What To Do For Tennis Elbow?

Tennis Elbow (Lateral Epicondylitis) is an injury to the outer tendons of the elbow. Repetitive motion causes Tennis Elbow, such as gripping as swinging a tennis racket, hence the name. Tennis, however, is not the only way to get tennis elbow nor even the most common cause of it. Other professionals such as plumbers, painters, auto mechanics, and carpenters also frequently suffer from tennis elbow.

Most of the time, tennis elbow can be treated at home. A few of the things you can try at home include:

Discontinue the activity that resulted in the injury. Ice the area for 20 minutes at a time to reduce swelling and inflammation. Twenty minutes on, 20 minutes off for two hours.

You can use over the counter anti-inflammatory medications such as Tylenol, Advil, or Aleve to treat the inflammation, which is usually the cause of pain with this type of injury.
Use an Epsom salt soak.

You can do this a couple of ways: You can fill a large bowl with warm water, add ¼ cup of Epsom salt to water stir until Epsom salt is dissolved, and then place the elbow in water until the water is no longer warm. That takes about 20 minutes.

The other way to accomplish this is to take a towel, soak it in hot Epsom salt water, wring out the cloth, and then wrap the towel around the injured joint.

Do some exercises to help the joint heal more quickly. Some of those exercises are as follows:

Wrist Stretch Down
Raise arm horizontally in front.
Palm down, bend wrist down.
With the opposite hand, gently pull wrist toward the body. Be careful not to pull too hard, or you risk further injury.
Hold in this position for 30 seconds.
Release wrist.
Repeat for a total of three repetitions.
Do three sets of repetitions.
Wrist Stretch up
Raise arm horizontally in front.
Palm down, bend wrist up.
With the opposite hand, gently pull wrist toward the body. Be careful not to pull too hard, or you risk further injury.
Hold in this position for 30 seconds.
Release wrist.
Repeat for a total of three repetitions.
Do three sets of repetitions.
Elbow Stretch
Stand up straight.
Start with arm straight down beside you.
Slowly raise the arm, reaching for the shoulder.
With hand touching the shoulder, holp this position for 30 seconds.
Repeat for a total of ten times.
Do a total of three sets of repetitions.
As with any health-related issue, consult with your doctor before starting any new therapies. Keystone HealthCare can help.