Isn’t it surprising how tennis elbow pain or strain can make holding a teacup tough? Or maybe you’ve seen your parents struggle with elbow pain while cooking, cleaning, or handling chores. Tennis elbow pain is triggered by repetitive strain on the tendons that connect the forearm muscles to the bone. Constant use of our hands increases the risk of elbow injuries, whether it's typing, lifting objects, or playing sports. When a tennis elbow injury happens, whether it’s a fracture, sprain, post-surgery healing, or even arthritis, doctors almost always recommend tennis elbow support. This orthopedic gear helps to provide targeted compression, and helps you to recover faster.
Let's break down why these supports are vital for day-to-day life.
Can I Exercise While Wearing a Tennis Elbow Band?
Consult your healthcare provider first before you decide to do exercises while wearing a tennis elbow band. The result is based on how severe your injury is and the type of exercises you want to engage in. However, you can exercise while wearing a tennis elbow band. The band can provide extra support during activities that strain your elbow.
But you should not wear it during prescribed therapeutic exercises, as its use can affect or interfere with the tendon's strengthening process. Always practice light strengthening exercises for tennis elbow recovery. You can consider Leeford Ortho Tennis Elbow Support to relieve pain from strains, sprains, tennis elbow, and golfer’s elbow.
Exercises to Do While Wearing a Tennis Elbow Band
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Wrist Circles: Gently rotate the wrist on the injured elbow in both directions. This helps to relieve muscle knots and stiffness in your elbow.
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Elbow Flexion/Extension: Bend or extend your elbow gently to enhance flexibility and prevent elbow ligament tightness. It helps you to perform your daily tasks without any hassle or hardship when gripping objects.
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Forearm Rotation: During the day, keep turning your palm up and down while keeping the elbow at your side.
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Wrist Extensor Stretch: This involves extending your injured arm, palm facing down, and gently pulling the fingers back with your opposite hand.
Should I Wear My Tennis Elbow Band During Workouts?
As mentioned earlier, you can wear an elbow band during workouts; you should wear it. It is ideal for workouts like wrist towel twists, dumbbell lifts, and modified push-ups. A tennis elbow band from brands like Leeford Ortho offers targeted compression to balance stress on the injured tendons. Wearing a tennis elbow brace applies compression, which minimizes pain and stiffness in the injured tendons. While it's important to wear the brace during activities, it's not necessary to wear it constantly.
- Use the band while doing workouts that involve wrist motion. This helps to ensure sturdy support and helps reduce strain.
- Avoid wearing the band during rehab exercises, as it can interfere with your elbow tendon recovery.
- If you have ongoing or worsening pain during or after exercise, it may indicate that the exercises are unsuitable.
- Reduce the intensity, weight, or duration of your exercises to prevent further injury or slower recovery.
- Stick to cardio and lower-body workouts to apply less stress on the elbow.
Can I Lift Weights with a Tennis Elbow Strap?
Consult a healthcare expert before lifting to determine whether it is safe for your condition. This is a crucial part of protecting your elbow from injury recurrence. Stretching with a tennis elbow strap helps reduce pressure on the vulnerable tendons. It aids in maintaining strength during recovery. However, notice if you’re experiencing more pain or continuous discomfort. It can be a sign that the strap is not a proper fit, it's too tight, your weights are too heavy, or you're lifting for a timeline that is not as per your injury.
How Often Should I Do Tennis Elbow Exercises?
Your doctor’s guidance or advice commonly determines how often you should do tennis exercises. In general terms, you should do it four to five days a week. These exercises should include strengthening workouts done up to three times a day and stretching exercises done a few times a day. Make sure to do a few and light exercises in the early stage of injury. You can increase the duration of exercising when the strength in your elbow starts to improve.
Consider this for tennis elbow band exercises:
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Strengthening Exercises: Do these exercises at least three times daily. This promotes natural elbow joint alignment and quicker ligament healing.
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Light Stretches: Make sure to do light or gentle hand stretches regularly to relieve stiffness and numbness in your elbow joint. You can continue to do these stretches in both the early and later stages of recovery.
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General Routine: Avoid doing exercises for a whole week. Create a routine of 4/5 days per week. Continuous exercise might disturb the recovery process. It helps your elbow ligaments and muscles recover naturally.
When Should I Stop Exercising for Tennis Elbow?
Most people do not realize that continuous exercising can lead to various discomforts and complications. Seek your doctor’s advice on whether you should stop exercising or continue.
You should stop exercising and consult your healthcare provider when experiencing these symptoms:
- A stinging or sharp pain on the outside of your elbow that worsens during and after exercises.
- Increasing pain that extends to your forearm or upper arm region.
- Sudden struggle to hold or grip even light objects like a cup of tea.
- Swelling and soreness around the elbow joint that worsen with motion or don't improve even after resting.
- Feeling stiffness around the elbow or extending to the whole arm. This stiffness restricts free movement and can cause a sharp pain when you try to lift or move your arm.
- A numbness or pin-and-needle sensation in your forearm, wrist, or finger region.
- Lingering pain or persistent discomfort that doesn’t improve even after resting for prolonged periods.
Final Thought
Rehabilitation exercises for tennis elbow or tennis elbow band exercises include wrist circles, elbow flexion, forearm rotation, wrist exterior strain, etc. Elbow injuries are common in our daily lives, and they can result from sports that involve repetitive elbow use, household chores, or taking a fall with a stretched arm. Even when using orthopedic elbow support devices, incorporate light exercises and stretches to promote quicker recovery and natural healing. The elbow support stabilizes your wrist and eases pain, helping you get back to normal faster.
Medical-grade orthopedic gears like Leeford Ortho Tennis Elbow Support, Elbow Support Binder, and Elbow Wrap combine stability with comfort, allowing daily activities without strain. Your elbow can recover efficiently and regain its full strength for daily comfort and performance in activities.
