Tennis elbow is recognized as an occupational disease, incl. IT specialists and office workers, as well as fitters and mechanics. The name "tennis elbow" is therefore misleading. Elbow pain rarely affects tennis enthusiasts. There are also misconceptions that tennis elbow is a tendon inflammation and that it is best treated with steroids.

There are many false judgments around the diseasetennis elbow . The first is the belief that tennis lovers mainly suffer from the tennis elbow. They constitute only10 percent. peoplewho have tennis elbow. Most of the sick are:

  • office workers,
  • IT specialists,
  • fitters,
  • mechanics,

therefore it has been classified asoccupational disease .

Tennis elbow (occupational disease): causes

The main symptom of the disease ispain on the outside of the elbowoccurring withwrist movements : grabbing something with your hand, clenching, turning your hand, lifting it its dorsal part. In an advanced stage, it also appears at rest.

For many years in medicine, there was a belief that the cause of pain was the inflammation of the attachment of the tendons of the extensor muscles of the wrist to the lateral condyle of the humerus. In the late 1990s, this view was proved to be incorrect, as no inflammatory factors were found in the area of ​​the attachment. The cause of the tennis elbow aredegenerative changes .

It is believed that as a result of overload and microtrauma, the structure of tendon collagen fibers and abnormal blood supply to the attachment area called enthesia (this is why doctors call itenthesopathy ). But where does pain come from if it is not inflamed and the tendon is not innervated? And this puzzle has been solved.

The degenerative process is accompanied by the secretion of proteins that chemicallyirritate the surrounding tissues , causing pain. It is also responsible for the formation of pathological nerves and blood vessels.

Tennis elbow (occupational disease): when we are threatened

There are two reasons for degenerative changes. The first (the most common) islong-term overstretching of the handas a result of performing activities that require repetitive movementswrist, such as typing on a computer or screwing in screws. It leads to too much muscle tension and microtrauma to the tendons and attachment. The body starts theself-healing process , but in the places of damage, a much weaker tissue than the he althy tissue is created (e.g. collagen fibers have a changed structure).

If the hand continues to overload, the tendons are torn, the attachment is calcified, and pathological blood vessels are formed.

The cause of the tennis elbow may be not only too much work, but also too little workload. It leads to atrophic changes - rarely used muscles and tendonsweaken and disappear . Therefore, if someone who avoids physical activity starts, for example, to assemble new furniture, a tendon that is not used to such an effort may tear.

According to an expert

Author: Dr. Adrian Rymarczyk, orthopedist, traumatologist, owner of the Achilles Medical Center, operating at the Carolina Medical Center.

In both cases (overload and underload), a sudden jerk, e.g. when removing the suitcase from the trunk or the luggage compartment on the plane or when exercising with dumbbells or weights, may lead to directdamage to the wrist extensors attachments . The best examination, apart from a medical examination, is an ultrasound, because the damage is clearly visible.

Physical therapy , which has an analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti-swelling effect, does not have long-term effects. Merely relieving the limb and counting on healing itself in cases of degenerative injuries does not bring any results either. On the other hand, whenthe injury is suddenand the tendon tissue is not degenerated, relieving the load with a sling plus bracing the wrist in the orthosis and using a relief strap on the forearm may be sufficient in some cases.

However, if the above treatment is ineffective or there is damage based ondegeneration of tendon attachments , more aggressive treatment techniques should be used:

  • injection with platelet-derived growth factors (PRP) obtained from the patient's own blood,
  • ESWT, or extracorporeal shock wave therapy.

PRP can be used in both types of tendon attachment injuries. However, we recommend a shockwave only in the case of degenerative changes, without thinning the tendon structure. In both cases, it is necessary to perform an ultrasound before deciding on the treatment method. After both treatments very muchit is important to follow a specific relief and rehabilitation protocol.

If all the above techniques fail, we have to perform the operation, the so-called "Open". It consists in cleaning the damaged tissue of the tendon attachment, denervation of the attachment and drilling holes in the bone to release stem cells of myeloid origin.

Tennis elbow or some other cause of elbow pain?

Ailments in the area of ​​the lateral epicondyle of the elbow may be due to a muscle that is not under tension or a torn attachment, butcompression of the radial nerve branchby the arcuate band of connective tissue that passes over it.

Tribulation can occur as a result of:

  • inflammation,
  • tissue swelling (e.g. at the end of pregnancy),
  • as a result of injuries accompanying the tennis elbow.

If this is the onset of this disease, improvement may be achieved bymuscle relaxation(relaxation, preferably by massage). When it is in an advanced stage, it is necessary to surgically release the muscle by cutting the band that is pressing on it.

This will be useful to you

How to work at the computer

If you want to avoid tennis elbow as well as carpal tunnel syndrome,place your forearms on the desk . Only the elbow should be outside its surface so that there is no pressure on the ulnar nerve. The keyboard should beflata. The idea is to keep the hands tilted up as little as possible, as this increases by80% . muscle tension, which leads to their overload.

The article comes from the monthly "Zdrowie"

Category:

Spine, bones, joints