Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) is a common injury of the elbow. However, there are many ways in order for you to treat it. Of course, there are the usual methods such as icing the inflammation, wearing a support brace and so on. However, do you know what your other treatment options are? Well, people who are searching for ways on how to cure tennis elbow often overlook the wonders that physical therapy can do when it comes to the said injury.
There are basically two ways on administering this approach. You can either perform the therapy by yourself or you can choose to have a professional therapist do it for you. With the D.I.Y. approach, you will be prescribed by a series of stretching and strengthening exercises to perform at home. If you are to go to an expert, some of the therapies will normally include massages (i.e. deep tissue massages, aromatherapy massages etc.), reflexology and there are also some which will involve the use of machines or equipments. Here are some of the different therapies which involve the use of machines. Important note: such methods which are listed below can also help treat a similar injury known as golfer’s elbow or medial epicondylitis.
Ultrasound – When it comes to ultrasound treatment, an ultrasound scanner produces deep heat and it helps increase the flow of blood along the injured part and the damage tissues. This results in greater arm flexibility (mobility), hastens the removal of toxins which are building up along the affected area as well as decrease both muscle spasm and pain.
Transcutaneous Electrical Nervous Stimulation (TENS) – Electrical stimulation with the use of a TENS machine is said to be extremely effective in terms of alleviating the pain induced by tennis elbow. TENS machine generates mild and continuous electric currents that passes through electrodes which are placed along the nerve endings surrounding the afflicted part of the arm.