Tennis elbow or as its medically known as Lateral epicondylitis is a painful inflammation of the muscles and tendons of the forearm that allow us to extend our wrist and fingers.
In this segment Brittany Witt, MOTR/L, CBIS C-PAM, discusses tennis elbow, treatment options available at Meritus Health, and to encourage patients to seek out medical attention as early as possible when symptoms start showing.
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Can You Suffer From Tennis Elbow, Even if You Don't Play Tennis?
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Learn more about Brittany Witt, MOTR/L
Brittany Witt, MOTR/L
Brittany Witt, MOTR/L earned her degree in occupational therapy from St. Francis University in Loretto, Pa. She is a certified Brain Injury Specialist and a certified rehabilitation service provider with the Maryland Workers Compensation Commission. Her special interests are in hand and upper extremity rehabilitation.Learn more about Brittany Witt, MOTR/L
Transcription:
Can You Suffer From Tennis Elbow, Even if You Don't Play Tennis?
Melanie Cole (Host): Tennis elbow, also known as lateral epicondylitis is not necessarily related to tennis, though many people think it is. It can stem from any sort of repetitive muscle use and can cause intense pain and interfere with activities of daily living. My guest today, is Brittany Witt. She’s an occupational therapist, certified brain injury specialist at Meritus Health. Welcome to the show Brittany. So, what is tennis elbow?
Brittany Witt, MOTR/L, CBIS (Guest): Well tennis elbow or as we in the medical world like to say, lateral epicondylitis is actually inflammation of the muscles and tendons that allow you to kind of move your wrist up and down. It often comes with a form of inflammation in the extensor muscles or the muscles that let you lift your fingers up. We typically see it when people come in, they come in and they have got a lot of pain and soreness and there actually hasn’t been a trauma, that has actually caused it. But a lot of times, it has to do with their jobs. We have had many mechanics, cooks, even hairdressers that present with tennis elbow.
Melanie: So, if it doesn’t necessarily have to do with tennis, it could be a repetitive injury. It’s a chronic overuse thing and you mentioned that it is with people’s jobs. What causes it? What is the movement that they might be doing whether it is sitting at a computer, using a mouse, or a mechanic – what’s that movement?
Brittany: It’s that extension movement where your fingers kind of go back and extend towards the back of your arm or even sometimes it’s that turning motion. When our elbows are extended, we load our arm differently and so therefore, that tension on our arm causes an inflammation when we overuse it. And the reason they call it actually tennis elbow, is when you are hitting with the racket, that downward force is actually what’s the issue.
Melanie: So, what are the symptoms? Where would people feel this pain?
Brittany: So, usually on the outside of the elbow and on to the forearm. People have a lot of tenderness there. Some people actually complain of a burning sensation. It can be very painful to touch. Some people even say it’s this little tiny bone on the outside of my elbow. So, those are what we see typically. Some people come in and they say that their weakness and their grip. Many patients can actually identify ideas of where it causes pain. Mechanics will say when I’m turning a wrench or the hairdresser when I’m blow drying someone’s hair and my elbow is up in the air and I’m holding the blow dryer, or even sometimes it is just as simple as giving a handshake.
Melanie: So, what can a therapist do to help you?
Brittany: There’s a lot of things. Mostly what we try to do is educate you on the motions and things that you are doing and the repetitive actions that are irritating those muscles and tendons. But also, besides just education, we do evidence-based strengthening programs. We usually educate our patients on a home exercise program, exercises that they can specifically do at home. And also, sometimes we do what we call – we do some splinting, giving you a specialized brace. Here at Total Rehab Care, we are actually able to fabricate your own braces, so it is even nicer than just an off the shelf one, but one that is specifically custom to you. And sometimes we do things called modalities, give you some heat, electrical stimulation, ultrasound, something even called iontophoresis, where we give electrical stimulation with cortisone towards the muscles to help with the inflammation process.
Melanie: So, what about ergonomics? You are an occupational therapist. Do you work with patients to try and change the way they were moving it so that maybe this pain doesn’t continue?
