What is tennis elbow?

by Anthony Marino, PT, DPT

Physiquality: A PTPN Company

We’ve all heard of “tennis elbow,” but do you know what causes it and how physical therapy can help?

Tennis elbow, also known as lateral epicondylitis, is inflammation of the forearm tendons on the outside of the elbow. They usually become damaged from overuse when performing repetitive activities involving gripping, and not just when playing tennis. The damage can also be caused from excessive turning of the wrist when using tools or typing on a computer keyboard and clicking a mouse. This leads to microtears of the lateral elbow tendons, creating pain, tenderness and inflammation at the outside of the elbow.

The symptoms of tennis elbow feel mild at first and progress gradually over weeks to months. There is usually no trauma or specific cause associated with it, but these symptoms can persist and become chronic in nature if not properly treated.

To learn more about the common symptoms of tennis elbow, as well as how physical therapy can help, read the full entry at physiquality.com!

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