The elbow is one of the most used joints in the body – something you may not notice until you’re feeling pain every time you move! Elbows are also quite complicated joints. They are comprised of bone, cartilage, ligaments and fluid and the joint requires the help of the surrounding muscles and tendons to move. One of the most common elbow conditions is tennis elbow – even in those who have never touched a tennis racket in their life! also known as lateral epicondylitis, tennis elbow is found in people of all ages. If you think that you may be experiencing pain from tennis elbow, don’t worry – your tennis elbow specialist NYC is here to help!
Tennis elbow is an inflammation of the tendons that join the forearm muscles on the outside of the elbow. The forearm muscles and tendons become damaged from overuse, especially from repeating similar motions again and again. This leads to swelling and pain on the outside of the elbow – different from pain on the inside of the elbow, which is a major symptom of golfer’s elbow, something we will be talking about in the near future!)
Tennis elbow is commonly found in people who play a lot of tennis or other racket sports, hence the name “tennis elbow.” When it comes to what specifically causes tennis elbow when playing tennis, it’s the heavy repetition and specifically, the backhand stroke. Outside of racket sports, there are plenty of other activities that can cause tennis elbow. Anything activity that requires repetitive twisting of the wrist or rigorous use of the forearm muscle can cause tennis elbow. Some professions inherently require such motion, such as painters, plumbers, and carpenters – and studies have shown that auto workers, cooks, and even butchers get tennis elbow more often than the rest of the population.
The main sign that you’re experiencing tennis elbow is pain on the outside of your elbow that may radiate into your forearm and/or wrist. This pain may it difficult or impossible to shake hands, lift anything relatively heavy, open a door, or grip anything with force. If you think you may be suffering from tennis elbow, the most important thing you can do is rest. Stop playing sports or doing whatever it is that may be causing/exacerbating your elbow problems. If rest, coupled with over-the-counter pain relievers, doesn’t alleviate your pain or if you’re unable to sleep – make an appointment with one of our elbow specialists
OrthoManhattan’s Top Tennis Elbow Specialist NYC
LOUIS W. CATALANO, III, MD
STEVEN GLICKEL, MD
ALTON BARRON, MD
ADAM B. COHEN, MD
If you’re living with tennis elbow, we’d love nothing more than to get you back to doing the things you love! To get started down the path the recovery, all you have to do is make an appointment with an elbow specialist at OrthoManhattan. Either give us a call or submit a contact form in the top right corner of this page – appointments in-person as well as from the comfort of your own home via TeleVisit are available.