How to Diagnose Tennis Elbow
Tennis players and non-athletes alike can get tennis elbow, a painful inflammation of tendons that attach to the bony point of the elbow. Also called lateral epicondylitis, this condition is usually marked by a gradual onset of pain. Left untreated, tennis elbow can interfere with work, exercise and daily life.
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Instructions
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Evaluate Tennis Elbow Symptoms
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Classify your pain symptoms. Pain that accumulates gradually, and then is experienced often or whenever the elbow is used may be tennis elbow.
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2
Note where the pain develops. Tennis elbow most often occurs in the dominant arm, such as the right arm for right-handed people. The pain will usually appear on the outside of the elbow's bony knob.
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3
Determine whether squeezing objects increases pain. Test this by shaking hands with someone or by grasping and squeezing various objects.
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Check to see if "locking" the wrist during use increases pain. Test this while brushing your teeth or cutting food with utensils.
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Observe the frequency of symptoms. Once tennis elbow develops, pain may be continuous, or arise only when the elbow is bumped or the tendons worked in a specific way. However, it will not fade, and will usually return without treatment.
Diagnose Your Elbow Injury
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6
Rule out fractures and sprains. Sudden, acute pain following a trauma, such as a blow or twist, may be a bone fracture or muscle sprain instead of tennis elbow.
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Discount gout or rheumatoid arthritis. These will flare up painfully with much less regularity than tennis elbow and might be accompanied by other symptoms, such as fever, redness or swelling.
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Eliminate nerve entrapment as a cause. Nerve compression in the elbow is recognized by numbness or tingling.
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Combine your assessment information to diagnose tennis elbow. Have a doctor confirm your suspicions.
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Tips & Warnings
Take any repetitive motion seriously as a possible cause of tennis elbow. Even motions like continual gear shifting of a semi-truck can cause tennis elbow.
Tennis elbow is a serious repetitive motion condition that can be degenerative if left untreated. Diagnose the problem so you can start recovery.
Tennis elbow will not cause swelling in the affected area. If you have swelling or fever, see your doctor.
Occasionally, pain onset is sudden. To distinguish between tennis elbow and a more acute injury, have a doctor diagnose the problem.
