Do you need to treat tennis elbow in Chapel Hill?
The term tennis elbow has developed the misconception that the condition only affects athletes who participate in racquet sports. In reality, tennis elbow affects approximately 5% of individuals who play tennis, and is more commonly associated with occupations or hobbies that involve repetitive motion of the forearm and wrist. In fact, the repetitive motion associated with long term computer use can be a major factor that contributes to tennis elbow. Tennis elbow is a misnomer in that it is a specific term that describes people who experience chronic and repeated episodes of pain that is isolated primarily to the top of the forearm and outside of the elbow. Tennis elbow can affect anyone, but has been found to occur more frequently in people who suddenly begin tasks that involve using muscle groups that they are not accustomed to using. There also tends to be a higher rate of occurrence in people aged 30-50 years old.
The development of tennis elbow can be difficult to identify and pain is often one of the first symptoms. Tennis elbow typically develops slowly and people suffering from the condition often cannot remember any specific injury. Besides the development of pain, people suffering from tennis elbow often gradually begin to notice the development of weakness in the hand of the affected arm. Weak grip strength is usually noticed when shaking hands, turning a screw driver, opening jars, holding a coffee cup, opening doors or holding gardening tools. People may also notice that they drop objects more frequently as the condition progresses.
How to treat Tennis Elbow?
Dr. Cosmas Leigh at Leigh Brain & Spine is capable of diagnosing tennis elbow through your clinical presentation, the history of the condition you provide, information regarding your daily activities, and knowledge of your occupation. Since other conditions can cause pain on the outer portion of the elbow, Leigh Brain & Spine has the resources to perform or arrange for more advanced diagnosing procedures such as; MRI, X-Ray, and EMG. Our facility offers a number of treatment options for tennis elbow. Often the nerve interference caused by spinal misalignment is responsible for the abnormal muscle patterns causing the pain and weakness of tennis elbow. As a result, restoring normal spinal function often alleviates the symptoms of tennis elbow.