Tennis elbow is the most common condition of the elbow and presents to our clinic often. This kind of complaint is often very well localised as the patient will tend to point to the lateral epicondylar process which is an attachment site for our extensor muscles of the forearm/wrist. Tennis elbow can be extremely painful if left unattended when the onset of symptoms occur so it is important to have a good understanding on what the symptoms may feel like, the location of pain, and what you can do to help manage the pain at home.
There is not many signs and symptoms to look out for with tennis elbow and it is usually an easy condition to diagnose. The main and obvious symptom is pain when using the extensor muscles of the forearm. The severity of the pain can range from mild to severe; These pain levels are dependent on how long the patient has had the symptoms for, what they do for work, what they do for sport/leisure, and if they have had any treatment to manage the pain. Other signs to look out for includes weakness of the forearm extensor group especially when trying to grip/squeeze an object and mild swelling around the area of the elbow. As mentioned above the pain is located over the lateral epicondylar process. The muscles that are involved are extensor carpi radialis brevis and extensor digitorum.
