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Tennis Elbow
This is very common. It affects the tendon that extends your wrist but the pain is at your elbow. The mechanism is thought to be overuse of the affected arm. While it’s true it needs to be used. Overuse alone doesn’t explain it. The people suffering with this aren’t all cashiers. They literally do every job there is from pipe fitters to dentists. It’s not completely in the elbow. Though that IS where it hurts.
The real mechanism is the nerves that control those muscles in the forearm that extend the wrist, don’t ever get to relax and as a result, the muscle is always too tight. Like an overtightened string on guitar. Except on a guitar, the string just breaks. Something’s gotta give in the human elbow and that constant pulling irritates the tendon and becomes tendonitis or technically, lateral epicondylitis. Which is medical speak for irritated attachment of the tendon at the elbow (that point is called the lateral epicondyle).
The real problem is the fact that the tendon/muscle doesn’t get a chance to relax. And that’s because the nerve is firing when it shouldn’t be. It should only fire when your brain decides to move your wrist. But, when the neck is injured, it continually fires whether the brain sends a signal or not. THAT’s why the tendon gets irritated in the first place.
Medically, this is treated with a “cock-up splint” on the wrist and exercises. But is rarely successful so it is most often followed up with a steroid orally or injected at the site. This produces immediate relief for the person suffering. It doesn’t fix the original problem in the neck though. So, it will be back. For the people who are never told the actual cause, they just learn not to do much with that elbow.
It’s one thing to diagnose tennis elbow. It’s another completely to determine its cause. I can pretty much tell you over the phone if it hurts to touch that area of your elbow and hurts to open a pickle jar or door knob, you’ve got tennis elbow. But, what you REALLY want to know is what to do about it. It’s not adequate to take anti-inflammatory medications until you see your medical doctor who then injects you or prescribes more powerful ones. An image of the spinal alignment in the neck is critical to locating the cause and solving this problem for good.
Unfortunately, this just doesn’t happen for everyone. We take care to make sure we are getting to the bottom of problems for you. Not just treat the symptoms. We are proud to do this for you and your family effectively.
If you’re dealing with this, give us a call.
Vibrant Life Center
651-777-3611
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