Return to Sport and Work with Tennis Elbow
Elbow Injury
We have to accept that generally with sport we are going to have some sort of injury problems.
With Elbow and Forearm pain and a sport (or job) that involves repetitive gripping there is always a problem with deciding on when to restart activity and return to sport or work.
Go back too soon and the injury flares up again.
Take an extra few weeks off and you have missed out on training and preparing for a competition and also you lose conditioning and your competitive edge!
When do I return to sport?
When the test in the Video below does not cause significant pain. (Less than a 4 on a scale of 1 -10)
You have full range of elbow movement.
VIDEO TEST
TENNIS ELBOW
Ladies I want you to use a water bottle with 1 litre of water in it (just over 2 pints in US) .
Gentlemen I want you to use a water bottle with 2 litres of water in it (around 4.25 pints in US).
Grasp the towel as I do in the video and repeat 3 repetitions.
Does this significantly increase the pain in your forearm? (Greater than a “4″)
If YES then you are not ready to restart aggravating activities yet – so no return to sport.
If NO then:-
Gradually re-introduce activities which could aggravate your pain.
TENNIS – start with forehands etc and avoid backhands for a few sessions.
WORK – lift with ‘palms up’, grip hand tools more lightly, avoid ‘heavy jobs’, take regular breaks.
GENERAL – try to use the “Hook Grip” as much as possible when carrying or gripping.
COMING SOON!
ELBOW AND FOREARM ASSESSMENT TOOL
Back to Tennis Elbow Top 10 Questions
This entry was posted on Friday, May 21st, 2010 at 8:48 am and is filed under Elbow and Forearm Pain, Medial / Lateral Epicondylitis Elbow Injuries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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