Tennis Elbow: Finding the Source of the Elbow Ache

Tennis elbow occurs in more people than just tennis players. People who repetitively stress the elbow joint, with a variety of everyday arm motions, are well aware of this syndrome. My patients might come from a number of professions from tennis players to carpenters to data entry personnel. For such straightforward joint structure, this condition can be terribly unpleasant and even progress to a point that utilization of the joint is compromised.

I discussed above that elbow anatomy is a rather straightforward joint structure. But it's a complicated structure when considering the soft tissue at the joint. The elbow anatomy comprises essentially two joints. The first is the joint between the humerus (upper arm bone) and the ulna (medial lower arm bone). The second is the joint between the ulna and the radius (lateral lower arm bone). This joint, between the ulna and radius, is the culprit in most tennis elbow cases, and to treat tennis elbow involves treating this part of the joint structure.

How to treat tennis elbow, or lateral epicondylitis, is actually a process of treating a tendonitis, inflamed condition of the finger extensor muscle tendons that fasten to the lateral epicondyle of the humerus. Also, there is the radial nerve near in vicinity to this area. Therefore , the amount of pain of the patient is amplified due to the exposure to the nerve.

Like most conditions I have treated, how to treat tennis elbow is not hard once the cause of this condition is determined. Learning the precise location in the elbow anatomy that is experiencing the irritation is the key to properly treating and providing long-term benefits.

A lot of tennis elbow cases are produced by a subluxation of the radial head. The radial head is the proximal segment of the radius bone that forms the joint with the ulna referred to above. Subluxation essentially means "below a dislocation" - not dislocated, but merely displaced. If this joint is displaced, the delicate tissue structures around that joint will be more susceptible to swelling or tennis elbow.


Dr. Andy Thomas of Village Chiropractic in The Woodlands, Texas examines elbow anatomy and what goes wrong when a patient experiences the condition known as tennis elbow. Dr. Thomas reviews the diagnosis process and how to treat tennis elbow here in this article.