Dealing with a tennis or golf elbow is not fun! In most cases, its not even causing by playing those sports but from gardening, typing or anything that puts pressure on the elbow on an ongoing basis! Its a repetitive accumulative injury that is such a pain in the you no what and not so easy to fix or go away. There is no simple one stop solution unfortunately to solve the problems behind the injury, but the good news is that treatments are quite successful and most will recover without surgical intervention. The bad news is that rest is a vital part of the treatment. If it is in fact due to your sport, you might need to stay off the court and course for weeks or months depending on how many small tears there are on your tendon.
Let's explore some common tennis and golf elbow tip so you can restore function get back on the courts and courses.
Tennis and Golfers Elbow Tip #1:
The first tip is don't ignore it. Your body is trying to tell you something, namely, that you have injured the tendon in your elbow that is used all the time while you play the sport or garden or type. First home treatment you can do right now is rest. This may be all that you need.
Tennis and Golfers Elbow Tip #2:
Second tip, reduce the pain and inflammation through ice or cold packs for 10-15 minutes at at time, several times a day. Experiment a bit with hot and cold treatments to see what works best for you.
Tennis and Golfers Elbow Tip #3:
Anti-inflammatory drugs and creams, such as ibuprofen or naproxen (such as Aleve) can help along with easing the discomfort.
Tennis and Golfers Elbow Tip #4:
Splints and braces obtainable from Home Healthcare or your pharmacy can help you manage and support your elbows pain during your day to day activities temporarily.
Tennis and Golfers Elbow Tip #5:
Before you return to your favourite sport or activity, plan to spend some time with rehab exercises to strengthen the muscles around the tendon and minimize the chances of re-injuring it. Plenty of exercises are available all over the internet, but talk to your Doctor about a wise plan before playing Dr. Google. You want to be careful that you are not attempting to strengthen a tendon when it is not even healed yet.
Don't get discouraged, you'll come back stronger than ever and be more equipped to improve your game or activity once you follow these tennis and golf tips. Remember to listen and love your body!