(Newswire.net — April 6, 2018) — Though it looks like the snow will never stop here in the North East, the crocus tells another story. The calendar says Spring and the crocuses confirm that. Tennis lovers everywhere are itching to get outdoors. Sure they can play inside under fake lighting to highlight their fake tans. The real tennis hounds are dying to be out in the sun chasing those bouncing Dunlop balls dancing all over the court. The intensity of the Spring sun is only matched by the intensity of match play. Then all of a sudden it happens. Tennis Elbow rears its ugly head.
Let’s get to the simple definition of tennis elbow. Repetitive strain on the forearm muscles causes an irritation of tissue connecting the upper arm (humerus) to the lower arm (radius and ulna). The tissue covering the muscle is called fascia. The fascia develops adhesions that restrict the muscle’s ability to move freely. The more strain put on the muscles, the more adhesions form in the fascial plane. Think about fascia with adhesions as scar tissue. Scar tissue begets more scar tissue if the offending irritant is not removed. So why am I telling you all of this, and what does it have to do with your elbow pain?
If you understand the mechanisms causing you pain, you are more likely to treat it more intelligently. Most people are going to reach for an Advil or Aleve when they have tennis elbow pain. Prevailing logic would say that when the pain is gone the problem is solved. This is a complete falsehood. The body has a default memory that kicks in even when the pain impulse is blocked with Nsaid use. Now, don’t get me wrong it is nice to be pain-free for any length of time. Having a physical problem solved is more important to restore integrity to the joint. Oh and by the way your tennis game will be better too.
Currently, the best tennis elbow treatment uses a soft tissue technique called Graston. This method reduces the adhesions allowing the fascia to return to normal. This is followed up with the application of cold laser therapy. The laser beam shoots light energy into the cells of the connective tissue energizing them to heal faster. What this means is that cellular regrowth will happen faster. These treatments, when combined, offer the highest level of care to resolve tennis elbow pain.