Tennis Elbow? A Closer Look

“Tennis Elbow” is a problem that is not just limited to tennis players. It effects 1 – 2% of the Population (so 3-6 million in the US), and is as high as 10% in some demographics just as women in their 40’s. It is a ‘syndrome’ caused by irritation of a nerve that runs through the groove of your ulna in your elbow. The issues are characterized by pain, and as a nerve issue pain present in a number of ways. Burning, numbness, weakness, sharp pain, stiffness are all potential symptoms of Tennis Elbow, and it may be occurring pretty much anywhere along the arm. You might be noticing that there is a pretty variety of indicators for this syndrome, and there are a number of ways to acquire it as well. 

Your Nervous System, system of nerve, starts at your brain stem and spreads out and divides to reach every part of your body on a cellular level. A dissected spinal cord looks like a horses tail because those divisions exist physically. Every pain and discomfort exists in your brain, so does every other sensation. So, why does this matter?

Imagine a system of wires, imagine that system under tension. Imagine that system must weave in and around physical objects like an obstacle course. This is your nervous system. When the nerves leading to your arm (exiting the spine about c5-7, lower beck) they can get caught up in tension anywhere in the systems of your neck, shoulder, arm etc. If an area is stiff, and the nerve can’t glide through properly, corners it is going around will experience greater tension and friction. This friction is exacerbating by rotation and flexion, and since nerves are supplied with blood the inflammation remains in nerve longer than in other tissues of the body. This happens to an extent in any part of the body, but we want keep focussing on Tennis Elbow. So basically, if you are overly tense and have bad posture, you are keeping your nerves under tension and possibly causing inflammation and damage. At first you notice some small discomfort, and it will grow and become more noticeable as long as the activities causing it persist. It takes a while to lose inflammation so if it is not getting better, it is likely getting worse and can progress to a debilitating pain and stiffness that some people get surgery for. 

The activities that create the tension in the nerve are typically –

• Forward head position 
• Hunched shoulders 
• Desk work
• Phone usage
• Tennis
• Golf

Any position of heavy and sustained forward flexing in the neck and T-spine will increase the physical tension on your nerves and create friction and inflammation with use. 

So you guessed it, I think managing your posture is a big way to treat and prevent Tennis Elbows, and I have seen it work.  A forward head in general puts a lot of tension on your nervous system and can stretch your spinal cord a significant amount, I believe this tension is what causes many of the issues associated with forward head and is a big contribution to Tennis Elbow. I put together a Posture series I think will help. 

I have personally seen people with every single symptom of Tennis Elbow listed and some more off color pains in the fingers, hand joints etc. almost every time, focusing on the position and tension in the neck and shoulders brings relief, often immediately. Sometimes the forearm is an area of adhesion that needs to be addressed. 

When I say addressed in that sense I am talking about simple 2 minute pressure points with an implement like a lacrosse ball or a massage cane (amazon links) or manual hand pressure. The linked items are in my ‘amazon store’ I will get a small % if you purchase a thing. When using the cane or the ball, locate a pressure point and hold it for 2 minutes!! This is such a valuable technique. 

I think another great way to address Tennis Elbow is to wrap your elbow in a towel at night to prevent it from resting in an overly bent position, this extended time of rest allows the nerve to lose inflammation. There is an instructional on this in my Tennis Elbow Youtube Video . Keeping the nerve out of tension will allow it to heal more quickly (or heal generally as opposed to not at all).

An elbow ice bath may also be helpful. Big bowl of ice water, 5 minutes. Could do it a couple times a day at least 2 hours apart. This helps most when the nerve is very inflamed, I do not believe that cold compress for muscular injuries is all that helpful, but I think for acute nerve inflammation it can be very effective.

In summary, I believe that Tennis Elbow/Golfer’s Elbow are primarily a nerve related issue, and they exist as they relate to entire length of the nervous system from your neck to your finger tips. Rarely is the issue isolated at the elbow. Treat your body as a unit, help it deal with inflammation, be mindful of your position and manage your Posture. With these control points in check your nerve will have a hard time being irritated! Reach out to me with any questions or to share your experience, low left corner of every page has an email box straight to me!!

If you want to know about your posture overall check out these articles on your posture and work positions, if you sign up for my newsletter you will receive a free posture check guide. (located in the annoying pop – up or the foot of any page). 

Look for a new article about how to take good posture photos, and free weekly posture assessment for social media engagements, selected on a limited basis!