Can you really treat a tennis elbow yourself?
The question is a valid one, especially given the number of people sufferering from it and the often disappointing results of their treatments.
Mostly this question can be answered with a yes. You can treat your epicondylitis yourself and usually very successfully.
All that you need is some rudimentary knowledge about this very widespread complaint.
This site is dedicated to the effective treatment a epicondylitis , which is what most of you are looking for. What’s most important to me is you are able to apply the given information.
As soon as someone feels the pain in their outer elbow for the first time, they ask themselves or their doctor:
Skipping ahead a little: Ointments often provide little or no lasting results and if so, they’re unsatisfactory; and miracle household remedies – simply don’t exist. At least none that I know of.
A tennis elbow and the pain it causes almost always arise from tensed muscles as well as trigger points.
The tension in the muscles is transferred to the corresponding tendons, which can become inflammed as a result.
A self-massage of the corresponding muscles is a effective treatment for dealing with the problem. It alleviates the muscle tension, can eliminate trigger points and simultaneously remove the surplus strain on the tendons.
Coming up is a description of the massage to be carried out on certain muscles and regions of the body likely to bring about tennis elbow pain.
You don’t even have to massage all of these areas most of the time.
Just concentrate only on the muscles and areas that are painful and sensitive to pressure. To find out which of these muscles are responsible for your pain, follow the next steps on this page.
Does self-massages work as therapy for tennis elbow?
You’ll be convinced when you try it. All that you need is a small massage ball, your hands and a little patience.
If time is an issue for you right now, then you might benefit from my eBook, which includes this page as well as all other articles published on this website.
The format is PDF, so you can read it on any device, whenever you want or need to.
Muscles: Brachioradialis, extensor carpi radialis longus, extensor digitorum, supinator
We will begin with the massage of the lower arm muscles, because this is the main problem area with a lateral epicondylitis.
The best massage tool for this area is a massage ball.
Muscles: Anconeus, triceps brachii
Start with the triceps brachii. That is the muscle on the backside of your upper arm.
It often plays a decisive role in treating a epicondylitis.
When massaging these muscles, two areas are of primary interest to you; they will be described below.
With this muscle, the preferred massage technique is the pressure-motion technique, which I recommend you to use.
Muscle: Supraspinatus
Even though the supraspinatus is a muscle in the shoulder and doesn’t have a direct connection to your elbow, it can be the cause of pain that mimics a lateral epicondylitis.
Trigger points that develop in this muscle can irritate your nervous system and refer pain to the lateral epicondyle of the elbow, thus producing symptoms similar to those of a tennis elbow.
This is the reason why examining this muscle is a must.
Shape your hand like a shovel and place your fingers directly over the spine of your scapula.
Your spine of scapula is the prominent bone line that you can feel on your shoulder blade.
Use your fingers to apply pressure in this area and raise and lower your arm a few times.
When doing this motion, you should feel a muscle moving under your fingers. That is your supraspinatus.
Keep the massage in this area brief, since your fingers can quickly tire!
As an alternative, you can also use the Trigger Fairy to massage the supraspinatus.
The advantage here is that your fingers won’t tire, which means you can massage yourself longer and without straining your hands.
Position the Trigger Fairy on the muscle.
To massage the supraspinatus, lift your arm repeatedly to the side.
Always pay attention to how your body reacts to the massage and concentrate on the areas that deliver the best results.
I hope that the tennis elbow treatment described here helps alleviate your pain and that you will be free of it in the long run.
Although the techniques are very effective, don’t expect miracles. It’s going to take several weeks and a number of massages before your pain disappears for good.
Make sure you stay on the ball.
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