Despite it’s name, anyone can develop ‘Tennis Elbow’ – tennis players, athletes, or just anyone who vigorously use their forearm muscles or repetitively extended their wrist and hand, as ‘Tennis Elbow’ is it is caused by overuse/repetitive movements of the wrist and arm that overload the tendons in the elbow. This leads to pain and tenderness on the outside of the elbow and there is inflammation or micro-tearing of the tendons that join the forearm muscles to the outside of the elbow.
Common signs and symptoms of tennis elbow include:
- Pain or burning on the outer part of your elbow
- Weak grip strength
- Sometimes, pain at night
The symptoms are often worsened with forearm activities, such as holding a racquet, turning a wrench, or shaking hands. Your dominant arm is more likely get affected; however, both arms can be affected.
Dry Needling is a skilled intervention performed by a physiotherapist that uses a thin filiform needle to penetrate the skin and stimulate underlying neural, muscular and connective tissues for the evaluation and management of neuromusculoskeletal pain and movement impairments.
Tendons generally have a poor blood supply, which is why they are vulnerable to vascular compromise in specific areas.
Dry needling therapy stimulates blood flow to the injured tendon, triggering stem cells recruitment, stimulating fibroblasts, and inducing the healing cascade, which facilitates tendon healing.
Current research shows that tendon needling is minimally invasive, safe, inexpensive and efficient treatment modality for tendinopathy such as Tennis Elbow and Achilles Tendinopathy.
