Causes
The elbow joint forms a pivot between the humerus bone in the upper arm, and the two bones in the forearm. At the lower end of the humerus are two projections called epicondyles-to which is a number of forearm muscles are attached. I am presently taking part in a two-week tennis tournament, but have developed a painful tennis elbow on the first day. I don’t want to withdraw from the tournament, so what should I do? You should ask your doctor for a pain-killing injection, but the may not be willing to give it.
The danger is that you could seriously aggravate the injury without knowing it, thus delaying full healing for several weeks or even month. An alternative is to wear an elasticated sleeve or crepe bandage around the affected forearm. This will provide some relief from the pain and will reduce the chance of aggravating the injury. However, in the long-term, it really would be better if you rested the arm for a few days. Do you only get tennis elbow from playing tennis? No. The injury is common in a wide variety of sports-especially in racket sport-and also occurs as a result of household chores and carpentry, in particular.