There are a lot of common terms used to describe different medical conditions, but few are as widely known as “tennis elbow”. But what is it really? Often, this term is used loosely to describe any pain that occurs on the outside of the elbow.
The greatest misconception about tennis elbow is that you have to play tennis to develop the injury, when in reality only a small percentage of those suffering from these ailments actually get it from playing tennis.
What Does Tennis Elbow Look Like?
The surprising fact about tennis elbow is that when the area of pain is looked at microscopically there really isn’t a significant amount inflammation present, and even in some cases where the pain is severe; there isn’t any inflammation at all.
What is seen under the microscope looks more like microscopic sized tears or little tiny holes rather than inflamed tissue. The irregular tissue is usually seen within the tendon which attaches the muscle to the bone. In most cases of tennis elbow, it is one specific tendon that is usually the culprit, the extensor carpi radialis brevis.
What Causes Tennis Elbow?
Any activity that involves repetitive wrist cocking or finger straightening can lead to tennis elbow pain. It is commonly seen in tennis players, but as mentioned above, the vast majority of people suffering with tennis elbow didn’t get it playing tennis.
How Do You Treat Tennis Elbow and Is There A Cure?
Consult A Doctor
While the symptoms are usually pretty consistent, a consultation with a medical expert is the only way to confirm the correct diagnosis. True tennis elbow is not dangerous, so doing nothing is always an option. For many people, the pain can be very severe and doing nothing doesn’t seem reasonable for them.
Time
The greatest treatment of all is usually time. Given enough time, these conditions usually resolve. In fact, most treatments are really just an effort to decrease pain and provide symptomatic relief while time passes.
Treatment
The wide range of treatments for tennis elbow include: stretches, activity modifications, medications, supports/braces, physical therapy, injections, and for a very small percentage of people, some sort of surgery is needed to find complete resolution.
Flexxline aims to supplement these forms of treatment with The Flexxline Elbow Support. Its design provides amazing relief by placing pressure on the areas that hurt you the most. The Flexxline Support applies pressure comfortably, on the painful areas, which not only provides support for the surrounding tendons and muscles, but also restricts pain signals from the inflamed tendon(s).
Made of unique materials, and unbelievably comfortable, The Flexxline Elbow Support will get you back on the court in no time!