Brittany: Of course. Sometimes it’s educating people on better body mechanics. Sometimes it’s educating patients on the way they are gripping items; how hard they are gripping items. Sometimes we can even give them built up foam handles to kind of – so they are not gripping as hard and utilizing those muscles to that extent. So, there is a lot of things, ergonomically, whether it is positioning, watching, observing how the patient does repetitive actions or even – in the past I have worked with a jewelry maker and just kind of educated her on how she is moving her arms and her elbows to make her jewelry.
Melanie: That’s really interesting information. So, we have heard about something called the Graston Technique. What is that and how can it help somebody with tennis elbow?
Brittany: So, the Graston Technique is a form of instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization. It’s a way that we kind of work the muscles, the skin, the tissue and increase blood flow to the area. It assists the therapist in directly working at the site of the inflammation and discomfort and actually here we have 26 different therapists that are actually certified in this technique.
Melanie: That’s so cool and what kind of results can a patient expect from Graston? How soon might they feel relief?
Brittany: So, relief is a hard question to answer. Sometimes if we fix the body mechanics and we get the inflammation process under control; within a few weeks we are able to help that patient. Sometimes we always try to encourage people the earlier you are noticing symptoms, the earlier you can come in. Because we can educate you on the positions that are hurting or work on that inflammation process. The longer it goes on, the longer it typically takes us to rectify the situation.
Melanie: And you spoke about some home exercises. What can a patient do on their own to decrease some of these symptoms? Can they ice at home? Work on those ergonomics you discussed? Bracing, NSAIDs. What do you like them to do at home?
Brittany: So, for ours, we actually have a program that we have watched that is evidence-based using a flex bar. That is one of our favorite tools we like to use for the home exercise program. And one of the biggest things we try to tell our patients; if it hurts, stop doing it. Just stop that movement and then come seek out your therapist so we can help you adapt that movement or come up with a different process to reduce the inflammation.
Melanie: So, what else would you like people to know about tennis elbow or lateral epicondylitis and how you can help them at Meritus Health?
Brittany: Well here at Meritus, we are a trained group of specialists that are able to help identify and do an extensive evaluation to help you in the occupations of your life and the concerns in your life to address your symptoms. We have been trained. We are very educated on the way to help treat the situation, help to get the inflammation, help to get the pain under control.
Melanie: Thank you so much. It’s really great information. So interesting because so many people might suffer from this form of pain. You’re listening to Your Health Matters with Meritus Health. For more information, please visit www.meritushealth.com that’s www.meritushealth.com . I’m Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.
Can You Suffer From Tennis Elbow, Even if You Don't Play Tennis?
Melanie Cole (Host): Tennis elbow, also known as lateral epicondylitis is not necessarily related to tennis, though many people think it is. It can stem from any sort of repetitive muscle use and can cause intense pain and interfere with activities of daily living. My guest today, is Brittany Witt. She’s an occupational therapist, certified brain injury specialist at Meritus Health. Welcome to the show Brittany. So, what is tennis elbow?
Brittany Witt, MOTR/L, CBIS (Guest): Well tennis elbow or as we in the medical world like to say, lateral epicondylitis is actually inflammation of the muscles and tendons that allow you to kind of move your wrist up and down. It often comes with a form of inflammation in the extensor muscles or the muscles that let you lift your fingers up. We typically see it when people come in, they come in and they have got a lot of pain and soreness and there actually hasn’t been a trauma, that has actually caused it. But a lot of times, it has to do with their jobs. We have had many mechanics, cooks, even hairdressers that present with tennis elbow.
Melanie: So, if it doesn’t necessarily have to do with tennis, it could be a repetitive injury. It’s a chronic overuse thing and you mentioned that it is with people’s jobs. What causes it? What is the movement that they might be doing whether it is sitting at a computer, using a mouse, or a mechanic – what’s that movement?
Brittany: It’s that extension movement where your fingers kind of go back and extend towards the back of your arm or even sometimes it’s that turning motion. When our elbows are extended, we load our arm differently and so therefore, that tension on our arm causes an inflammation when we overuse it. And the reason they call it actually tennis elbow, is when you are hitting with the racket, that downward force is actually what’s the issue.
