by The NHS recommends exercises as one of the main ways to treat tennis elbow because it can ease pain and stiffness and increase blood flow to your arm. One study showed that doing eccentric exercises for tennis elbow cut the pain level every day for seven weeks from 79% to 15%. In this content, you will learn the best eleven exercises for tennis elbow. Here we have explained the tennis elbow exercises with a clear picture! So you will be able to understand tennis elbow exercises very quickly.
What is tennis elbow?
Tennis elbow is pain or soreness on the upper arm’s outside (lateral) side near the elbow.
Tennis elbow happens when the tendons that connect the muscle in the forearm to the bone in the upper arm are torn or swollen.
It happens when the muscles around the elbow are used over and over again.
Tennis elbow usually gets better if you stop doing whatever hurt it in the first place. This can take anywhere from a few months to two years.
Why do I need physical therapy for tennis elbow?
Physical therapy can help a lot with tennis elbow, and it can improve the joint’s range of motion and, over time, decrease and even get rid of the pain.
Your physiotherapist will work with you to figure out what might have caused your injury and develop exercises to help you use your joints better and take some of the pressure off them.
Some of the exercises they might suggest are meant to improve blood flow to the tendons, which get much less oxygen than the muscles around them. Some other exercises might be suggest.
- Stretching and strengthening exercises for the muscles;
- Using massage with essential oils or ice to bring down swelling;
- Muscle stimulation to improve blood flow;
- Use straps or braces to support your elbow until it has healed enough.
What are the physiotherapy exercises for tennis elbow?
The goal is to strengthen and stretch your forearm muscles so you don’t have to struggle with tennis elbow again. Your physical therapist may also instruct you on how to modify your tennis stroke or other activities that is giving you elbow pain. Physical therapy can also help increase blood flow to the tendons, which do not receive the same amount of blood and oxygen as muscles do. And it can be possible by some selective exercises.
Elbow Curls
Step out and put one foot in front of the other and. Put one end of an exercise band under your back foot and use one of two grips to hold the other end in your hand.
∎ Pull the band up with your hand.
∎ Curl your arm towards your shoulder (see picture 1).
Instead of an exercise band, you can use dumbbells or a barbell. Repeat this exercise 10 times for three sets, using both palms facing up and palms facing down as grips.
Forearm Pull
∎ Stand with your knees bent just a little bit.
∎ Keep your palms down and your upper arms close to your sides as you hold the weight bar at shoulder height.
∎ Push the weight down and up again and again (see picture 2).
∎ Repeat ten times, for a total of three sets.
Forearm Twist
Sit with your arm resting on something.
∎ Keep your palm down when you hold a hammer.
∎ Turn your forearm gently up and down as far as possible before you feel pain (See picture 3).
If it hurts to turn, move your hand closer to the head of the hammer. Repeat ten times for a total of three sets. Instead of a hammer, you can use a dumbbell with a weight on one end.
Wrist Extension (Stretching)
∎ Straighten your arm and flex your wrist back.
∎ Put light pressure on the palm with your other hand and pull it toward you until you feel a stretch on your forearm.
∎ For 15 seconds, hold the stretch.
∎ Do this stretch five times, and then do it on the other arm. (See picture 4)
Perform this exercise minimum of five days a week. And this stretch should be done four times every day before doing anything else. After healing, you should do this stretch as part of a warm-up before gardening, tennis, or golf, requiring you to grip something.
Wrist Flexion (Stretching)
∎ Extend your arm straight and flex your wrist back.
∎ Put light pressure on the palm with your other hand and pull it toward you unless you feel a stretch on the inner part of your forearm.
∎ For 15 seconds, hold the stretch.
∎ Do this five times. (See picture 5)
Perform this exercise minimum of five days a week. And this stretch should be done four times every day before doing anything else. After healing, you should do this stretch as part of a warm-up before gardening, tennis, or golf, requiring you to grip something.
Wrist Extension (Strengthening)
This exercise needs to be done in segments. Each segment should start with no weight. When you can do 30 reps for two days in a row without feeling any more pain, you can move on in the program by adding weight (begin with 1lb., advance to 2 lbs., end with 3 lbs.).
