How can you treat tennis elbow?
If you are in significant pain, stop what you are doing and speak with your doctor.
The best treatment for tennis elbow is limiting the aggravating activity. You can do this by modifying techniques of lifting – in general avoid lifting with the elbow straight and the palm down.
To relieve swelling, apply an ice pack to your elbow.
Mild pain killers (Panadol) or an anti-inflammatory can help with pain relief.
Your doctor may suggest you see a physiotherapist for rehabilitation exercises. This rehabilitation helps you recover strength and functionality without aggravating the injury further and may continue for several months.
Increasing your activities can be guided by improvement in symptoms and advice of your physiotherapist or doctor.
There is much debate about the use of injections to help treat tennis elbow.
Traditionally steroid injections were given however emerging evidence suggests that this does not give long term benefit so the use of these is limited.
Other injections such as blood and platelet rich plasma have shown some promise in some studies but this is not universally accepted.
After trying all of the above, if you are still experiencing pain, swelling or lack of movement your doctor may refer you to an orthopaedic surgeon.
What does surgery involve?
Surgery to treat tennis elbow is a straightforward procedure, performed in hospital under a general anaesthetic.
The most important part of the procedure involves the damaged portion of tendon being removed. After this some surgeons re-attach the remaining tendon to the bone.
After surgery, your arm is bandaged and you have stitches, which either dissolve or are removed in 10 to 14 days.
The exact procedure you have will determine the post operative protocol but the operated area will usually need to be protected in some form or another.
When can I get back to normal activity after tennis elbow surgery?
Recovery time between patients varies and can depend on how you respond to treatment.
Generally, it takes several months to fully recover.
Your recovery should reduce the symptoms of tennis elbow including:
- reduction in swelling
- you can bend and flex the arm without pain
- gripping things doesn’t hurt anymore
- your injured elbow feels as good as the uninjured one without medication.
Do not rush back into normal activity until you are ready.
Any surgical procedure carries risks. Make sure you discuss all possible risks with an appropriately qualified health practitioner.
