How to Fix Tennis Elbow Pain?

Sports are an excellent way to include exercise and physical activity into our lives. However, tennis is not only a great physical exercise but also a mental one. To be a good tennis player, you need to plan your moves, think quickly, and improvise to outsmart your opponent. That’s why you should consider tennis an excellent brain training which also maintains your physical vitality.

Therefore, tennis is suitable for all ages and abilities. Anyone can play it, and you don’t need to be a professional to enter the tennis court. Many people play tennis to improve their general mental health condition, reduce stress, treat anxiety or depression.

Comfortable Tennis Shoes Aren’t Everything You Need

You can often hear people say that all you need is comfortable tennis shoes and a racket for tennis. Even though that is partially true, you also need a couple of additional things to reduce the risks of injury.

As tennis matches aren’t time-restricted, some of them can even last up to several hours. When you combine this with constant strokes and repetitive hand movements, it’s easy to get fatigued and raise injury risks.

Among the most common mistakes, especially by recreational players, are wrong hand and body movements. This is probably the main reason for most injuries, so the first thing you should do before starting playing tennis is getting some tennis lessons from certified coaches. This way, you get to learn the proper and correct methods of holding your racket and moving your body during a match.

In addition to the correct body movement, it’s essential to warm up your body before each tennis match. This ensures that every muscle is prepared for the exercise thoroughly. So, don’t skip and rush through warm-up sessions, as they can significantly affect how the rest of your match goes.

Even with proper body movements and a complete warm-up, it’s impossible to avoid every injury. They will happen from time to time, but it’s crucial to react accordingly.

What is Tennis Elbow

Some of the most common tennis injuries are related to shoulders, elbows, wrists, trunk, ankles, and knees. As this sport incorporates a lot of hand movement, these injuries tend to be the most typical, such as the tennis elbow.

Tennis elbow is an injury that affects elbows and arms and the tendons surrounding this area. It typically develops over time after strong grips and repetitive movements in sports, including a lot of hand movement. You can get tennis elbow from playing tennis and squash, racquetball, fencing, or even weight lifting.

The symptom of tennis elbow is the pain around the elbow area, especially in the bony knob on the outside part of the elbow. This is where the injured tendons are connected to the bone. You feel slight or strong pain during certain activities, including lifting something, strengthening your wrist, gripping something, making a fist, or sometimes even shaking hands.

How to Fix It

The tennis elbow can be very unpleasant and cause discomfort even if the pain isn’t that excruciating. However, if you happen to suffer from tennis elbow, or you’re just starting to notice it, the best way is to react immediately. Here is some advice on how to treat your tennis elbow:

• Rest – what you should most certainly do is get some rest. If you’re playing a sport, consider taking a short pause. Pain is usually the body’s natural way of telling you to take things slow. So, make sure to rest the injured hand, and the pain will probably go away on its own.

• Movements – if you’re experiencing tennis elbow pain, make sure to have a chat with a local tennis coach and discuss the techniques and movements you’re using during your matches. It’s very common for people to experience tennis elbow when they’re improperly holding or gripping the racket. So, you might find out that this quick fix alleviates the pain.

• Use ice – another home remedy that might help you is using a cold pack or ice on the affected area for 15 minutes a couple of times each day. This will indeed numb the pain but can also help with the recovery.

• Seek medical help – if none of these treatments prove to be working, you should seek medical help. Your doctor can prescribe pain relievers or a specific therapy that will surely cure your tennis elbow in no time.

Conclusion

Tennis elbow is one of the most common tennis injuries. Even though you don’t need to play tennis to get it, it’s usually related to activities incorporating strong hand grips and movements.

There are several ways of curing tennis elbow, but make sure to take a short break and rest your arm if you’re experiencing it. Even after the treatment, take things slow and use correct movement techniques to ensure a successful recovery.