Relieve That Pain With Tennis Elbow Exercises
Posted on Sep 15, 2009 under Lifetime Fitness | No Comment
Without doubt, tennis elbow causes sufferers immense pain and can affect their daily lives greatly. Even the simplest tasks like holding a cup can be a painful and difficult operation. But, there is help at hand. By performing some easy tennis elbow exercises, you can help relieve some of the symptoms of this debilitating injury.
This condition, where the outer part of your elbow becomes sore and tender, is more formally known as lateral epicondyitis, the term ‘tennis elbow’ being first used in 1883. It is a popular belief that tennis payers only are prone to this nagging injury and this is true for about one third of all players but, in fact, they account for five percent only of the total sufferers.
As the underlying cause can be continuous repetitive actions or a blow to your elbow, lots of people are at risk of suffering the symptoms of tennis elbow. With tennis players, it is the continuous striking of tennis balls that is believed to cause damage to their forearm tendon attachment at the elbow.
Some symptoms are:
A painful feeling at the outside of your elbow and a nagging pain from there to your wrist; gripping and wrist movements are extremely painful and difficult to carry out; attempts to extend your wrist causes pain and you have less strength in your forearm.
If you find you are suffering from suspected tennis elbow, then your first move should be to see your doctor. Following that, you may, after consulting with your doctor, choose to try these tennis elbow exercises and help to bring relief to some of these symptoms.
For the first exercise, use something like a hammer that you can grip quite easily. Then, with the hammer in your upturned hand and your forearm supported on your knee or a chair arm, slowly rotate your hand to a palm down position. Now, rotate your hand back so that your palm faces up and you are back to the start position. Repeat the movement once more.
The second exercise starts with you holding a can of soup or something similar in your hand palm down and your forearm supported so that only your hand is able to move. Slowly lower your wrist down until it is at almost a right angle to your forearm and then slowly raise it back to the start position.
The third tennis elbow exercise requires the use of a thick rubber band which is interwoven around all your five fingers. With your elbow held as straight as you are able without pain, attempt to spread and straighten out your fingers. Now hold this position for three seconds. Finally, allow your fingers to return to their natural position without closing your hand completely. Try three sets of twenty five repetitions.
Finally, try squeezing a ball in your hand as firmly as you are able; hold it for a moment and then release.
Although your tennis elbow pain may cause you to reach for the pain killer tablets initially, tennis elbow exercises are well worth considering as a no side effects option.