Tennis elbow is considered to be a Repetitive Stress Injury or RSI. When you suffer from this injury the first advice which is given is that you need to rest the elbow as much as possible. The rest is needed so that the elbow can begin to heal automatically. As a person gets tennis elbow pain the first thing he/she needs to do is identify the movement which has caused this particular injury. Once you identify the action, you need to put a complete stop to that action. Generally tennis elbow is caused by the lifting of heavy objects, squeezing or gripping movements.
Doctors recommend that complete rest may cause muscle atrophy. But too much activity may aggravate the pain. Thus it is advised that you continue the icing of the area as long as the inflammation is present.
Doctors believe that the use of adequate tennis elbow exercises can strengthen the area and hence prevent any kind of re-injury. So it is recommended that once the elbow heals you need to get into exercises which help in making the muscles, the tendons and the ligaments strong. The process of returning to regular activities should be gradual. If you try to be abrupt you may end up injuring the area once again.
In the beginning you need to concentrate on the lighter stretching exercises. Some of the motions which you need to practice are wrist flexion, wrist extension and wrist rotation. You need to make certain that the elbow is extended properly and in the process the arm should remain straight. As you keep the arm straight slowly you will be able to increase the range of stretch.
Every time you stretch the elbow you need to hold it for around twenty or thirty seconds. If the number of times is less than this the chances are low that you will get any benefit from the stretching. The stretching should be repeated at least twice daily. But this does not mean that you have to stretch the elbow even if you feel the pain. In fact the stretching should be done only to a comfortable point. While performing the exercises always remember that your goal is to heal the area and not increase the pain.
Slowly you should increase the amount of tennis elbow exercises. You need to begin with the weight lifting. In the initial stage you need to begin with weights which are around 1 pound (0.5 kilogram). For the first time perform only ten repetitions. According to the doctors all these are done to make the muscles flexible.
