Tennis Elbow Classroom

"How long will my Tennis Elbow take to heal?" is one of the most common Tennis Elbow treatment related questions I’m asked – Both online and in my practice. Why is it that some Tennis Elbow injuries take only weeks to recover from – while others take months or even years? And is there a way to avoid this uncertainty and accelerate your healing and recovery?

It's that time of year again when many people start getting back out on the tennis courts and golf courses. Many call it spring – but I call it Tennis Elbow Season! Sure, you can develop Tennis or Golfer's Elbow at any time (whether you play tennis or not, of course.) But there IS a certain time of year – (especially in the colder climates) when many start playing again after a long and less activ...

When you have an extremely stubborn, chronic case of Medial or Lateral Epicondylitis (Golfer's Elbow or Tennis Elbow) and you've been struggling with for it months – maybe even for years... When should you realistically start to consider surgery as an option? How do you know if you're a good candidate for a surgical procedure or not? And when is it time to abandon more conservative treatment optio...

Are you starting to feel pain in your arm or elbow, possibly from taking large numbers of selfies? - You may have the latest Tech Injury, many have begun to call "Selfie Elbow." (Selfie Elbow is pain in the elbow caused by holding ones arm fully extended and putting one's wrist in an awkward position to snap pictures of oneself over and over – AKA, taking selfies.) This podcast episode still appli...

Do Golfers also get injured with Tennis Elbow? Yes, quite often, in fact. Curiously, a glance at golf magazine websites, medical studies and surveys suggests that not only do golfers get Tennis Elbow, they actually suffer this injury more often than Golfer's Elbow! (Although, statistically, there are many more cases of both injury types among people who don't play tennis or golf!) In this episode,...

Is it completely necessary to stop playing tennis or golf when you have a Tennis Elbow injury? Or can you "play through it" IF you’re careful? And if you decide to take time off to focus on healing and rehab, when is it safe to start playing again? The good news is, although it’s probably always wiser to take time off, it is entirely possible to keep playing and still recover, with two caveats: ON...

Which upper-body exercises should you avoid, stop for the time being or modify when you have a Tennis Elbow injury? Should you use dumbbells or is it better to use barbells? What about muscle isolation; is it better to do more general exercises and avoid getting too specific? This episode covers the following strength-training / weight-lifting questions and concerns: General thoughts on exercising...

Should you continue working out with weights or doing any kind of upper-body strength-training exercise if you have Tennis Elbow? Does it make a difference what originally caused your injury? - Whether it was caused by weight lifting in the first place or playing tennis or golf, or whether it stems from computer use or heavy, physical work? Your needs will vary, depending on whether your injury or...

There’s a lot of talk about the idea of using Eccentric Exercise in Tennis Elbow rehab, but can one type of muscle contraction really be that much more effective for your tendon healing? Or is the eccentric approach, and the FlexBar rubber bar device often used to perform it, just another gimmick? (An Eccentric contraction is the controlled lengthening of a muscle against resistance, and a Concent...

To make a full recovery from your Tennis Elbow injury you’ll need several key strengthening / rehab exercises. In this episode, I cover the three best exercises for Tennis Elbow, which one(s) you should start with, and how taking a more indirect approach may be the best way to ease into your rehab. Because, for some Tennis Elbow sufferers, taking the direct approach that's most often recommended (...

When it comes to Tennis Elbow treatment advice, you almost always hear how important it is to “Rest it as much as possible while it heals!” But, unfortunately, the idea that healing will “just happen” while you’re resting, hoping and waiting is a major misconception when it comes to tendon injuries. Learn why “You should rest it!” is not very useful advice when treating tendon problems like Tennis...

There are three key things you’re trying to accomplish with resistance exercise when recovering from a Tennis Elbow tendon injury, whether it’s Tendinosis, Tendonitis or a tendon tear: Muscle strengthening, tendon remodeling, and tendon healing. In this podcast we look at each of these important Tennis Elbow exercise goals in detail.

The exercises you need for Tennis Elbow rehab are easy enough to learn, the hard part is knowing when to do them. When done at the right time, exercises should help your recovery, but, done at the wrong time, they can make your injury worse, unfortunately! Is the right approach to: Rest for a certain number of weeks before starting exercises? Do you need to wait for inflammation to go down first?...