Tennis Elbow is an inflammation or pain on the outer portion of the upper arm, near the elbow. You don’t have to be a tennis player to get tennis elbow. This is simply a term used to describe the injury. Any repetitive motion of the wrist could lead to tennis elbow. Besides tennis players, common sufferers of this condition include golfers, gardeners, mechanics and carpenters.

Approximately 1%-3% of the population will suffer from tennis elbow at some point in their lives and more women than men are affected. However, more than 50% of all tennis players incur this injury at some point during their career. This sounds like a lot but, a diagnosis of tennis elbow from actually playing tennis equals only about 5% of total diagnoses.

Some symptoms of tennis elbow include a slow development of pain around the outer portion of the elbow. If you experience more pain when lifting, opening a jar or other wrist related activities, this could signal tennis elbow. Most patients also experience pain when trying to squeeze an object or shake someone’s hand. If you experience any of these symptoms, it would be a good idea to pay your doctor a visit.

Most times, the treatment of tennis elbow simply includes rest of the arm and possibly a regimen of an anti-inflammatory drug like ibuprofen. Once the pain and swelling has reduced, some simple physical therapy can begin to help re-strengthen the muscles around the elbow. For a majority of patients, this is all that is needed to heal the elbow and only about 5% of patients will need surgery to repair the tendon.