Chiropractic Care For Tennis Elbow: How Can It Help?

6 min readJul 5, 2023

Lateral epicondylitis, AKA tennis elbow, is the weakening of the tendons. This condition happens when the tendons in the elbow are overloaded due to the continuous motion of the wrist and arm. A person can develop tennis elbow due to repetitive contraction of the muscle in the forearm. This tissue stress can cause tiny tears in the tendons. These tendons are attached to the forearm muscle and bony structure of the elbow. Anyone can suffer from the painful condition of tennis elbow, despite its name. Almost 1% to 3% of Americans suffer from tennis elbow. It is very common among people of 30 to 50 years.

Tennis elbow can be severely painful. It may make it difficult for you to do your work or even perform everyday tasks. However, the right treatment does not cause long-term problems with tennis elbow.

Symptoms Of Tennis Elbow

Tennis elbows are usually the result of overuse of the elbow, wrist, and forearm. The most common sign of tennis elbow is recurring pain on the upper forearm and below the bend of the elbow. You might also feel pain further down the arm and towards the wrist. This pain can occur during everyday tasks or even when holding small objects.

The symptoms come on slowly. Pain can gradually get worse over weeks. The common symptoms of tennis elbow are:

Pain in the outer elbow that travels to the wrist.
Pain while twisting wrist or bending arm.
Stiff arm or wrist
Swollen or reddish elbow
Weakened grip
Lump or bulge in the arm

Call for medical attention immediately if you have any persistent symptoms.

The Diagnosis Of Tennis Elbow

Your doctor might take a physical test on your elbow to check for joint pain, swelling, and stiffness. They may also ask you about your medical history. Also, any physical task you do that requires constant wrist or elbow movement. Sometimes to make an accurate diagnosis, they may ask you to get one of the following tests:

X-rays to rule out problems like broken bones or arthritis.
Imaging tests like ultrasound, MRI, CT scan, etc., can assess broken bone or tissue damage.
Electromyography (EMG) is to look for compressed nerves. It is done by evaluating muscles and nerves through electrical activity.

Apart from this, there are some tests that you can easily do at home to check for tennis elbow. For instance, you can stand behind a chair while placing your hands on the back of the chair. With downward-facing palms and straight elbows, try lifting the chair.

How do I know if I have a tennis elbow?

Tennis elbow is a condition that causes pain in the bony part outside the elbow. This is the point where the injured tendons connect to the bone. You may also feel pain in your arm’s upper or lower part.

Tennis elbow sufferers may feel pain when they:

Lift something
Make a fist or grip an object
Open a door
Raise your hand or straighten your wrist
Type on a computer

How Do I Treat Tennis Elbow?

Tennis elbow can be treated depending on the severity of the symptoms and pain caused by it. For the most part, the RICE method can provide some short-term relief to the tennis elbow problem. RICE is for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation.

Rest — Giving rest and avoiding using the affected arm or wrist until the recovery.
Ice — Keep ice packs over the affected area for over 20 minutes every 2 to 3 hours.
Compression — Use a wrap over the affected area to keep the inflammation down, and it helps in relieving the pain.
Elevation — Elevating your arm over your heart to reduce swelling and inflammation.

Most patients find these short-term methods helpful in relieving pain. However, if the problem is persistent and does not go away, the best option is to see a chiropractor for tennis elbow.

Can A Chiropractor Help With Tennis Elbow?

You must be wondering what a chiropractor can do to treat tennis elbow. Chiropractors are commonly known for providing relief for back and neck pain. That can make you wonder if a chiropractor would be the best option to treat tennis elbow.

Chiropractors are trained professionals that treat the entire musculoskeletal system. A chiropractor can treat any problem related to muscles, bones, joints, and ligaments. So worry not. Chiropractors can help in treating tennis elbow. Chiropractic help can provide better treatment, rather than the treatment offered by a normal physician. Those treatments generally include pain-relieving medications.

How Does A Chiropractor Treat Tennis Elbow?

First, the chiropractor will ask about your medical history. It will help them to understand what could be the cause of this condition. Then they will examine the elbow or the arm to ensure that the condition is tennis elbow and not some other problem causing pain in the elbow joint. After a proper examination, the chiropractor will continue with the treatment for elbow adjustment.

The pain and swelling make it difficult to continue with the treatment. Therefore the doctor might ask you to follow the RICE method so you can get relief from the pain and swelling fast and easily. After this, the chiropractor might move on to other conservative treatment methods. After the first visit then, only the clarity of the condition can be properly analyzed.

Will The Chiropractor Perform An Elbow Adjustment?

Every tennis elbow does not require an elbow adjustment. But in some cases, misalignment of the elbow joint could cause certain arm muscles to compensate for that misalignment. It happens primarily when the arm or joint works repetitively for a long time. This can be the cause of tennis elbow.

If the requirement for elbow adjustments occurs, consequently, the chiropractor will complete the procedure with one or more adjustment techniques. Many people find relief after a couple of sessions. But how often you visit the doctor depends entirely on how your elbow reacts to the treatment. For some people, it can take more than a couple of sessions.

Elbow adjustments are only a part of the entire treatment. There are some other techniques as well that focus on the soft tissue, such as the active release technique. This technique is certainly effective in treating tennis elbow.

Some other treatments that chiropractors often use are:

Massage- helps regulate the blood flow to the strained areas by breaking up the scar tissues. Great way to heal affected areas.
Exercise- there are some exercises as well as stretches. They focus on strengthening the muscles and tendons without causing too much movement.
Physical therapy- it may help restore physical strength and increase movement in the muscles and joints.

Spinal Adjustment For Tennis Elbow?

It is surprising for many people to find out that their chiropractor may perform a spinal adjustment on them to help with the tennis elbow problem. Spinal adjustment is sometimes required in the treatment of tennis elbow as the problem often originates from the spine.

Misalignment of the spine can cause tennis elbow. As a result, it can cause miscommunication in the nerve down the arm. It is often accompanied by neck pain as well.

Some studies even showed the connection between elbow pain and neck pain. This is why the chiropractor may give you a spinal adjustment to manipulate the elbow pain.

Chiropractic Treatment For Tennis Elbow

Chiropractic treatment can be the best treatment for finding relief in tennis elbow conditions. It treats the elbow, the rest of the arm, and the spine. Tennis elbow can be effectively treated with advanced chiropractic adjustments.

One of the best advantages of chiropractic treatment is that it finds the root cause of pain and swelling and helps in long-lasting relief. The treatments work by properly aligning the elbow joints for smooth functioning. With this alignment, oxygen-rich blood flows in all areas to reduce inflammation.