Tennis Elbow

Anyone can get tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis), not just athletes. Repetitive arm motions weaken arm muscles and tear the tendons that attach muscle to bone. Tennis elbow can cause pain when you bend or straighten your arms or grasp or lift items. Most people get relief without surgery.

Tennis elbow is an overuse injury that occurs when tendons (tissues that attach muscles to bones) become overloaded, leading to inflammation, degeneration and potential tearing. It commonly affects tennis players who grip their racquets too tightly. But anyone can develop this painful condition, medically known as lateral epicondylitis.

Anyone who regularly performs repetitive activities that vigorously use the forearms, wrists or hands can get tennis elbow. Tennis elbow can affect recreational and professional:

• Baseball and softball players.
• Bowlers.
• Fencers.
• Golfers.
• Tennis, squash, pickleball and racquetball players.
• People who work in certain professions are also more prone to tennis elbow.

Repetitive arm movements can cause your forearm muscles to get fatigued. A single tendon attaches this muscle to the bony bump on the outside of your elbow (lateral epicondyle). As your muscle gets tired, the tendon takes more of the load. This overloading can cause inflammation and pain, known as tendinitis. Over time, this overloading can cause a degenerative condition known as tendinosis. Together tendinitis and tendinosis can then lead to tendon tearing.

Sometimes, a sudden arm or elbow injury causes tennis elbow. Rarely, people develop the condition for no known reason (idiopathic tennis elbow).