Tennis Elbow Specialist
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OrthoCare
Orthopedic Surgeons located in Harlingen, TX
Tennis elbow is a common issue for adults in the 30-50 age group. While it might sound like only a minor inconvenience, tennis elbow can actually cause significant pain and weakness that restricts your daily activities. Fortunately, the OrthoCare team, led by Stephanie Baker, MD, understands the intricacies of tennis elbow diagnosis, management, and recovery. The skilled team performs all treatments and procedures on-site in their state-of-the-art facility in Harlingen, Texas. Book your appointment with online scheduling, or call the office now.
Tennis Elbow Q & A
What is tennis elbow?
Tennis elbow is an elbow injury that typically occurs with overuse of the forearm muscles. As the name implies, this condition often affects tennis players who strain their forearm muscles.
Assembly line workers, casino dealers, cooks, carpenters, and others who regularly make repetitive arm and wrist movements can develop tennis elbow, as well.
Tennis elbow can cause serious pain and other problems in the elbow area, lower arm, or even your wrist if you don't get treatment.
What are the symptoms of tennis elbow?
Tennis elbow symptoms typically include:
- Radiating pain that starts in your outer elbow and sometimes moves down
- Burning sensation in your outer elbow
- Weak-feeling elbow, arm, or wrist
- Difficulty with gripping, like holding a pencil or a glass
For some tennis elbow sufferers, the pain is worse at night. Generally, using your forearm for any forceful motions worsens tennis elbow symptoms.
Tennis elbow symptoms can come and go, so you might think the problem has suddenly cleared up if you don’t have symptoms for a day or two.
Most likely, however, the lack of symptoms means you’ve greatly reduced arm usage, so as soon as you try to resume normal arm use, you’ll be in pain again. Treatment is the best way to permanently resolve the problems causing your symptoms so you can use your arm without pain or fear.
How do you treat tennis elbow?
Tennis elbow treatment typically includes conservative care, such as:
- Rest
- Physical therapy
- Strengthening exercises
- Bracing
- Injections — corticosteroids and anesthetics
- Regenerative medicine treatments to restore your damaged tissue
- Biomechanical motion evaluation
- Improved sports technique
If your tennis elbow resists conservative care for 6-12 months, the OrthoCare specialists may recommend a surgical procedure for long-lasting relief. Tennis elbow surgery can be either traditional open surgery with a longer incision or arthroscopic surgery with a pair of very small incisions.
During arthroscopic or open tennis elbow surgery, your surgeon can remove damaged tissue, resurface bone tissue, or remove a small section of bone depending on your needs. The ultimate goal of tennis elbow surgery is restoring normal motion and relieving pain long-term.
The OrthoCare team has extensive experience in all types of conservative, minimally invasive, and operative care for tennis elbow. Call the dedicated team in their Harlingen office or use the online scheduler now.
