Excersises to Cure Tennis Elbow

Tennis elbow is a nickname for painful inflammation of the tendons and muscles on the outside of the elbow joint which is common among tennis players. Tennis elbow is a type of tendonitis, which is primary a condition induced by repetitive stress. Tendonitis should be treated with rest and ice, followed by rehabilitation exercises to stabilize the injured joint.

  1. Wrist Stretching

    • The muscles of the forearm attach to the elbow joint and run through the wrists. Stretching the wrists will cause the tendons and muscles of the forearms to stretch from the elbow joint. This increases flexibility, which can help reduce the chance of strain and irritation. A simple warm-up wrist stretch involves slowly rotating the wrists in circles in both directions. Another useful stretch can be done by holding the arm straight out, and using the free hand to gently press on the back of the other hand, forcing the fingers toward the inside of the forearm. A second wrist stretch can be done by rotating the arm so that the palm is facing up, and then gently using the free hand to pull the fingers back toward you.

      For both stretches, hold for around 20 seconds; it is good idea to repeat the stretches on the other arm to promote balance. Stretching is important to maintain range of motion in muscles and joints; mild stretching may be helpful even when the elbow joint is a little sore.

    Forearm Strength

    • Building up the strength of the muscles and tendons of the forearm will help stabilize the elbow joint and decrease the likelihood that stress will cause tendonitis pain. A good exercise to increase forearm strength are wrist curls. To do a wrist curl, lay your forearm on a flat surface with the wrist on the edge and curl the wrist toward you with the palm up. As you do wrist curls, you can hold a light dumbbell or object like a jar or water bottle for resistance; you can increase your weight resistance over time as your strength builds. Aim to do as many repetitions as necessary to feel moderate fatigue in your forearms.

      Working the forearm muscles to fatigue at each workout will force the body to adapt to the stress by increasing strength. You can further increase forearm strength by flipping your forearm over so that the palm is face down and curling wrist back.

    Considerations

    • Stretching and strengthening exercises are an important part of rehabilitating a tendonitis injury like tennis elbow, but it is important not to begin rehab with too much intensity too soon after elbow pain. Your first priority should be to rest the problem elbow until pain dissipates completely. Once pain is gone begin stretching and exercises warily; if you experience pain doing rehab exercises, decrease resistance and stop any exercise that continues to cause pain.

      Tendonitis can be nagging injury that lasts for months or even years so it is important to make stability exercises a normal part of your daily routine to keep tendonitis pain from resurfacing.