Despite its somewhat misleading name, tennis elbow can be caused by a variety of activities. Doing virtually anything over a long period of time that involves overuse of the muscles in your elbow, causing strain and inflammation. These activities can include tennis, decorating or manual work, gardening, typing or playing certain musical instruments like the violin.
Where confusion can occur, however, is knowing the difference between tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow.
Both conditions can be very painful and are caused by overuse of muscles in your arm and wrist, causing pain to your elbow region.
Golfer’s elbow, also known as medial epicondylitis, is very different to tennis elbow as the irritation comes from the inside of the elbow as opposed to the outside in tennis elbow.
The two conditions also affect different tendons in your arm; lateral (outside) epicondylitis affects your ability to stretch your wrist backwards and stretching your fingers. Medial (inside) epicondylitis, on the other hand, inhibits your ability to flex your wrist and contract your fingers, for instance, to grip.
Although symptoms can be similar in both conditions, it is important to know the difference between the two by locating exactly where the pain is coming from.
If you are suffering from pain in the outside of your elbow (tennis elbow), you could be eligible for our upcoming clinical trial. MAC Clinical Research are looking for males and females aged between 18-70 years old with tennis elbow to participate.
For more information on the trial and to register your interest visit:
