If you suffer from tennis elbow and you’d like to know what the best tennis elbow treatment is, you’re not alone. Approximately 6.5 to 9.5 million people in the United States suffer from this painful condition. And the name adds confusion to the injury because less than five percent of people actually get it from playing a racquet sport.
In fact, anyone who uses their arms to perform repetitive movements is susceptible, which significantly broadens the potential patient population. This includes golfers, fitness enthusiasts, musicians, gamers, crafters, construction and manufacturing workers, plumbers, hairdressers, cooks and butchers. Office workers who type and work on computers all day also are prone to tennis elbow.
Over time, repetitive motions can cause microscopic tears in the tendons that connect the forearm muscles to the outside of the elbow. This leads to pain and inflammation, particularly when gripping items, shaking hands, brushing your teeth or turning a doorknob. Pain can worsen over time and typically does not go away on its own. Although a variety of treatment options exist, they are not equally effective in healing this injury.