Prevention of Tennis Elbow and Golfer's Elbow

It is always better to prevent golfer's elbow rather than try to fix it after it happens. Most sufferers of golfer's elbow will however, keep these points in mind to ensure that they don't re-contract the injury once it has been healed. In any case, there are a number of things you can do to keep your elbow, wrist and forearm healthy and prevent further damage.

You can reduce the risk of injury with a training program including warm-up, cool-down, and stretching exercises. Resistance training will help prepare your body for participation in physical activity.

To stabilize your elbow joint and preserve your range of motion, maintain and build the strength and flexibility of your forearm, upper arm and shoulder muscles and tendons. Strengthening and stretching exercises will help to keep your arm strong and supple, which will prevent further injuries. Also, a regular exercise program that focuses on total body fitness will keep you healthy overall.

Avoid doing too much to soon to give your body an opportunity to build up its endurance, especially when starting a new activity. Gradually increase your participation to prevent overstraining your muscles. Remember to always warm up and cool down your forearm muscles before and after working them.

Prevent Injury By Utilizing Your Whole Body

Learn and practice proper form and techniques to prevent injuries by utilizing your total body when possible, for example swinging a racquet with your whole arm rather than just your wrist. Keep your wrist in a neutral and/or slightly rigid position, and use your stronger upper arm muscles, rather than smaller forearm muscles when lifting or twisting. This is especially important when participating in something new such as a racquet sport, swimming, weightlifting, or throwing sports.

A number of ways to prevent tennis elbow (or any soft tissue) injury is through proper training, techniques, and equipment. Some helpful tips and techniques can include but are not limited to:

• A thorough stretch warm up routine before exertion.
• Following through your actions and movements with your whole body, instead of isolating a specific muscle, like the ones in your forearm
• Working with a certified sports instructor to perfect your technique, reducing the stress placed on your elbow
• Strenghthen the muscles in your wrist and forearm. A stronger arm will help reduce the risk of golfer's elbow.
• Avoiding a grip that is too tight (loosen up the grip)
• Having the distance of your grip assessed by a certified trainer. A grip distance that is too short or too wide can cause problems
• For racquet sports, choose a racquet with a flexible shaft and a large 'sweet spot'. Flexible racquets are shock-absorbing and will be gentler on your arm
• Treat your forearm & elbow with a T•Shellz Wrap^® an hour before the activity. This will help increase flexibility of soft tissue in the arm/elbow, reducing the risk of an injury.

Wrist, Elbow and Forearm Pain

Choose appropriate equipment for your body type, the size and weight of your equipment and tools definitely makes a difference.

If you are suffering from wrist, elbow or forearm pain, decrease, modify and/or avoid any repetitive motions that cause irritation (usually twisting or gripping actions). If you are required to perform these motions at work or play and can not avoid them, make sure you take frequent breaks and rest your arm to prevent fatigue.

The good news is that most cases of golfers elbow will heal with simple home conservative treatments and surgery is usually not needed! It's generally understood by doctors and surgeons, that surgery will introduce more scar tissue into the elbow. This added scar tissue will be problematic, requiring physical therapy and conservative treatment options post-surgery. This is why surgery is only performed as a last resort for chronic elbow injuries or a fractured bone that won't heal with conservative treatment methods.

Some conservative treatment methods recommended include:

• Rest - This is important for initial healing to reduce pain, swelling and inflammation in the early stage of your elbow injury. Too much rest can also be harmful to elbow injuries because joint immobility can actually cause stiffening in the elbow (and even shoulder) joint. This is why rest should be used when reducing initial pain and swelling, but should not be considered for more long-term conservative treatment.
• Avoid Activities that Caused Your Injury - While resting your elbow, it's important to avoid activities that may have caused your injury in the first place and this definitely includes pretty much any type of sport where your upper body is involved. Continuing on with regular activities will not only make your injury worse, but trying to 'work around' your injury will eventually give rise to over-compensation injuries in other areas of your body.
• Use a Cold Compress or Ice Pack - Cold is very effective at reducing pain and inflammation - use at the onset of the injury and during flareups.
• Use Soft Tissue Repair Therapy (STR Therapy) - You can use your own blood flow to maximize your rehabilitation, maintain healthy blood flow to your arm and elbow, decrease recovery time, and boost overall long-term healing. Promoting blood flow to your elbow joint will help to minimize the growth of scar tissue, increase flexibility and helping prevent atrophy.
• Physical Therapy - Surgery is usually the last resort. This means doctors or surgeons typically won't perform a surgery until they feel that their patient has put effort into treating their injury with conservative treatment methods. This includes 4 to 6 months of physical therapy. If you haven't experienced any improvement in your condition during that time then surgery may be considered. Agressive physical therapy approaches will focus on forced or manual manipulation of your elbow joint - this means your physical therapists will be trying to move your elbow past the point of comfort as they strive to increase range of motion and prevent further atrophy. This can be painful and end up making your injury worse if not done correctly. (reference: 1)
• Stretching - Stretching your elbow and arm in physical therapy and at home will help you to regain your range of motion much faster than not stretching at all. Stretching in many ways is key maintaining good Range of Motion (ROM) in the elbow, and stretching can be made much easier with use of a TShellz Wrap before to warm up soft tissue, and a Cold Compress or Ice Pack treatment after to prevent any return of swelling and inflammation.

Prevention and Promotion of Lifelong Health

If you want to avoid re-injury, or manage pain and increase circulation for lifelong health benefits, an Elbow T•Shellz Wrap^® will provide the results you are looking for.
Why spend time in pain, off from work, and missing out on your active lifestyle when you can be proactive about your injury and the health of your body?

Call one of our AidMyTennisElbow Advisers at no cost or obligation to address any lingering questions you have about using heat or cold for your elbow injury - toll free 1-866-237-9608

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During your recovery, you will probably have to modify and/or eliminate any activities that cause pain or discomfort at the location of your soft tissue injury until the pain and inflammation settle. Always consult your doctor and/or Physical Therapist before using any of our outstanding products, to make sure they are right for you and your condition. The more diligent you are with your treatment and rehabilitation, the faster you will see successful results!

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