Melanie: So, what are the symptoms? Where would people feel this pain?
Brittany: So, usually on the outside of the elbow and on to the forearm. People have a lot of tenderness there. Some people actually complain of a burning sensation. It can be very painful to touch. Some people even say it’s this little tiny bone on the outside of my elbow. So, those are what we see typically. Some people come in and they say that their weakness and their grip. Many patients can actually identify ideas of where it causes pain. Mechanics will say when I’m turning a wrench or the hairdresser when I’m blow drying someone’s hair and my elbow is up in the air and I’m holding the blow dryer, or even sometimes it is just as simple as giving a handshake.
Melanie: So, what can a therapist do to help you?
Brittany: There’s a lot of things. Mostly what we try to do is educate you on the motions and things that you are doing and the repetitive actions that are irritating those muscles and tendons. But also, besides just education, we do evidence-based strengthening programs. We usually educate our patients on a home exercise program, exercises that they can specifically do at home. And also, sometimes we do what we call – we do some splinting, giving you a specialized brace. Here at Total Rehab Care, we are actually able to fabricate your own braces, so it is even nicer than just an off the shelf one, but one that is specifically custom to you. And sometimes we do things called modalities, give you some heat, electrical stimulation, ultrasound, something even called iontophoresis, where we give electrical stimulation with cortisone towards the muscles to help with the inflammation process.
Melanie: So, what about ergonomics? You are an occupational therapist. Do you work with patients to try and change the way they were moving it so that maybe this pain doesn’t continue?
Brittany: Of course. Sometimes it’s educating people on better body mechanics. Sometimes it’s educating patients on the way they are gripping items; how hard they are gripping items. Sometimes we can even give them built up foam handles to kind of – so they are not gripping as hard and utilizing those muscles to that extent. So, there is a lot of things, ergonomically, whether it is positioning, watching, observing how the patient does repetitive actions or even – in the past I have worked with a jewelry maker and just kind of educated her on how she is moving her arms and her elbows to make her jewelry.
Melanie: That’s really interesting information. So, we have heard about something called the Graston Technique. What is that and how can it help somebody with tennis elbow?
Brittany: So, the Graston Technique is a form of instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization. It’s a way that we kind of work the muscles, the skin, the tissue and increase blood flow to the area. It assists the therapist in directly working at the site of the inflammation and discomfort and actually here we have 26 different therapists that are actually certified in this technique.
Melanie: That’s so cool and what kind of results can a patient expect from Graston? How soon might they feel relief?
Brittany: So, relief is a hard question to answer. Sometimes if we fix the body mechanics and we get the inflammation process under control; within a few weeks we are able to help that patient. Sometimes we always try to encourage people the earlier you are noticing symptoms, the earlier you can come in. Because we can educate you on the positions that are hurting or work on that inflammation process. The longer it goes on, the longer it typically takes us to rectify the situation.
Melanie: And you spoke about some home exercises. What can a patient do on their own to decrease some of these symptoms? Can they ice at home? Work on those ergonomics you discussed? Bracing, NSAIDs. What do you like them to do at home?
Brittany: So, for ours, we actually have a program that we have watched that is evidence-based using a flex bar. That is one of our favorite tools we like to use for the home exercise program. And one of the biggest things we try to tell our patients; if it hurts, stop doing it. Just stop that movement and then come seek out your therapist so we can help you adapt that movement or come up with a different process to reduce the inflammation.
Melanie: So, what else would you like people to know about tennis elbow or lateral epicondylitis and how you can help them at Meritus Health?
Brittany: Well here at Meritus, we are a trained group of specialists that are able to help identify and do an extensive evaluation to help you in the occupations of your life and the concerns in your life to address your symptoms. We have been trained. We are very educated on the way to help treat the situation, help to get the inflammation, help to get the pain under control.
Melanie: Thank you so much. It’s really great information. So interesting because so many people might suffer from this form of pain. You’re listening to Your Health Matters with Meritus Health. For more information, please visit www.meritushealth.com that’s www.meritushealth.com . I’m Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.