Tennis Elbow Supportive Therapy: Tips for Easing Elbow

Discover effective tennis elbow supportive therapy tips to ease pain and speed up recovery. Learn exercises and treatment options that work.

You have seen tennis or squash players, weightlifters, baseball players complaining about severe pain in their forearms and elbow joints, this is because of an injury called tennis elbow. However it is a more common injury than you think.

Many people around the world face this injury. Recovering from this injury takes 6 months to 2 years. You can speed up the recovery process with tennis elbow supportive therapy.

Effective Tennis Elbow Supportive Therapy Tips

Tennis elbow isn’t just for athletes—it affects anyone who repetitively strains their forearm muscles. From weightlifters to office workers, this painful condition can last from six months to two years if untreated. But don’t worry, recovery doesn’t have to be a long, frustrating journey.

Tennis Elbow: Basic Overview

Tennis elbow is a type injury that happens around the outside elbow joint when you overuse the forearm muscles. In medical terms it is known as epicondylitis. In this injury the muscles get strained that leads to development of bony lump due to tiny tears and inflammation around the elbow. It is a very common injury in sports like tennis, squash, weightlifting, baseball, softball, etc. however normal people who repeatedly stress their forearms also get tennis elbow. 

You can recover from tennis elbow even without any treatment or therapy, but it will take months or years. And even after that you might not be able to do the work the way you used to do it before injury. For better recovery you can go for surgical treatment and physical therapy.

Surgery for tennis elbow is only preferred in the worst of the worst cases as it takes time to recover from it and might reduce the muscle mass in your elbow too. Doctors around the world mostly prefer physical therapy services for tennis elbow as it is faster than other methods and does not reduce the muscle mass of the elbow. 

Symptoms of Tennis Elbow

If you are having pain and tenderness around the outside of your elbow, forearms and in the back of your hand then you might have tennis elbow. It will cause mild or severe pain when you move your arms, particularly twisting it. You can also feel mild discomfort or severe pain when your hand is still if you have tennis elbow. Let’s see some other symptoms of tennis elbow. 

• If you have stiffness and swelling in your arms then it is a symptom of tennis elbow. 
• You might have tennis elbow if your grip has weakened lately. 
• Sharp burning that gets worse when you twist your wrist, turn or bend your arms are symptoms of tennis elbow. 
• Intense pain when you lift your arm and swollen or red elbow are also some symptoms of tennis elbow. 

If you are facing any of the above difficulties in your forearms or elbows then you must consult a healthcare provider to get it diagnosed. This will help you know if it is a minor muscle injury or a tennis elbow. And if the reports are positive for tennis elbow then you must quickly start tennis elbow supportive therapy to avoid it getting worse and recover from it. 

How to Help Tennis Elbow Heal?

Tennis elbow is an injury that you should not avoid as it will get worse with time if not taken care of. Surgeries are an option that helps tennis elbow heal, however it is quite costly and the post surgery recovery takes time.

Here are some of the exercises that will help you recover faster from tennis elbow. 

Fist squeeze

It is good exercise to get back the grip strength that was lost due to tennis elbow. 

How to do it: 

1. Sit at a table and put your arm on the other table in a comfortable position keeping the palm upwards. 
2. Get a rolled-up towel or a small ball in your hand and hold it.
3. Squeeze it tightly for 10 seconds. 
4. Repeat this exercise for 10 more times. 
5. Switch the hands and repeat the exercise. 

Towel twist

It improves the muscles’ mobility and strength. 

How to do it:

1. Sit on a table, hold the towel with both hands and relax your shoulders. 
2. Twist both ends of the towel in the opposite direction, just like you are wringing out the water. 
3. Repeat this for 10 times. 
4. Reverse the direction of twisting and repeat the exercise for 10 more times. 

Wrist extension

Wrist extensors, a small group of muscles that make your fist move are connected to the elbow and get affected due to overuse. This exercise strengthens them. 

How to do it:

1. Start by sitting in a chair, rest the arm on your knees making the palm face downwards and hold a 2 pound dumbbell. 
2. Start curling your wrist towards your body keeping the palm facing downwards. 
3. Return to the starting position and do this for 10 times. 
4. Keep the wrist movement isolated by keeping your arms still. 
5. If you find weighted extensions challenging, you can do it without weights. 

Elbow bend

Elbows get the most affected due to tennis elbow. It restricts elbow movements like bending. This exercise helps you improve the range of motion of your elbow. 

How to do it:

1. Stand Straight 
2. Lower your arm and relax it. 
3. Slowly bend the arm upward towards the shoulder in a comfortable way. 
4. Hold this position for 10 to 30 seconds. 
5. Repeat for 10 more times. 

Wrist flexion

Wrist flexors, a group of small muscles that are responsible for moving your wrist the direction opposite to that of wrist extensors. These muscles also get weak due to tennis elbow. This exercise strengthens them. 

How to do it:

1. Sit on a chair and rest your arm on your knees making the palm face upwards and hold a 2 pound dumbbell, if you find it difficult you can do it without weights. 
2. Start curling your wrist towards your body.
3. Return to the starting position and repeat this for 10 times. 
4. Keep the arm still and wrist movement isolated. 

Wrist turn

One of the best exercises to regain the range of motion of your forearms which was affected due to tennis elbow. This exercise also helps in strengthening the forearm muscles. 

How to do it:

1. Start by sitting comfortable in a chair.
2. Extend your hand outwards with the palms facing up. 
3. Twist the wrist around gradually till the thumb points to the ceiling. 
4. Continue the movement till the palm faces the downward direction. 
5. Slowly return to the starting position.
6. Repeat the exercise for 5 to 10 times. 

Fast Relief: Tennis Elbow Supportive Therapy Guide

Tennis elbow is something that gets worse if we ignore it. To avoid any severe injury you must seek physical therapy. For the best tennis elbow treatment you can visit Town Physical Therapy. We have experts who will help you recover from it and make sure it does not happen again. We have therapy centers at Paramus, Emerson, Bergenfield, Clifton and Maywood.

If you live in New Jersey you can simply google “Elbow Pain Treatment Near Me” and you will find our nearest therapy center. We are not limited to just tennis elbow therapy, at all our centers we provide physical therapy services, occupational therapy, acupuncture / dry needling therapy, sports physical therapy, physical therapy and rehabilitation, and shockwave therapy.