Elbow Tendonitis
Massage as Part of a Tennis Elbow Treatment

Elbow tendonitis also know as tennis elbow can be challenging to treat. There are a few things including massage therapy that you can use as a tennis elbow treatment. With time and effort you will be able to find a tennis elbow cure.

This form of tendonitis is associated with playing tennis, but you can get it from a variety of activities. My husband suffered from a severe case of tennis elbow for a while from playing his bass guitar. He's a professional musician and the movements required to play the bass started to cause pain and inflammation in his elbow.

With my help, he was able to cure his own tennis elbow. Later on this page I'll share with you the things he did to cure his elbow. All cases of tendonitis are different. There is no one size fits all cure, but once you understand the principles behind elbow tendonitis you'll better know how to make your own tennis elbow treatment.

This condition comes from overuse of the muscles in your forearm. The injury occurs where the muscle and tendon attach at the lateral epicondyle--the bony protrusion at the outside of your elbow. The medical term for this condition is lateral epicondylosis because of the point where the affected muscle and tendon attaches.

You are more likely to get tennis elbow when you are between the ages of 30 and 50. Men are more likely to experience this form of tendonitis than women. About 1 to 3 percent of the population will suffer from elbow tendonitis at some point in their lives. It is associated with tennis because 50 percent of tennis players will get this condition, but tennis players account for less than 5 percent of the people diagnosed with this form of tendonitis each year.

Tennis Elbow Symptoms

Elbow tendonitis usually comes on quite slowly. You can feel it develop over a long period of time. Occasionally, it will come on suddenly, but that is quite rare.

The symptoms of this form of tendonitis are:

• pain on the outside of the elbow
• bony protrusion on outer elbow tender to the touch
• pain when gripping objects or shaking hands
• pain intensified with specific movements like brushing teeth or eating
• forearm weakness
• pain when extending your wrist

These symptoms will continue to get worse if left untreated. You can't have the ignore-it-and-it'll-go-away approach to tendonitis conditions. If you continue to do the movements that caused your problem in the first place, your problem will only continue to get worse.

Conventional Treatments

Tennis elbow is commonly treated with rest. Your doctor, after determining if you have the condition through palpation and listening to your description of your pain, will usually tell you to rest the area. You will need to stop doing the movements that cause pain. You can use ice to reduce the inflammation.

Some doctors will have you take ant-inflammatory medication. This medication will bring down swelling and help you to manage the pain. These medications treat the symptoms of your pain without addressing the cause. They do provide you with some relief though.

Your doctor may also suggest that you get a cortisone shot. These injections also provide pain relief and reduce swelling. They work very quickly, but they also only address the symptoms and not the cause. These shots can sometimes lead to further damage to the tendons by making them rubbery and more prone to injury. Once the shot wears off, your pain will return.

Most people recover from elbow tendonitis without surgery, but about 5 percent of sufferers get surgery to repair the damaged tendon. 80 to 90 percent of people who get surgery recover completely afterwards.

Natural Tennis Elbow Treatment

Use ice to reduce the swelling and pain in your elbow. You can apply ice up to 15 minutes every hour.

Increase your water intake. Water helps your tendons and muscles move more smoothly and heal and repair themselves. Make sure you stay well hydrated. Drink about 8 glasses of water a day.

Clean up your diet. The food you eat affects your tendon health. Cut out all processed food. Eat fresh organic vegetables and fruits. Make sure your intake of dark green leafy vegetables is quite high.

Taking vitamin supplements that promote tendon health like vitamins E, A, and C along with calcium, magnesium, and a good quality omega 3 fatty acid supplement will help increase your healing speed. Ideally, you should be getting these things from your food, but supplementing will also help give you an added boost.

There are also herbs that will help your tendons heal. These include Bromelain , Curcumin, and White Willow Bark . All of these herbs help reduce inflammation.

Gently stretching and strengthening your forearm muscles will also help get rid of your tennis elbow.

When my husband had elbow tendonitis, he used a combination of diet, stretching exercises and self-massage to cure it. Gently massage the forearm muscles starting at the wrist and working your way up the arm. Massage them on all sides. Do circular friction around the elbow joint and trigger point therapy on the areas that are particularly painful.

If you want to get treated by a professional massage therapist, I suggest seeing someone who specializes in neuromuscular therapy.