Elbow Tendonitis:
What is it?

Real elbow tendonitis, truly diagnosed as tennis elbow, is the inflammation of the lateral epicondyle tendon.  This tendon is responsible for attaching the exterior forearm muscles to the bony knob on the outside of the upper forearm, the lateral humeral epicondyle.  Those exterior muscles are responsible for the ‘pull back’ motion of the wrist at the beginning of a tennis or hammer swing, as well as the pronation (turning towards the center of the body) of the forearm.

Any sort of repetitive wrist or arm motion can cause this to happen, it is definitely not restricted to tennis players.

Over half of all tennis players who play tennis every day will get tennis elbow tendonitis, and 25% of those that play once or twice a week will get tennis elbow [Pp. 237, The Sports Medicine Bible by Lyle J. Micheli].  So, a ton of people who practice tennis will get tennis elbow, and I bet lots more people who DON’T play tennis will get it too.

When you get tennis elbow, most authorities recommend icing and rest, followed by backing off on the intensity of play.  This is a good recommendation for any repetitive pain motion, but the pain may not be ‘clinical’ tennis elbow.  If it is, get more information on how to treat the tendon inflammation, but first check to see if it’s really tendon inflammation and not a similar symptom for different condition. 

• What Causes Tennis Elbow?