You reach for a coffee mug, turn a doorknob, or pick up a grocery bag, and there it is: sharp pain on the outside of your elbow. If this sounds familiar, you may be dealing with tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis), one of the most common overuse injuries of the arm. Understanding what is happening in the tendon and what tennis elbow treatment involves helps you make informed decisions about your next steps.
What Is Really Going On in Your Elbow
When you grip or lift something, the pain usually comes from small tears or inflammation in the tendons that connect the muscles in your forearm to the bone on the outside of your elbow. These tendons do the work every time you lift, twist, or grip something.
Activities such as typing, using tools, playing sports, or simply going about your day can overwork these tendons. Tennis elbow is what most people call this condition.
The mechanics are simple:
- When you hold something, the muscles in your forearm get tight.
- This pulling motion pulls on the tendons that connect to your elbow.
- Holding on too tightly over and over again without enough rest builds up small damage.
- Your body can’t fix the damage quickly enough.
Why Gripping Makes the Pain Worse
Gripping objects directly places stress on the injured tendons. When you grip something, like a tennis racket, a hammer, or even a pen, you use the muscles in your forearm that help you grip and extend your wrist.
When you grip harder, these muscles have to work harder, and more tension goes to that bony point on the outside of your upper arm bone (the humerus), just above the elbow. This is why even simple things can cause sharp pain:
- Shaking hands firmly
- Using a wrench or screwdriver
- Taking off a tight lid from a jar
- Squeezing a ball to relieve stress
If you are unsure whether your symptoms match tennis elbow or another condition such as plica syndrome, an orthopaedic assessment can help distinguish between them.
The Lifting Link
Lifting things, especially with your palm facing down, puts the same kind of stress on your body. Your forearm extensors have to work against gravity while you keep your grip in this position. Holding and lifting together puts even more strain on tendons that are already sore.
You might notice that the pain gets worse when you lift with your arm straight instead of keeping your elbow bent. A straight arm makes the lever longer, which means your tendons have to handle more force to control the load.
What Makes Some People More Likely
There are a few things that make it more likely that you will get this kind of elbow pain:
- Age: Most common in people between the ages of 30 and 50
- Repetitive motions: Moving your hands and wrists a lot at work or during hobbies
- Bad technique: not using the right form when lifting or gripping
- Sudden increases in activity: starting a new sport or project without slowly building up to it
When you lift or grip something poorly, you put extra stress on your body. When you suddenly do more physical activity, like starting a new sport or taking on a tough project, your tendons may not be able to handle the extra stress right away.
People of all activity levels can get the condition. You don’t have to play tennis to get a tennis elbow. Painters, plumbers, carpenters, cooks, and office workers who spend a lot of time on computers all have similar risks because of how they move, particularly due to repetitive motions and poor ergonomics that can strain the elbow joint.
The best way to avoid elbow pain is to pay attention to your body early on. Don't push through pain when you notice it during certain activities. Instead, take breaks and change how you move. Resting and changing things early on can keep a small pain from becoming a long-term problem.
Seeing the Pattern
The pain usually starts out as a dull ache on the outside of your elbow. Initially, the pain may fluctuate, manifesting during specific activities and subsiding during rest. If you keep doing the annoying movements, the pain may become constant and move down your forearm over time.
You might also notice that your grip strength is getting weaker. Things that used to be easy, like opening jars, carrying bags, or using hand tools, become hard or impossible without causing pain.
Things to Look Out For
Be vigilant for the following warning signs:
- Pain on the outside of your elbow that gets worse when you move it
- Hard to hold things like cups or tools
- Pain when you twist, like when you turn a doorknob
- Weakness when you shake hands or pick things up
- Pain that starts at your elbow and goes down to your forearm
Disclaimer: This article provides general information and is not a substitute for professional medical advice
