Managing Tennis Elbow
What you should know about tennis elbow

Tennis elbow damage basically consists of tiny tears in a part of the tendon and in muscle coverings. These areas often tear again after the initial injury heals, which leads to hemorrhaging and the formation of rough, granulated tissue and calcium deposits within the surrounding tissues. Collagen leaks out from around the injured areas, causing inflammation, and the resulting pressure can cut off the blood flow and pinch the radial nerve. .
Tendons do not receive the same amount of oxygen and blood that muscles do, so they heal more slowly. Some cases of tennis elbow may take years to heal.
Symptoms of tennis elbow may include a recurring pain on the outside of the upper forearm just below the bend of the elbow; occasionally, pain radiates down the arm toward the wrist, pain caused by lifting the arm or grasping even light objects, difficulty extending the forearm fully, and pain that typically lasts for 6 to 12 weeks; the discomfort can continue for as little as 3 weeks or as long as several years.
Relief for Tennis Elbow
You must stop doing anything that irritates your arm to help heal your tennis elbow. Although this might be a simple step for the weekend tennis player, this is not as easy for a professional athlete or manual laborer.
All treatments for tennis elbow are based upon the same basic premise of resting the arm until the pain disappears, then massaging the elbow to relieve stress and tension in the muscles, and exercising the elbow to strengthen the area and prevent re-injury. Always stretch gently if you are going to resume the activity that made you sustain a tennis elbow injury in the first place, making sure to take frequent breaks.
Treatments for tennis elbow run the gamut from drug injections to surgery, but the pain will never go away completely unless you stop stressing the joint. Without adequate rest from activity, repeat injuries are inevitable. Aspirin or ibuprofen will help relieve inflammation and the pain if your injury is mild to moderate. You can then follow up with exercise and massage to speed healing.
For more severe or stubborn cases of tennis elbow, your doctor may advise corticosteroid injections, which help reduce inflammation but can only be taken in the short-term.
To prevent tennis elbow, always lift objects with your palm facing your body. Also, try strengthening exercises with hand weights. With your elbow cocked and your palm down, repeatedly bend your wrist, stopping immediately if you feel any pain. Stretch relevant muscles before beginning a possibly stressful activity by grasping the top part of your fingers and gently but firmly pulling them back toward your body, keeping your arm fully extended and your palm facing outward.