Tennis Elbow, medically referred to as lateral epicondylitis, is an overuse injury that effects two muscles in the outer elbow called the extensor carpi radialis longus and the extensor carpi radialis brevis. Even though this it's called tennis elbow most people develop this condition from means other than tennis. Repetitive tasks and job duties that require manual labor are often causes for the development of tennis elbow. In fact it is estimated that 35–64% of all cases involve jobs that require repetitive manual tasks. The condition is more likely to affect the dominant arm and tends to occur between the ages of 35-50. Overuse of the two muscles stated above leads to inflammation and sometimes small tears of the tendon at the outer elbow causing pain and discomfort when gripping, lifting, or using the arm. Those with tennis elbow tend to have other weakness' and postural abnormalities that put them at risk for the development of tennis elbow; mainly in the cervical and thoracic spine. There is strong evidence that those with tennis elbow who receive treatment to both the elbow and spine get better faster than those who get treated at just the elbow. And this makes sense. Those with tennis elbow tend to have weak postural muscles. Thus they are unable to engage these muscles during manual tasks leaving the elbow musculature to do more work than it is capable of doing, resulting in injury. There is also a strong correlation to tennis elbow and involvement of the radial nerve that comes out of the neck. This nerve travels from the neck down the outside of the forearm and supplies the muscles of the outer elbow. Often times the postural abnormalities previously mentioned can cause increased tension on the radial nerve contributing to symptoms associated with tennis elbow. 

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Physical therapy is very effective in the management of tennis elbow. Physical therapy focuses on reducing muscle tone and pain in the outer elbow through massage, dry needling, cupping, scraping, etc, mobilizing the outer elbow so it moves better, and building postural and forearm strength to prevent recurrences of symptoms. Therapy tends to have excellent results for tennis elbow. Please see the photos below for examples of techniques we use to treat tennis elbow in the clinic. If you would like to schedule an appointment please reach out to us.