The outside of your elbow has been really sore for weeks now. It’s hard to turn doorknobs, open the car door, even hold your cup of coffee! You’re not sure what’s wrong, but since you don’t play tennis, you know it can’t be tennis elbow, right? Wrong! Here’s the deal with tennis elbow, and how chiropractic can help.
You don’t have to be a tennis player or athlete of any kind to get tennis elbow. This muscle-strain injury comes from overuse – repeated contractions of the forearm muscles used to straighten and raise the hand and wrist. The repetition can create tiny tears in the tendons, leading to a lot of pain. There are a few common arm movements that can cause tennis elbow, meaning people like plumbers, butchers, painters, construction workers, even desk jockeys moving a mouse around all day can be at risk. Our mobile-centric society doesn’t help, other. If you use your thumb and first two fingers to hold your phone to your ear, you increase your chances of this overuse injury.
If you’re experiencing pain with lifting, gripping, opening a door, shaking hands, making a fist, or even just because you raised your hand, you may have tennis elbow. You can try self-care options for pain relief, including rest, icing, and over-the-counter pain relievers. But if that doesn’t work, a visit to the chiropractic may be a sensible next step.
A chiropractor like Dr. Lynelle McSweeney here in Reno will first perform assessment of joint alignment. If tennis elbow is indeed the culprit, there are a few options for treatment. Based on your diagnosis, Dr. McSweeney may recommend the following:
There are more than 200,000 diagnosed cases of tennis elbow annually, so don’t make the mistake of assuming that your elbow pain must be something else. Even if you don’t play tennis, repetitive arm movements are the real culprit. For help diagnosing your elbow pain, schedule a visit with Dr. McSweeney today.
