How to Prevent and Treat Tennis Elbow

If you play a racquet wielding sport such as tennis, squash, and badminton then you have probably come face to face with tennis elbow at least once in your playing career. Tennis elbow can bring about much pain to the inflected, and can even prohibit a person from playing their sport of choice for up to a month. So if you are faced with tennis elbow and want to keep on playing your sport, check out this method of how to properly treat the ailment.

The first thing you want to do is diagnose the pain to be sure you have tennis elbow. Often those afflicted will notice a dull inner pain originating from what seems like the bone of the elbow, going into the underlying forearm muscles. The pain is often increased whenever a person attempts to do any kind of activity involving the wrist or bending of the elbow such as turning a door knob, or lifting something up.

Once you are sure that you are suffering from tennis elbow you can check into the treatment methods presented. Apply ice to the elbow and upper forearm area for twenty minutes a session, for up to five session a day. Doing this will help alleviate some of the pain and swelling associated with tennis elbow. Once you have ice treatment going, you want to be sure to avoid using your wrist and arm movement in general as much as possible, as this will bring about more inflammation to the area. Aside from ice and avoidance of using the wrist and arm, you can wrap the injured elbow going in a circular motion around the elbow up into the upper part of the forearm. Keeping the area properly wrapped, with enough tightness, but not so tight it cuts off circulation, and continuing to apply ice for the three to five days after the injury was incurred, can both help get you on your way to playing your sport again.

Once you have treated the tennis elbow injury, you want to check into prevention methods for future playing times. Stretching the muscles in the forearm before and after a workout can greatly reduce the chance of incurring an injury. Also check with a coach or local pros to make sure you are using the right technique, often times tennis elbow is brought about by using improper swinging methods that puts excess strain on your forearm and elbow region. As a final method for prevention, you can check into purchasing a elbow support band that you can wear that helps keep your arm from going against its natural flow.

Overall tennis elbow is a crippling injury, especially to the person who has a passion for the sport they play, but overall as long as you follow proper prevention instructions, and allow enough time for recovery you can be back on the court in no time.

Source of Information: http://racquet.about.com/od/stayhealthy/qt/notenniselbow.htm