If you've exhausted your insurance and treatment options but you still have elbow pain, there are a few things you should know.
As difficult as it may be to believe, elbow Pain is often indicative of restriction in your upper back and tightness in the muscles in the front of your neck.
You are particularly prone to elbow pain if you have a pronounced slouch and shoulders rolled forward. If this describes you, my Postural wall exercise is definitely in order.
You'll also need to strengthen the muscles that hold your upper back straight. This can be attained through:
BACK AND SHOULDER EXTENSIONS
#1 Lie flat on your stomach. Please ignore my male pattern baldness!
#2 Pull your shoulder blades together.
#3 Squeeze the buttock muscles as this prevents you from arching your lower back as you execute the movement.
#4 Pull your arms up off the floor which increases the squeeze between the shoulder blades.
#5 Lift your torso off the floor and reach foreword. Remember to keep the buttock muscles tight to prevent arching the lower back. Hold the end position for 3 seconds and return to the starting position. Do 10 and repeat the series 3 times. Do these exercises once per day, every day.
Next you'll need to stretch the much more robust forearm muscles on the inner side of the arm. They become too dominant and irritate the much thinner painful muscles on the outside of the arm. It's a huge mistake to stretch the painful side.
FOREARM STRETCH
#1 Raise your arm to 90 degrees and open your fingers wide, pressing your hand into the wall. Be sure the thumb is up.
#2 Slowly turn your head away from the arm you're stretching. Feel the stretch increase in the arm. Hold the movement for 1 minute then do the other arm. Repeat the stretch 3 times and do it a couple of times per day.
Even when you do all the right things, elbow pain can be quite persistent. Watch your posture at work and if you work at a computer, make sure you're sitting up straight with the monitor at eye level. Arm rests on the chair that you can actually use are essential.
This post is not intended to replace a consultation with your healthcare provider.
As difficult as it may be to believe, elbow Pain is often indicative of restriction in your upper back and tightness in the muscles in the front of your neck.
You are particularly prone to elbow pain if you have a pronounced slouch and shoulders rolled forward. If this describes you, my Postural wall exercise is definitely in order.
You'll also need to strengthen the muscles that hold your upper back straight. This can be attained through:
BACK AND SHOULDER EXTENSIONS
#1 Lie flat on your stomach. Please ignore my male pattern baldness!
#2 Pull your shoulder blades together.
#3 Squeeze the buttock muscles as this prevents you from arching your lower back as you execute the movement.
#4 Pull your arms up off the floor which increases the squeeze between the shoulder blades.
#5 Lift your torso off the floor and reach foreword. Remember to keep the buttock muscles tight to prevent arching the lower back. Hold the end position for 3 seconds and return to the starting position. Do 10 and repeat the series 3 times. Do these exercises once per day, every day.
Next you'll need to stretch the much more robust forearm muscles on the inner side of the arm. They become too dominant and irritate the much thinner painful muscles on the outside of the arm. It's a huge mistake to stretch the painful side.
FOREARM STRETCH
#1 Raise your arm to 90 degrees and open your fingers wide, pressing your hand into the wall. Be sure the thumb is up.
#2 Slowly turn your head away from the arm you're stretching. Feel the stretch increase in the arm. Hold the movement for 1 minute then do the other arm. Repeat the stretch 3 times and do it a couple of times per day.
Even when you do all the right things, elbow pain can be quite persistent. Watch your posture at work and if you work at a computer, make sure you're sitting up straight with the monitor at eye level. Arm rests on the chair that you can actually use are essential.
This post is not intended to replace a consultation with your healthcare provider.
One of my colleagues told me to check out your site and I have to say, this post jumped right out at me. I’ve had tennis elbow for more than a year! Hell I don’t even play tennis! Would you believe that not one therapist mentioned my posture. I tried to do the postural wall exercise and I can’t even touch my head to the wall if I hold my lower back in. Though I’m frustrated from the lack of result this year, I’m excited to have a new take on the problem and it seems that this is the way to go. Thanks
Cheers! JP
I can tell you that correcting the posture will take some time but you should start to see improvement to the elbow pain within 3-4 weeks. I know it sounds long, but as you’ve experienced firsthand, you’ve been suffering with it for a year so 3-4 weeks doesn’t sound so bad. If you’re weight training, you may want to ease off of any heavy lifting for a couple of weeks and try to focus on doing exercises that allow you to do the motion with open hands.