Tennis Elbow

 

Tennis Elbow

Tennis Elbow is a common condition of the elbow that causes pain on the outside of the elbow, running down into the forearm. It is usually caused by a small injury to the tendons of the elbow where they attach to the bone, which has not healed properly. It can be diagnosed with a specialist elbow examination. The pain can cause significant discomfort and make the arm difficult to use. It can usually be treated with physiotherapy, off-loaded clasps, stretching exercises or ultrasound therapy. Platelet rich plasma (PRP) injection is a new technique, which may also be beneficial and is offered by the team (click to see animation).

 

Occasionally the symptoms will not settle and surgery is a possibility. Ultrasound can be useful in helping with the diagnosis and a guided local anaesthetic injection can be used to help predict the outcome of surgery. If surgery is considered, it can be performed as a day-case. The procedure is called a tennis elbow release. The ExeterElbow surgeons perform around 10 of these procedures each year. It takes about 6-12 weeks to recover from the procedure.