health
May 2, 2024

Tennis elbow

Doris Heintze, on the other hand, has never held a bat in her hand. Nevertheless, she has to toil around with a tennis elbow. Whether she lifts the coffee cup or shakes a hand, her pain shoots from the outside of the elbow into her hand. Sometimes such complaints become worse over a long period of time. In hardship cases, the painful area throbs even when at rest. But what are the causes? Why does Doris Heintze get a tennis elbow but not Anke Huber?

The reasons

Because the tennis elbow carries its name wrongly - "Computer arm", for example, would be more appropriate. Because more than 90 percent of all sufferers put on the tennis elbow by too one-sided stress at work or in the home. "The pain is always the result of overloaded tendon approaches," says Dr. Ralf Hilgert, Trauma Surgeon at the University Clinic Eppendorf. They connect the humerus with the muscles of the wrist. These tendon approaches are almost required for all handicrafts. If you give them too much, it often does not go without consequences. Similar to a brittle rubber band, a single overuse can leave microscopic cracks in the tendon tissue. Such minor injuries together with inflammatory processes harden the tissue and trigger the pain. Only very young people are relatively well protected from it: until about 30 years, the tendons are very elastic, they remain mostly intact even under heavy load.

risk groups

Anyone who works a lot with the computer keyboard or has to use the cash register in the supermarket every day, as well as craftsmen and construction workers who stretch their arms, has a particularly high risk of illness. It becomes especially problematic when persons with such a burden suddenly make unfamiliar movements very often in succession. If you use the phone for hours or enter data into the computer for the whole week, and screw together a whole wall unit at the weekend, you risk a tennis elbow. This can happen even if you hit the net after weeks of playing tennis or badminton until you drop. In contrast to recreational athletes professionals rarely get a tennis elbow: they strengthen their arm through daily training. In addition, a sophisticated technique when beating much gentler for the joint.

Therapy measures

But what to do if the arm hurts suddenly? Be sure to get the complaints under control right away. This usually works with a few simple means (see box). If the pain persists for a few weeks, you may need some patience to get rid of it. Because there are over 40 therapy procedures - but none of them is recognized by experts as a sure effective means. Neither tablets, nor ointments or syringes guarantees the symptoms guaranteed, and also massages, acupuncture, heat therapy, electrical nerve stimulation or ultrasound do not always help. That's why most patients need to try out which method they use best. After a few months, however, it is almost always done - at least for now. For one year after the treatment, only about 30 percent of the patients are symptom-free, estimates Wolfgang Menke, professor at the Institute for Sports Orthopedics of the German Sport University Cologne.

For very persistent ailments shock wave therapy can help. With their invisible waves, doctors have long been breaking kidney stones into tiny pieces, and even the tennis elbow can be used to loosen hardening. The cashier, however, does not pay automatically for the gentle procedure. "In five to ten percent of patients, only one operation remains," says Prof. Menke. For example, a surgeon removes diseased tendon tissue or nerves in the painful area. One year later, two-thirds to three-quarters of patients still show good results. However, those who can finally move their arm again carefree should, however, remain cautious and avoid stress wherever possible. In addition, Prof. Menke recommends targeted strength and stretching exercises: they can make the affected muscles and tendons stronger and more flexible, and eliminate imbalances caused by daily one-sided stresses. Ask your doctor about physiotherapy - and do our ChroniquesDuVasteMonde exercises (see next page).

It is even better, of course, to avoid such long-suffering complaints right away. If you sit at the cash register or at the computer all day, you should not just start. Ideal is a small warm-up before painting the walls or scrubbing the calcified bathroom tiles. But also to let the arms circle for a few minutes already brings a lot.

Against the pain

The wrist extensor muscles should not be stressed anymore,
rather peace is announced.Activities leading to the complaints
have strictly avoided.
Pain and inflammation can be relieved by cold.
Therefore, immediately after the onset of pain, the appropriate places
Cool with ice for about 30 minutes and repeat every hour.
But beware: ice on the bare skin can cause cold damage
always put a cloth in between.
In addition, supplements such as aspirin help against pain and
Inflammation. A doctor may prescribe stronger remedies as needed.
Once the pain is gone, targeted expansion
and strengthening exercises the healing process (see below).
Special bandages can reduce the strain and one
Prevent relapse.

To strengthen muscles and tendons

When the pain has passed, these exercises prevent a relapse. You should do it several times a day - even in the office or in a traffic jam.

Insert rubber band around your fingers and spread yours
Fingers as far apart as you can, the palm shows
doing to the floor. In this state, each about three seconds
hold. Do so many repetitions until your fingers and forearms tire.
The easiest way is when the rubber band is far down.
The further you push it towards the fingertips, the more power
do you need. After all, is everything easy for you
you can go over to a thicker rubber band.
Hold one Tennis ball in his hand and press him
always together again

Special dumbbell training

Also helpful is an additional dumbbell workout, developed by the Institute of Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation in Virginia. Now, however, the strain on the wrist muscles is getting bigger, so warm up first, for example, five minutes of cycling or jogging. You can start with dumbbells without extra weight and with ten repetitions of an exercise and two sets of them. Get 30 reps and move on to the next weight class: about 500 grams more. In all exercises, the forearm is on the lower leg or on a table, joint and hand protrude over the edge of the table.

The back of the hand points upwards, hold the dumbbell and push it out of the wrist and hold it for about two seconds. You can do a set of Exercise 1 alternately with a set of Exercise 2.
The back of the hand does not point up but down, enclose the dumbbell and push it out of the wrist for about two seconds.
With the back of the hand pointing down, hold the dumbbell (at one end and not in the middle) and turn the forearm until the back of the hand is pointing upwards for about two seconds.

After completing the dumbbell workout, cool the elbow with ice for 10 to 20 minutes.