What do hair/beauty professionals and tradies have in common?
ANSWER
TENNIS ELBOW (Huh? they aren’t even playing tennis!)
Tennis elbow or pain on the outside of the elbow occurs in activities that:
- Require fine wrist and elbow motor control
- Involve constant grasping of tools
- Repetitive actions over long days
- Working above shoulder height
- Repetitive overuse of muscles in the forearms (scissor use, gripping plasterboard/pots and pans
- Even typing with poor shoulder/wrist or general posture
That’s a lot of people doing things that can lead to tennis elbow!
Tennis elbow occurs due to inflammation or microtrauma in a group of muscles which operate the wrist and elbow and unfortunately all join together in the one sheath to basically form one tendon and guess where it attaches. That sore point you’re feeling in your elbow!
We use these muscles when we grip pens, type, open door handles, put the key in the ignition of the car, pour our cup of tea, use our phones, the list goes on and on!
So nope, you don’t need to be playing tennis to get tennis elbow.
So with a thorough history and assessment we can investigate why and how and get you on the road to recovery with a range of techniques including dry needling.
Don’t ignore the pain until it becomes unbearable!
We understand that taking a break from what hurts our body is at times unrealistic, but waiting for it to get worse can prolong recovery!
It’s very easy to push through the pain during activities/work but this is one of those times where pain presents as a warning siren that should be listened to.
- Avoid holding our wrists in an extended position for long periods (like dropping your wrists at the computer)
- Lower the keyboard height placing a rolled tea towel under your wrists and using mouse gel support pads can assist with taking some of that pressure off!
- Ensuring our wrists are in a neutral position with exercises involving barbells can also help take the stress off the elbow
- Avoid very thin handles!
- Wider grips tend to require less force to sustain contractions
- Using a towel to thicken the grip of pans and frequently used utensils
If you’re like us and enjoy social media keep in mind that holding your arm up and gripping the phone may well be contributing at least rest your arm on something.
Got Elbow pain? Don’t ignore!
Your osteopath can help give you the proper diagnosis and restore movement to the elbow and give appropriate advice to help you manage and resolve the issue.
Book an appointment today.