Tennis Elbow / Lateral Epicondylitis Tests and Exercises

Have you been told that you have Tennis Elbow? What is it really?

Tennis elbow is medically known as lateral epicondylitis and it is a pathology of the common wrist extensors. These muscles, as the name implies, extend the wrist when your elbow is straight or bent. As such, pain often is triggered when these muscles are stressed. Some activities that tend to aggravate tennis elbow include:

1) Playing Tennis (duh)
2) Opening Jars
3) Typing
4) Opening Doors
5) Cooking

So how did the name tennis elbow come to be? Well this condition is common in tennis players who experience frequent eccentric loads during their back hand swings. This means that the muscles are force the stabilize the wrist against a force that is pushing the wrist into flexion. Eccentric forces tend recruit more muscle fibers than concentric, and as such can contribute to chronic overload of these tissues. That being said, tennis players aren't the only ones that suffer from this condition! Often servers, chefs/cook, and bartenders are affected too!

So what do you do? Well you strengthen the muscles! But I thought that the condition started from the muscles being overworked, now you want me to work them harder? Well yes and no. In order to appropriately strengthen the muscles you must undergo relative rest (KEY WORD IS RELATIVE). This means that you will need to scale down aggravating activities to open up a window of time where you can move the wrist pain free. During this period, progressive strengthening exercises are completed within tolerable limits to gradually increase the capacity of your wrist extensors to handle load. The goal of strengthening exercises should be to increase your muscle's ability to cope with work to be well beyond the daily demands you put on it when you go to work or proceed with your daily activities.

This video shows you a few ways your health care practitioner may test for tennis elbow as well as 3 beginner exercises to start your rehab journey. DO NOT self diagnose (that's one slippery slope) as other conditions may present similarly and result in false positives during the aforementioned tests. The goal of being assessed is to not only diagnose your condition but to RULE OUT other conditions that have similar signs & symptoms. Always, consult your medical professional for a proper diagnosis before proceeding with any new exercises.

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** The information in this video is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information, contained in this video is for general information purposes only and does not replace a consultation with your own doctor/health professional **