by Tennis elbow, also called lateral epicondylitis, happens when the muscles in your forearm that attach to the outside of your elbow start to hurt. This can cause pain and tenderness, usually on the elbow’s outside (lateral) part. Most of the time, it also hurts to hold and carry things. You can test whether you have tennis elbow with several special tests. In this content, you will learn tennis elbow test!
Tennis elbow
Tennis elbow is a painful condition when the tendons in your elbow are overused, usually from doing the same wrist and arm movements repeatedly.
Even though it’s called “tennis elbow,” it doesn’t just happen to tennis players. People like plumbers, painters, carpenters, and butchers do things that can lead to tennis elbow.
Tennis elbow hurts most where your forearm muscles’ tendons attach to a bony bump outside your elbow. You might also feel pain in your forearm and wrist.
Tennis elbow is often helped by rest and over-the-counter painkillers, and exercises may help relieve pain. If conservative treatments don’t work or your symptoms make it hard for you to do things, your doctor may suggest surgery.
Tennis elbow test
The physical exam of the elbow typically includes both a standard exam and a series of special tests to help figure out why the patient is hurting in the elbow. A thorough physical exam will generally include inspection, palpation, strength, active and passive range of motion, neurovascular, and special tests. Today wet will discuss about special tennis elbow test that all sports medicine team members should know. We’ll talk about some of the most common ways to study for an exam, but there are dozens more that we won’t discuss here. It’s also important to note that some of these ways to check for diseases may be used for more than one disease.
Palpitating
In this test, you will touch yourself to find out more about yourself. But make sure that this one is the first one you do. Now, put your arm straight and touch the muscle above your elbow. During this self-test, you feel sharp pain or discomfort of any kind. Then, it’s likely you have tennis elbow, which is terrible.
Resistance
In this one, you have to put your arm out in front of you. And then putting your other hand on the back of the one you just extended. Try to bend your hand by pushing against it, and try your best to resist the force. There is a good chance you have tennis elbow if you have pain or discomfort in the area of your elbow. The muscles near your elbow will give them the strength they need to resist the force you are putting on them. So, pain means there is something wrong.
Chair pickup test
- You’ll need a light chair with a high back for this test.
- Put a chair in front of you and stand there.
- Straighten your hurt arm out in front of you.
- Bend your wrist so that the tips of your fingers point down.
- Grab the back of the chair with your thumb, first finger, and middle finger to lift it.
- When you raise the chair, keep your arm straight.
Try not to use your little finger and ring finger. You may have Lateral Epicondylitis if you have sharp pain or can’t lift the chair.
Middle finger resistance
- Straighten your injured arm out in front of you with the palm facing up.
- Use the hand on the other side of your body to pull your middle finger back toward your arm.
- Use your middle finger to stop this movement at the same time.
- Next, turn your hand so that your palm faces down.
- Press your middle finger down and try to stop this movement simultaneously.
Stress on the tendon and the extensor digitorum muscles is a sign of tennis elbow.
Mill’s Test
The patient is seated, and the physician uses one hand to palpate the lateral epicondyle while pronating the patient’s forearm, fully flexing the wrist with the elbow extended. A positive test results in pain in the insertion location at the lateral epicondyle. (See the Video)
Cozen’s test
It is the most common way to for tennis elbow test. For the test to be done, the patient must sit down. The patient’s arm needs to be extended, the forearm is pronated, and the wrist is slightly radially deviated. The place where the extensor carpi radialis brevis muscle attaches to the lateral epicondyle of the humerus is felt by the examiner. The patient is then asked to make a fist and extend their wrist while the examiner presses on their hand. The test is positive if the patient’s sudden pain on the side of the elbow is felt again.
Final Words
If you have a positive tennis elbow test, then you have to follow your physician and physiotherapy doctor’s advice. Besides that, you should follow the idea of sleep position if you have tennis elbow! You should sleep on your back with your arms at your side in a natural, straight position. This supine position puts less pressure on the elbow and lets the joints line up more naturally, which is more comfortable.
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