Spring is here and everyone is anxious to get out on the court. Be careful not to overdo it or you may become fatigued and contract tennis elbow. Tennis elbow or lateral epicondylitis is a condition that begins with microscopic tears in an inner elbow muscle known as the epicondylus lateralis humeri (ELH). While most cases involve temporary inflammation, painful permanent damage can occur.
The leading causes of tennis elbow are incorrect technique and lack of forearm strength. If you don’t use your forearm muscles due to fatigue or technique, you rely too much on the muscles in your elbow.
Symptoms of tennis elbow range from mild pain that vanishes shortly after a match to sharp pain when shaking hands in the days following your match. One simple test for tennis elbow is to wiggle the middle finger on the same side as the painful elbow. This finger movement uses the extensor digitorum muscle which connects to the ELH muscle. Any painful sensation is an indicator that you may be suffering from tennis elbow.
Tune in tomorrow to learn more about tennis elbow and how you can go about preventing it.
Source: Tennis Elbow, Mayo Clinic website
Special thanks to guest editor Tim Roth for today’s column. Delve into his world of science at atomstozebras.com
[...] Name: Email: « What is Tennis Elbow? [...]