Have you ever experienced pain or discomfort in your elbow or wrists in Woodbury MN? A large number of us find ourselves spending more time sitting at a desk all day, using the mouse or maybe on our smart phones all day. Tennis elbow and golfer's elbow is not just for athletes anymore! These activities can lead to tennis elbow, golfer's elbow or even carpal tunnel symptoms.

---

What is Tennis Elbow and Golfer's Elbow in Woodbury MN?

Tennis elbow and golfers elbow are inflammation of the tendons in the forearm that attach to the elbow. It is caused by an overuse of the muscles of the forearm. Golfer's elbow is the term for pain on the inside of your elbow or forearm and tennis elbow is the name for pain and inflammation on the top or outside of your forearm. This is not just an athlete problem. With chiropractic and acupuncture treatments along with some home self care of self massage, ice and stretching this can stop these painful conditions in their tracks.

The goal of treatment is reduce pain and inflammation while restoring strength and function.

---

Self Treatments:

Find the Culprit/Rest: What is causing the problem in the first place? Are you overusing your arm at work, playing golf, using improper posture while cooking, using the phone. Find out when you elbow is bothering you the worst and try to modify what you are doing. If your left arm is worse than your right than try using your right hand for more activities to give the sore arm a break.

Self Massage: Massaging the top and bottom of your forearms just below the elbow joint. Use side to side massage as well as up and down the arm. This will help break up the adhesions in the muscles. This can be done for two minutes per elbow 1-2x/day.

Ice and Heat: It is recommended to ice after activities for 20 minutes at a time 1-2x/day. Heat can be done as well 1-2x/day. Ice will help decrease inflammation of the tissue and heat will help bring in blood flow to help heal the tissue.

Extra Tip: You can even freeze water in small paper cups and you can use the chunk of ice as an ice massage!

Stretch: Use these stretching techniques before and after an activity that is aggravating the elbow. If you are an office worker do this 2-3 times per shift. Take preventative action and practice these stretches even before the pain happens.

Bracing: We've all seen people at the gym wearing tennis elbow braces, What that does is takes the pressure off the insertion of the tendon onto the bone. It gives that area time to rest while the brace acts like a temporary new insertion or attachment.

Chiropractic Care:

Chiropractic care involves manipulation of the elbow joint as well as massage and acupuncture. Other therapies that might also be used are tens unit which sends a small electrical current through the muscle to break up adhesion and scar tissue and also stimulates tissue healing.

Tennis elbow is a tendon problem because the muscles are pulling on the tendons. By loosening up the muscles that will help, however these do take time to heal. The tendons do not get as much blood flow as the muscles so it will take longer to heal than a muscle strain. Try these tips for a good 6-8 weeks and be patient.

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms give our St. Paul Chiropractic office, Aspire Integrated Health, a call and have one of our chiropractors and acupuncturists help relieve your pain quickly and effectively!