Have you got elbow pain that’s holding you back? Read on to see if this can help you.
Given the name it’s easy to think this injury is restricted to tennis players only but golfers, painters, and anyone can suffer from tennis elbow.
Signs: pain on the outside of the elbow where the forearm muscles attach. Weakness or pain gripping objects. When stretching the muscles there may be pain and they may be tender to touch.
Some people also experience neck or shoulder pain with tennis elbow. It’s important to get an accurate diagnosis as symptoms can be similar to cervical spine referred pain.
Why does it happen?
There are a number of different reasons, these vary from overuse, inadequate technique increasing load through the forearm, doing a repetitive movement that you aren’t used to eg painting, changes in coordination from fatigue, a decrease in range of motion in the neck or shoulder. 
What can I do to help it?
Firstly make sure it actually is tennis elbow and not something else, also if the pain persists after trying some methods get professional help from a skilled musculoskeletal therapist.
Things to try:
1. Gently stretch the forearm muscles, hold your arm out straight and move your hand upwards applying a light pressure with the opposite hand, hold for 10 and push the hand the opposite way holding for 10. Repeat 5 times each way. Twice a day
2. Place your arm on a table with a dumbbell or water bottle in your hand. Leave space for the hand to move freely. Move your hand upwards as far as possible, then down as far as possible, perform these slowly and controlled. Repeat 15 times. Try twice a day
3. Massage: do some gentle massage on the offending muscles, not too painful just a little bit!! 30-40seconds twice is enough
4.Assess your technique, are you rounding your shoulders or compensating somewhere to allow you to do a movement, become aware of how you are moving and see if you can improve your technique so the forearm isn’t overloaded.