Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) is a pain focused on the outside of your arm, where your forearm meets your elbow. The pain may also extend into the back of the forearm and grip strength may be weak. Onset of symptoms is generally gradual and tennis elbow treatment is essential to relieve pain as well as to regain grip strength.
The cause is repeated contraction of the forearm muscles that you use to straighten and raise your hand and wrist. The repeated motions and stress to the tissue may result in a series of tiny tears in the tendons that attach the forearm muscles to the bony prominence at the outside of your elbow. You can also get it from jobs or activities that involve repetitive arm motion, such as:
A direct blow to your elbow can also make the tendons swell.
At Vivacare Advanced Physiotherapy and Pain Clinic, our physiotherapists will assess the cause of your pain and advice you with an individualized tennis elbow treatment plan. According to a research study published in Indian Journal of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, advanced physiotherapy techniques like manual therapy lead to better improvement in strength and functional performance as compared to conventional treatments like only exercises or ultrasonic therapy. Vivacare clinic also provides the following advanced therapies to bring you quick and long term relief from tennis elbow.
You will be given home exercise regime including strengthening and stretching exercises to maintain the effects of therapy and prevent the recurrence of the pain.
Pain on the outside of the elbow that worsens with gripping (shaking hands, lifting a cup, turning a key) for more than a week or two is a good trigger to get assessed before it limits daily activities.
In most cases yes, with activity modification — your therapist will help you identify which specific movements to avoid or adapt so you can keep working while healing.
A counterforce (tennis elbow) strap can reduce strain on the tendon during activity, but it works best combined with therapy, not as a stand-alone fix.
It can if the underlying loading pattern isn’t addressed — cases that drag on for months benefit from a structured strengthening program rather than repeated rest-and-flare cycles.
Ice is generally more useful in the early, irritable stage to calm pain and inflammation, while heat can help loosen a chronically tight forearm before stretching — your therapist will guide which suits your stage.
Many people feel some relief within a few weeks of starting targeted treatment, though full tendon strengthening and resilience typically takes a couple of months.
