Managing Tennis Elbow with Physiotherapy

Imagine you’re on the tennis court. As the ball sails your way, you swing your racket to shoot it back across the net. And then you do it again. And again. And again. This repeated bending motion in the arm can lead to pain in the elbow. Fortunately, physiotherapy for tennis elbow can help!

Tennis elbow takes its common name from the fact that repeated movements in tennis and other racquet sports can trigger the condition. However, you aren’t off the hook even if you’ve never set foot on a tennis court. Any repeated bending motion in the arm can lead to lateral epicondylitis–the medical term for tennis elbow.

Today, we want to share a case study focusing on a woman who developed tennis elbow despite never playing tennis. Plus, we’ll explore the ways physiotherapy helped her heal.

Keep reading to learn more about physiotherapy for tennis elbow–and knitter’s elbow, pickleball elbow, or painter’s elbow!

Meet the Patient: An Established Artist

Gladys (not her real name) was an avid crafter and artist. She had a long-standing career creating large-scale portraits in oil and acrylic paint, and as she got older, she became more interested in fiber arts. She spent her days split between the two forms, often painting during the day and then knitting as she watched TV.

But then Gladys began to experience pain along the outside of her forearm and elbow. It usually flared up while she was knitting, although she sometimes experienced it while trying to paint, too.

At first, she tried to power through the discomfort, but the pain persisted. She noticed it at other times throughout the day, too, like when she held her morning coffee cup or brushed her teeth.

What eventually brought her to our clinic, though, was that her grip became too weak for her to hold her paintbrushes. With her entire career at stake, she finally made an appointment.

Identifying the Cause: A Case of Tennis Elbow

We ran Gladys through a comprehensive assessment to help dig down to the root of her pain. We took her health history, learned more about her daily activities (including her painting and crafting), and conducted several movement screens to test her arm and grip strength.

When we told Gladys she had tennis elbow, she actually laughed and told us she’d never played tennis a day in her life. “Tennis elbow” may be a bit of a misnomer, but “lateral epicondylitis” is definitely a mouthful in comparison.

So what had caused Gladys’ tennis elbow, if not tennis? It was a combination of repetitive arm motions and gripping paintbrushes and needles–and doing both day after day. This repetition strained the muscles and tendons in her elbow that control her wrist and fingers, creating tiny tears in the fibers that led to her feelings of pain and weakness.

Finding a Solution: Physiotherapy for Tennis Elbow

Fortunately, physiotherapy is one of the best ways to resolve tennis elbow–no surgery required! We created a personalized treatment plan for Gladys that included the following:

Pain Management

• Our first order of business was helping her manage her pain. We offered in-clinic pain management in the form of manual therapy and pain-relieving modalities (like shockwave therapy). We also suggested she take a break from knitting and suggested modifications she could use while she finished up a contracted painting.

Therapeutic Exercise

• Our next order of business was to restore strength and mobility in Gladys’ elbow and forearm. We guided her through a progressive, customized program of strengthening exercises, gradually increasing the intensity as she improved.

Injury Prevention

• Finally, we wanted to help Gladys prevent future cases of tennis elbow (or professional artist’s elbow, in her case). We showed her exercises she could do at home to build strength throughout her upper body and suggested simple activity modifications to help reduce pain.

In most cases, physiotherapy for tennis elbow is a straightforward, effective method for resolving your pain and getting you back to the activities you love. If you’re struggling with pain in your elbow and forearm, schedule an appointment with Anatomy Physiotherapy today! We’ll get you started on your own personal treatment program.