Unfortunately, Plantation, Florida 6 new pickleball courts will be left unattended, but this doesn’t mean people will still be playing in their front yard. Your Plantation chiropractor had the pleasure of attending the grand opening of the plantation pickle all courts and talking with some of the community who are a force on the pickleball court. One common theme we saw among the competitors was elbow pain, either current or from an injury sustained in the past. It was safe to say that tennis elbow can easily be interchanged with pickleball elbow.
Tennis elbow (or pickleball elbow) is the common name for lateral epicondylitis. It presents as pain on the outside of the elbow after repetitive use. Injury can be sports related (think swinging a racket) or occupational (using a screw driver or carrying shopping bags). There are three muscles that allow for extension of the wrist attaching to the lateral epicondyle. Overuse of these muscles can lead to inflammation or micro-trauma (small tears in the fascia and muscle) causing pain in and around the elbow.
Evaluation may show tenderness over the bony prominence on the outside of the elbow, and this pain may continue into the muscle that attaches. Extension of the wrist, or turning the wrist out, may increase the pain. Additionally, pain increases as the muscle continues to pull on the lateral epicondyle bone of the elbow.
This is where the “tennis elbow” brace becomes helpful. For those who have suffered from tennis elbow, you may have had a brace that sits just below the elbow and becomes the new attachment for the muscle rather than pulling on the lateral epicondyle. This alleviates some of the force pulling on the bone and decreases pain. In some cases the brace may not be enough to support the patient’s pain. This is where chiropractic is beneficial.
Chiropractic care treatment for lateral epicondylitis includes instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization (Graston technique), ultrasound therapy, and correctional exercises to help improve shoulder and wrist range of motion to decrease pressure and mechanical faults at the elbow.
If you are in Plantation, FL and experiencing elbow pain, give our office a call at 954-368-4054 to see how Stumpff Chiropractic can get you back on the Pickleball (or tennis) courts and doing all the activities you love!