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Tennis Elbow Treatment

Tennis elbow treatment should begin at home, as soon as the injury to the elbow tendon occurs. The most important first thing for the injured person to do is to rest the tendon, not only by inactivity, but by changing the way he moves so that he will not continue to injure it. While the problem has been named "tennis elbow," it often has no connection whatsoever with the game of tennis. Twisting the joint while reaching for something, or lifting a heavy item without positioning the arm properly can strain or tear the tendon, creating a painful injury. The first tennis elbow treatment options should be the application of ice for two to three days, then to apply heat. Aspirin, Advil, or Tylenol can be taken for pain. Among other options is the elbow splint. This keeps the joint in a bent position and keeps it still. Wearing a splint is a short-term treatment for most people, but overall one has to take care of the forearm and elbow by inactivity because this injury does take six to twelve months to heal.

If pain persists for six to eight weeks, sometimes corticosteroid injections are given to help the arm recover its strength. These are not on the first line of tennis elbow treatment because they actually weaken the tendon. Ultrasound therapy has been found to be very helpful in promoting healing and stopping pain. Some tennis elbow treatment options are still being studied, with results so far inconclusive. Extra corporeal shock wave therapy is one of them, and the topical nitric oxide patch is another. The last resort is surgery, and it is used in only about five percent of cases, and is usually used when there was a sudden, acute injury that resulted in serious tears of the tendon or other severe injury to the soft tissues.

Once the tennis elbow treatment option has done its job and the arm has healed sufficiently, exercises will strengthen the tendon and related muscles to make further injury less likely. If the injury was from chronic overuse, i.e., repeated job-related or at-home activities, special attention to learning new moves to accomplish a task are part of the rehabilitation program. If it was a sudden acute injury, then those same circumstances may never occur again, but post-injury treatment that strengthens the tendon and related tissues provides some insurance against recurrence. The recommended exercises are warm-up exercises, stretching exercises, and strengthening exercises. The best news is that patients nearly always experience complete recovery. Patience is an important key. Scripture mentions patience many times, but one in particular tells of its importance to Christians: "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope" (Romans 15:4). Any time we as believers encounter a crisis, we need to turn to the Lord to ask for this patience. As the Great Healer, not only can He restore our strength, but He will teach us patience through our experiences with tennis elbow treatment options.

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