Prognosis | Tennis elbow

Prognosis

In most cases, tennis elbow has a good prognosis. Many patients can be treated conservatively, i.e. surgery is not necessary in most cases. However, it is possible that the disease occurs over a long period of time and may only be cured with surgery.

In rare cases, surgery may not provide lasting relief from the pain. The prognosis of tennis elbow is mainly influenced by the inflammation of the common extensor tendon (i.e. “extensor vision”). It is prognostically unfavorable if there is a tear of the common extensor tendon (at the tennis elbow). In principle, however, torn tendons can also heal under optimal follow-up treatment.

How can I prevent a recurrence of tennis elbow after having survived it?

In order to prevent or avoid the occurrence of a recurrence of tennis elbow, a few rules of conduct should be observed in everyday life. On the one hand, care should be taken to avoid one-sided arm strain, as well as excessive, monotonous movements of the forearm muscles. It is important to train the arm and forearm muscles in a balanced manner, so that incorrect loads, incorrect posture and overstraining are avoided.

Training that strengthens the hand and forearm muscles can be useful in order to avoid tiring too quickly and overloading. Sufficient warming up of the muscles is essential, as are regular stretching exercises, which should be performed two to three times a day. Since it is precisely in everyday (working) life that one finds triggering arm movements, care should be taken in every area to ensure that preventive measures are taken: the right tools should be used by the craftsman at home or at work, strenuous screw-tightening by hand can be carried out by a cordless screwdriver, for example, and grinding work by a grinder. At the workplace with a PC, attention should also be paid to the correct sitting and arm position.

Summary

Tennis elbow is a localized inflammation in the extensor muscles of the forearm and hand. From a medical point of view it is a so-called epicondylitis (humeri radialis). Tennis elbow belongs on the one hand to the insertion tendopathies (= disease of the tendons, tendon sheaths and ligaments), on the other hand also to the myotendinoses (disease of the unit muscle = myo and tendon = tendo).

Consequently, epicondylitis (humeri radialis) is a disease of the tendons and ligaments, involving the adjacent muscles. Tendopathies (= tendon inflammations) can, under certain circumstances, cause painful changes in tendons in the area of a muscle origin, muscle, ligament or capsule attachment. A tendopathy can therefore occur almost throughout the entire body.

In tennis elbow tennis elbow, characteristic pain occurs as a result of overstraining the muscles, which can greatly restrict the use of the affected arm. Tennis elbow occurs equally in men and women, most frequently in middle age. Tennis elbow can be treated both conservatively and surgically.

Due to the now very good conservative treatment options, operations on tennis elbow are hardly ever necessary. As a rule, one tries to treat the clinical picture of the tennis elbow conservatively. This includes treatment methods such as: If the conservative measures do not work, an operation may be necessary. In this case, the muscles required for stretching the arm (= “forearm extensor”) are loosened by notching or even completely cutting the tendon attachment.

• Immobilization (this method is increasingly being abandoned)
• Electromechanical stimulation
• Cortisone injections
• Ointment bandages and
• Shock wave therapy.