Stage 1: Bend your elbow 90 degrees and put your wrist on the edge of a table to support your forearm.
Stage 2: Make your elbow a little straighter. Keep putting your arm on the table for support.
Stage 3: Straighten your elbow and lift your arm so it’s no longer resting on the table.
For each stage, there are step-by-step instructions to follow:
∎ Bend your wrist as far as you can with your palm facing down.
∎ Hold up for one count, and then lower slowly for three counts.
∎ Start without weight and add reps until you can do 30 without stopping.
∎ When you can do 30 reps for two days in a row without feeling more pain, you can start doing the exercise with one lb. weight.
∎ Follow the same steps as above to keep adding repetitions and weight until you can do 30 repetitions with a 3 lb. weight for two days without feeling more pain. (See picture 6)
Wrist Flexion (Strengthening)
This exercise should be done in segments. Start each process without any weight. When you can do 30 reps for two days in a row without feeling any more pain, you can move on in the program by adding weight (begin with 1lb., advance to 2 lbs., end with 3 lbs.).
Stage 1: Bend your elbow to 90 degrees and put your forearm on a table with your wrist at the edge.
Stage 2: Slightly straighten your elbow. Keep resting your arm on the table.
Stage 3: Straighten your elbow and lift your arm so it’s no longer resting on the table.
Each stage has step-by-step instructions to be followed:
∎ Bend your wrist as far up as possible, with your palm facing down
∎ Hold up for one count, then slowly lower for three counts.
∎ Start without weight and keep adding reps until you can do 30.
∎ When you can do 30 reps for two days in a row without feeling more pain, you can start doing the exercise with one lb. weight.
∎ Follow the same steps as above to keep adding reps and weight until you can do 30 reps with a 3 lb. weight for two days without feeling more pain. (See picture 7)
Forearm Supination & Pronation (Strengthening)
This exercise also needs to be done in segments. Each stage should start with no weight. When you can do 30 reps for two days in a row without feeling any more pain, you can move on in the program by adding weight (begin with one lb., advance to 2 lbs., end with 3 lbs.).
Stage 1: Bend your elbow 90 degrees and put your wrist on the table’s edge to support your forearm.
Stage 2: Make your elbow a little straighter. Keep putting your arm on the table for support.
Stage 3: Straighten your elbow and lift your arm, so it’s no longer resting on the table.
For each stage, there are step-by-step instructions to follow:
∎ Start with your palm facing away from you. Slowly turn the palm so that it faces up.
∎ Slowly return to where you started, and then turn the palm down slowly.
∎ Slowly move back to where you started. This is the end of one repeat.
∎ Start without weight and add reps until you can do 30 without stopping.
∎ When you can do 30 reps for two days in a row without feeling more pain, you can start doing the exercise with one lb. weight.
∎ Follow the same steps as above to keep adding repetitions and weight until you can do 30 repetitions with a 3 lb weight for two days without feeling more pain. (See picture 8)
Stress Ball Squeeze
This exercise should be performed after the previous strengthening exercises have been completed. The position of your arms and elbows during this exercise should correspond to the step you are finishing. You have to do this exercise once with ten repetitions per day. (See picture: 9)
Finger Stretch
After doing the step-by-step strengthening exercises above, you should do this one. For this exercise, you have to use an elastic band and do this, as shown in picture 10. You have to do this exercise also once with ten repetitions per day.
Handshake Stretch
It is also a strengthening exercise. With your thumb pointed up, hold the weight or container. (Imagine you’re shaking hands with someone.) Slowly raise and lower the can or weight. Only move your wrist and keep your arm steady by resting it on the table. (See picture 11)
How to heal tennis elbow fast?
The fasted way to recover from tennis elbow is getting a steroid injection. For a long time, a cortisone injection was the first treatment given to someone with tennis elbow, which was in a lot of pain. And cortisone can help people feel better for up to six weeks.
You know, cortisone is a steroid and a potent pain reliever. Most of these injected patients were happy at first, but many say that when the effect of the injection wears off (After three months), they feel worse.
New studies show that cortisone is not a good choice for people with tennis elbow. In a recent paper by Dr. Masci, there is good evidence that cortisone injection for tennis elbow is insignificant.
