Tennis elbow

The elbow joint acts as a hinge allowing you to bend and straighten your arm. It is made up of the upper arm bone (the humerus) and two bones in the forearm (ulna and radius). Your elbow also allows you to turn your palm upwards or downwards.

Around the joint are a number of muscles, which help move the elbow, wrist and fingers. There are also nerves close to the elbow joint (if you hit your ‘funny bone' this can cause pins and needles in your arm).

What is tennis elbow?

It can be described as pain on the outside of your elbow. It is thought that the tendons around the elbow can become inflamed. If this continues then this can cause ‘wear and tear' in the tendon and it can become more swollen and thicken.

You get pain when using your forearm, for example turning a door handle. Some people have a constant pain. Pain on the inside of your elbow is a similar problem. It affects different tendons and is often called golfers elbow. You are more likely to get tennis elbow if your forearm muscles are unfit and you then increase your activity. For example:

• a DIY project/ painting where you have a repetitive arm movement,
• or you go on holiday and play a lot of racket sports.

In some cases however it can happen for no reason.

• not treating is an option as research has shown symptoms settle in time. Tendons are slow healers so it may take several weeks or months, it can last for over a year.
• some treatments may however relieve symptoms.
• anti-inflammatory painkillers such as ibuprofen or gels can relieve symptoms. You should consult your pharmacist or GP before taking or using these.
• steroid Injection into the painful area can often ease the pain in the short term. Some research has shown little difference to the long term results. It is important to think about the long term effects before having an injection.
• physiotherapy can help if symptoms last. They will often provide an elbow support, which can be worn to ease symptoms and protect the elbow.
• exercises to strengthen the forearm muscles will ease the strain on the elbow. Some of these are shown in this leaflet.
• only a very small number of people will need specialist opinion/ surgery. When symptoms last for several months and the measures above do not work.

These exercises should be fairly pain free. Try to follow the instructions with each exercise. Start with a low number of repeats and aim to increase these after a few days.

As with all exercises if the symptoms get worse or change, reduce the number of times you repeat them. Or stop doing them for a couple of days.

1. Sit with your arm fully supported, as shown
2. Hold a small hand weight - some people use
a tin of beans or a small bag filled with rice
3. Curl wrist slowly upward
4. Hold 3-5 seconds, slowly lower
5. Repeat 5-10 times, 2-3 times a day

1. Hold a small hammer or stick with weight in
your hand on the affected side as shown
2. Turn hand to a thumb up position
3. Try to repeat 5-10 times, 2-3 times a day

1. Hold a squeezy ball or sponge as shown with
your hand on the affected side
2. Squeeze as firmly as you can without
increasing your pain
3. Repeat for 30 seconds, 5-10 times a day