees with a chain saw
• Painting
• Carpentry
• Playing some types of musical instruments
• Kitchen work, such as cutting with a knife
• Plumbing
• Working on cars
• Working on an assembly line
• A direct blow to your elbow can also make the tendons swell

What are the symptoms of tennis elbow?

Tennis elbow is usually the result of overuse. Symptoms tend to come on slowly. Pain may get worse over weeks and months. Signs of tennis elbow include:

• Burning or pain on your outer elbow that may travel to your wrist (these sensations may get worse at night).
• Pain when twisting or bending your arm(for instance, to turn a doorknob or open a jar).
• Stiffness or pain when extending your arm.
• Swollen elbow joint that’s tender to touch.

How tennis elbow diagnosed?

The diagnosis of tennis elbow typically involves a combination of a thorough medical history, a physical examination, and sometimes imaging tests .-

Physical Examination: During the physical examination, your doctor will assess the affected arm, elbow, and wrist. They will look for signs of swelling, tenderness, and areas of pain. They may also check your range of motion and ask you to perform certain movements that can reproduce the pain.

• An X-ray to look at the bones of your elbow to see if you have arthritis in your elbow.
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can show your tendons and how severe the damage is. An MRI of your neck can show if arthritis in your neck, or disk problems in your spine are causing your arm pain.
• Electromyography (EMG) of your elbow may show if you have any nerve problems that may be causing your pain.
• Differential Diagnosis: It’s essential to differentiate tennis elbow from other conditions that may cause similar symptoms, like radial tunnel syndrome, cervical spine issues, or nerve compression in the neck

What are the complication of tennis elbow ?

1. Chronic Pain: If left untreated or if the underlying cause of the condition is not addressed, tennis elbow pain can become chronic, persisting for months or even years. Chronic pain can significantly impact daily activities and reduce overall quality of life.
2. Limited Functionality: The pain and stiffness associated with tennis elbow can lead to a reduced range of motion in the affected arm, making it challenging to perform everyday tasks and certain physical activities.
3. Weakened Grip Strength: Tennis elbow can weaken the muscles of the forearm and wrist, resulting in a reduced grip strength. This can affect the
4. Ability to grasp and hold objects firmly, leading to difficulties in performing manual tasks.
5. Tendon Rupture: In severe cases or when the condition is left untreated for an extended period, there is a risk of partial or complete rupture of the extensor tendon in the elbow. This can result in significant disability and may require surgical intervention.
6. Impact on Work and Sports: Tennis elbow can affect individuals in their occupational settings, particularly those involved in repetitive arm movements, manual labor, or sports activities that strain the forearm muscles. It may lead to work-related absenteeism and decreased sports performance.
7. Psychological Impact: Chronic pain and functional limitations can have psychological consequences, including anxiety, depression, and frustration, especially if the condition interferes with daily life and activities one once enjoyed.

What can I do to prevent tennis elbow?

• Keep your arms flexible and strong
• Avoid repetitive movements
• Warm up before exercising or using your arms for sports or other repetitive movements
• If you play a racquet sport, make sure your equipment is right for you.

How homeopathy helps in tennis elbow??

• Homeopathy offers superior treatment for tennis elbow with its medicines gradually reducing tendon inflammation, it can effectively control pain and stiffness in your elbow without using any painful invasive procedures. This, in turn, restores the full range of motion to the arm, forearm, and wrist, enabling individuals to resume all regular activities.

Some Important Homeopathic Medicine:

• Rhus toxicodendron: Affects the fibrous tissue markedly joints, tendons, sheath and aponeurosis – This remedy used for joint and tendon pain, tennis elbow. rhus tox help with symptoms that worsen with initial movement and improve with continued motion and warmth. Hot and painful swelling, soreness’ condyles of bone ,stiffness  and tearing pain in tendon , ligaments and fasciae , pain along the ulnar nerve , loss of power in forearm and finger.

• Ruta graveolens: Tennis elbow due to overuse and injury – Made from the herb rue butterwort, complaints from straining, especially the flexor tendon. Contraction of fingers. Pain and stiffness in wrist and hands. Ruta also helps in strain injury of elbow.

• Calcarea fluorica: For hardened or fibrous tissue– This remedy is sometimes used for conditions involving hardened or fibrous tissue. It might be suggested if there is a sense of hardness or thickening around the elbow area.

• Bellis Perennis – For Healing Tendon Injury, Inflammation-

Bellis Perennis is another medicine of natural origin to treat tennis elbow cases. It is prepared from flowering plant named ‘English daisy’. Repetitive stress injury and inflammation of tendon of elbow due to exertion or overuse of muscles is highly treatable with this medicine. This medicine is also indicated to help cases of direct injury to elbow. It helps to heal injured tendons and reduce its inflammation and reduce elbow pain.

• Kali Bichromicum – Tennis elbow when pain in small spot and shifting pain

When the pain extends to the hand, Kali Bi is one of the best homeopathic medicines for tennis elbow. There is pain in small spots. The pains are often moving in nature. One moment, there is pain in one particular spot and sometime later, the pain moves to another spot. There is stiffness and cracking in the joints.

• Chamomilla officinalis– Tennis elbow with pain aggravated on carrying a weight.

When the pain gets worse on carrying any weight, Chamomilla is one of the best homeopathic medicines for tennis elbow. There is numbness of the parts along with the pain. The pains are severe and unendurable. The pains are worse at night. Mental irritability is characteristic of this medicine.

Why Cosmic Homeo Healing Centre?

Cosmic Homeo Healing centre is run by second generation Homeopath Dr. Mahavrat Patel having vast clinical records of more than 75 years and clinical experience of nearly 50 years in the treatment of various cases of tennis elbow . Under the able guidance of Dr. Mahavrat Patel, our team of experts has been successfully treating thousands of cases of tennis elbow for many years.