Therapy for Tendonitis and Tennis Elbow

Overuse and repetitive stress is often the cause of tennis elbow, an injury to the tendons of the elbow. Tennis elbow is not always the result of playing tennis, as the name suggests. Tennis elbow, which can become a chronic problem that requires special treatment, affects the tendons on the lateral part of the elbow along with the muscles.

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If you enjoy participating in sports and think you may need tennis elbow treatment, don’t be disheartened. You don’t have to give up playing your favorite sport forever. The goal of any natural tennis elbow treatment plan is to reduce pain and inflammation and reduce your chance of re-injury.

When it comes to reducing immediate pain, the therapy for tendonitis and tennis elbow may entail following the RICE method, which stands for rest, ice, compression and elevation. During the acute stage of injury, your treatment will require rest.

Your best guide is to listen to your body. If you feel pain you know you are working against your tennis elbow treatment and healing plan.

If you experience inflammation, use ice as part of your tennis elbow treatment because ice can relieve muscle spasms.

To reduce pain associated with your tennis elbow your treatment may include the use of anti-inflammatory drugs and injections for short-term relief of symptoms. However, these treatment methods do have potentially hazardous side effects.

In order to maintain your fitness level during tennis elbow treatment, exercise and rehabilitation will be paramount.
You may want to stay fit through aerobics, jogging, walking and other forms of exercise that will not require you to overuse your elbow.

The first exercise component for tennis elbow treatment is to stretch. Stretch your forearm extensors without added weights. Then eventually add resistance for your tennis elbow treatment exercise regimen.

The key in therapy for tendonitis and tennis elbow is to be gentle. Gentle stretching exercises include wrist flexing, extension and rotation. Vigorous stretching should be avoided, so remember not to stretch to the point of pain.

You can use dumbbells for wrist curls in physical therapy for tendonitis and tennis elbow. Later, you will want to add elbow extension exercises to your tennis elbow treatment plan.

You do not need any special equipment to perform physical therapy for tendonitis and tennis elbow. In fact, for combined flexing and extension exercises, you can simply attach one end of a string to a cut broom stick and attach the other end to a weight. Extend your arms and elbows straight out in front of you, then roll the weight up from the ground by turning the wrists. Remember to start with a light weight, and gradually work up to heavier weights.

Grab a hammer or wrench for forearm pronation and supination exercises for tennis elbow treatment and rehabilitation. Grasp the hammer in your hand with your forearm supported. Rotate hand to palm down position, return to start position, rotate to palm up position and repeat.

Also, try a finger extension tennis elbow treatment exercise by placing a rubber band around all five finger tips. Spread fingers 25 times and repeat several times. 

Another form of physical therapy for tendonitis and tennis elbow is isometric exercises. For this form of tennis elbow treatment, squeeze a tennis ball, folded sponge or piece of foam in the palm of your hand and hold it momentarily before releasing. Repeat several times in one session and try to have two to three sessions a day.

A plan for tennis elbow treatment will include setting goals for your rehabilitation. Your goals will include decreasing inflammation and pain, retarding muscle atrophy and promoting tissue healing. As you progress, your tennis elbow treatment plan goals will involve increasing strength, returning to normal function and improving flexibility.

Finally, as you near the end of your tennis elbow treatment plan, your goals will be to gradually return to your prior level of sport or activity and continue to improve strength and flexibility. By setting and following these kinds of tennis elbow treatment plans, you’ll be ready to get back in the action.