Tennis Elbow, ug!
Dear Coaches Corner Athletes:
As you know, we will NOT leave ONE stone unturned when it comes to your health and wellness on the path to 5.0! We aim to maintain the ultimate training program for Pickleball athletes of all levels, worldwide! Today, we’re going to dive into a pesky injury that every player dreads – tennis elbow.
Tennis elbow, also known as lateral epicondylitis (fancy, huh?), can be a real pain in the elbow (literally). If you’re feeling tenderness on the outer part of your elbow, you may have fallen victim to this injury (Buchbinder & Green, 2019).
But fear not, pickleball warriors, for we have some top tips (and a “kick it to the curb” section below) to help you prevent and treat tennis elbow. Rest is always a great start, and why not try out some fancy ice to reduce pain and inflammation? (Coombes et al., 2015). Our expert coaches are not foreigners to finding top-rated physical therapists. Physical therapy is critical for anyone who wants to get back in the game. Our goal here is to create a personalized physical therapy plan to stretch and strengthen your elbow muscles and tendons (Bisset et al., 2019).
But let’s be honest, prevention is always better than cure! Our coaches are here to teach you proper form and technique, to help reduce your chances of getting injured in the first place. And if you do start to feel any discomfort, don’t just brush it off. Remember our YIPS document! … well, early treatment is key to avoid further damage and chronic pain here as well (Buchbinder & Green, 2019).
Here are some added fun ways to kick it to the curb:
- Brace yourself: A brace can help support your elbow and reduce the strain on your tendons.
- Massage magic: Treat yourself to a little massage therapy and feel that pain melt away like butter on a hot biscuit.
- Get your qi flowing: Try acupuncture and let the power of ancient Chinese medicine help you say goodbye to tennis elbow.
- Corticosteroids, the pain vanishing act: In some cases, a corticosteroid injection can help reduce pain and inflammation. It’s like a superhero coming to the rescue (Coombes et al., 2015)!
- Don’t rush it: Healing takes time, so be patient and take it slow. Rushing back into action could make things worse!
- Take some pain relief: Over-the-counter pain relievers can help reduce the pain and inflammation.
- Platelet power: Harness the power of your own blood with platelet-rich plasma therapy. It’s like giving your elbow a supercharged smoothie!
- Surgery, a last resort: If all else fails, surgery (or platelet-rich plasma therapy) may be necessary to repair the damaged tendon. But don’t worry, you’ll be back in action before you know it (Smidt et al., 2002).
Thanks for joining us at The Coaches Corner, where we’re passionate about keeping our pickleball athletes in tip-top shape, ready to dominate the court!!
References
Bisset, L., Beller, E., Jull, G., Brooks, P., Darnell, R., & Vicenzino, B. (2019). Mobilisation with movement and exercise, corticosteroid injection, or wait and see for tennis elbow: Randomised trial. BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.), 364, l927. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l927
Buchbinder, R., & Green, S. (2019). Tennis elbow. Lancet (London, England), 393(10181), 1693–1702. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30029-1
Coombes, B. K., Bisset, L., & Vicenzino, B. (2015). Management of Lateral Elbow Tendinopathy: One Size Does Not Fit All. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 45(11), 938–949. https://doi.org/10.2519/jospt.2015.5885
Smidt, N., Assendelft, W. J. J., Arola, H., Malmivaara, A., & Greens, S. (2002). Effectiveness of physiotherapy for lateral epicondylitis: A systematic review. Annals of Medicine, 34(5), 306–318. https://doi.org/10.1080/078538902320798270