Many people get a flare-up again after getting a cortisone shot. Overall, giving cortisone injections to people with this condition makes them worse instead of better.
It would help if you remembered that there’s no fast way to recover from tennis elbow. To recover from tennis elbow, you must do exercises suggested by your physiotherapy doctor.
And you have to know other things to recover fast from tennis elbow. Like, you have to know, How to sleep with tennis elbow, How to do tennis elbow exercises, and many more!
What is treatment of Tennis elbow?
Rest: The most important thing you can do to treat tennis elbow is to let the affected elbow rest. It is essential to stay away from things that can make the condition worse and increase the pain if your job requires you to carry heavy loads or do the same movements over and over, either take a break or change the way you do the work that is putting stress on your tendons and ligaments.
Cold packs: Applying cold packs like frozen peas or ice wrapped in a cloth for 15 to 20 minutes several times a day (as needed) can help ease the pain.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and painkillers: For your tennis elbow, your doctor will tell you to put NSAIDs on the area that hurts. If the pain is just a little better, they can give you painkillers or anti-inflammatory pills like acetaminophen and ibuprofen.
Physical therapy: Your doctor may send you to a physiotherapy doctor who will teach you tennis elbow exercises and the right way to do them. This can help you feel less pain and get the affected area moving again.
- Massage and other forms of manipulation can help get more blood to the affected arms and ease pain and stiffness.
- Exercises that strengthen and stretch the muscles around the injured elbow can help them get stronger.
- Your physical therapist may tell you to use a brace, strapping, or splint for a short time to help support your body.
Steroid injections: If none of the other treatments work and the pain is unbearable, your doctor may inject steroid drugs into the painful area. The injections can be given with the help of an ultrasound to make sure that the medicine is given correctly.
Platelet-rich plasma injections (PRP): PRP is platelet-rich blood plasma. The injection can speed up the time it takes for tennis elbow to heal.
Shockwave therapy: In shockwave therapy, high-energy sound waves are sent through the skin to help relieve pain and improve mobility in the affected area. Depending on your pain, you may be told to go to more than one session.
Surgery: Surgery is only used as a last resort when nothing else helps relieve the tennis elbow. The tendon that is hurt is cut during surgery for tennis elbow.
Is squeezing a ball good for tennis elbow?
Ball squeezing is very helpful for both tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow. To improve grip strength, people do this exercise. For this exercise, you’ll need a tennis ball or another softball about the same size.
Place the ball in the middle of your palm and wrap your fingers and thumb around it. In this position, the ball is gently squeezed, but not painfully, for about 3 seconds.
This is done several times, usually 10 to 25, and then repeated. Try to do up to three sets in a row. These exercises shouldn’t make the elbow hurt more; if they do, you should stop this exercise.
Does hot water help tennis elbow?
Putting cold on your elbow will help ease some pain, but heat is better for treating tennis elbow in the long run. Why?
Heat makes your muscles relax and get bigger, which makes your blood flow faster. That extra blood flow will help the healing process go faster and make the elbow less painful in a short amount of time.
Cold is best used as a temporary treatment, one that you use as soon as you start to feel the symptoms. It will help reduce the swelling caused by tennis elbow right away and make you feel better faster than heat.
However, cold treatments should only be used for half an hour or less at a time and only for a few days after the initial injury. You’ll get frostbite if you use ice for more than one hour without delay.
Is there a permanent cure for tennis elbow?
Unfortunately, there has no permanent cure for tennis elbow. But if you want to get rid of this, you must take your physician’s guidance. By taking medications, your pain may reduce.
But if not, then you have to perform the tennis elbow exercises. It would be best if you initially performed the exercises for your tennis elbow when it was diagnosed.
Besides, you must follow the other guidelines according to your physician or physiotherapy doctor. Take rest, use ice or heat (by your doctor’s guidance), and maintain sleep positions to get rid of from tennis elbow.
Final Words
Most people with tennis elbow can treat the pain and swell with rest and over-the-counter medicine. A person should visit a doctor if the pain is bad or doesn’t go away after two weeks. Some people may find that tennis elbow makes it hard to go about their daily lives. A doctor might suggest physical or occupational therapy in these situations. A specialist can give you exercises and treatments to help you move better and feel less pain.
