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Tennis Elbow (Lateral Epicondylitis): Causes, Symptoms & Complete Recovery Plan

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Is Your Elbow Experiencing This?

  • ✔ Frequent tingling or soreness on the outer side of the elbow
  • ✔ Discomfort when making a fist, wringing a towel, or opening doors
  • ✔ Improves with rest but tends to recur

If you experience these, it is likely:

Tennis Elbow
(Lateral Epicondylitis)

Tennis elbow is actually very common, and there are many treatment options such as physical therapy, exercise therapy, acupuncture, and topical ointments. However, many patients report limited results or slow recovery. This is because one often overlooked fact is that the real problem is not in the elbow itself. Clinically, we have seen many cases where symptoms persist for months, or even years...

The real problem
often lies beyond the elbow itself

What is Tennis Elbow?

Medically, tennis elbow is called lateral epicondylitis, named because it is common in tennis players. However, most clinical patients have no relation to tennis, so you do not need to play tennis to develop it. Simply put, tennis elbow is a soft tissue injury causing pain.

Main Causes Include:

  • 👉 Overuse of forearm muscles over time
  • 👉 Tiny tears in the tendon
  • 👉 Repair rate slower than usage rate

Common Symptoms:

  • ⚠️ Pain on the outer side of the elbow (lateral epicondyle)
  • ⚠️ Pain radiates to the forearm
  • ⚠️ Reduced grip strength
  • ⚠️ Pain triggered by specific movements
  • ⚠️ Symptoms recur repeatedly

Who is Most Prone to Tennis Elbow?

  • 🎾 Racket sports players (tennis, badminton)
  • 💻 Office workers using a mouse for long hours
  • 🏠 Caregivers lifting heavy objects or doing household chores

✨ Clinical Reminder

All these activities share one thing: repeated use of the wrist and forearm ⚠️

Why Does Your Tennis Elbow Keep Coming Back?

Many times, pain location can be misleading. Clinically, examining the painful area often only shows inflammation there, but the cause of the pain lies elsewhere. Therefore, if treatment focuses only on the painful area without addressing the root cause, recurrence and long-term problems occur.

3 Key Issues Often Overlooked

  • ❗ Insufficient shoulder stability
  • ❗ Incorrect wrist activation pattern
  • ❗ Imbalanced forearm muscles

✨ Clinical Reminder

Managing pain while correcting functional issues is the key to truly resolving the problem ❗

Complete Rehabilitation Path with TCM + Exercise Therapy

Relying on a single treatment rarely solves sports injuries completely. At Ka Yuan TCM, we combine both advantages to achieve pain relief, recovery, and functional restoration, establishing a full rehabilitation path.

The Professional Role of TCM

  • 👐 Muscle and joint adjustment: relieve stiffness, restore alignment
  • 🌿 Improve meridian and circulation: accelerate tissue repair
  • 🩹 Pain relief: support body self-healing for faster recovery

⚡ TCM not only relieves pain, but also creates conditions for subsequent therapy,
serving as the first step in treatment!

🏃 The Professional Role of Exercise Therapy

  • 🏋️‍♂️ Correct activation patterns: avoid repeated injury
  • 🛡️ Improve scapular stability: reduce shoulder-elbow stress
  • 💪 Rebuild forearm muscle balance: enhance coordination, avoid elbow overstrain

💡 Exercise therapy not only helps recovery but also lowers the risk of re-injury.

✨ Benefits of Combined Therapy

✔ Rapid pain relief
✔ Restore shoulder-elbow strength and coordination
✔ Reduce risk of re-injury

When Should You Not Delay?

The body sends signals that need attention. Not all pain can be ignored; timely treatment prevents worsening or functional limitation.

Seek Professional Intervention Early If:

  • ⚠ Pain lasts 3 months or more: may indicate chronic inflammation or structural abnormalities needing assessment.
  • ⚠ Pain persists at rest: body unable to self-repair; rest alone is insufficient.
  • ⚠ Nighttime soreness: may involve tendon, nerve, or joint issues; early care prevents functional damage.
  • ⚠ Pain triggered by effort: immediate recurrence after activity indicates mechanics or muscle strength not restored; self-training may be ineffective.

💡 Professional Advice

Do not delay if any of the above occurs. Seeking professional help early can improve symptoms faster and reduce recurrence risk.

Friendly Advice

Tennis elbow is common, but that does not mean you have to endure the pain. Pain is not just "where it hurts," it is the body signaling that some areas are under undue stress.

Truly effective treatment is not just about relieving elbow pain, but understanding the overall activation patterns and biomechanics to identify the root cause of repeated injury. Only then can pain truly end rather than temporarily disappear.

  • ✔ Address the root cause, not just the pain point
  • ✔ Restore function, not just temporary relief
  • ✔ Teach the body proper activation patterns again

✨ Friendly Reminder

If you are experiencing shoulder-elbow soreness, recurring pain, nighttime weakness, or immediate recurrence after activity, seek evaluation from a professional promptly to prevent minor issues from becoming chronic.

With proper guidance and time, the body can truly recover and pain can be resolved, rather than repeatedly endured.

Wong Ka Hei

About the Author

Wong Ka Hei
Founder of Ka Yuan TCM & Wellness
KKM Registered TCM Physician · Exercise Therapist

International sports medical experience, including serving on the official medical team of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Focuses on sports injuries, pain management, and children’s health, helping patients recover function and athletic ability through manual therapy, exercise therapy, and acupuncture.

💡 Belief:
"The body is a whole. Don’t just treat pain points, but restore function, habits, and lifestyle."

References

  • American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. (n.d.). Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis). https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/diseases--conditions/tennis-elbow-lateral-epicondylitis/
  • Brukner, P., & Khan, K. (2017). Brukner & Khan’s clinical sports medicine (5th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
  • Coombes, B. K., Bisset, L., & Vicenzino, B. (2015). Management of lateral elbow tendinopathy: One size does not fit all. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 45(11), 938–949. https://doi.org/10.2519/jospt.2015.5841
  • Nirschl, R. P., & Ashman, E. S. (2003). Elbow tendinopathy: Tennis elbow. Clinics in Sports Medicine, 22(4), 813–836. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0278-5919(03)00086-2
  • Rees, J. D., Stride, M., & Scott, A. (2014). Tendons—Time to revisit inflammation. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 48(21), 1553–1557. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2012-091957
  • López-de-Celis, C., et al. (2023). Effectiveness of dry needling versus manual therapy in muscle pain disorders: A randomized clinical trial. Journal of Personalized Medicine, 13(9), 1415. https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4426/13/9/1415
  • Dommerholt, J., Fernández‑de‑las‑Peñas, C., & Gerwin, R. D. (2023). Network meta-analysis comparing dry needling and manual therapy for myofascial pain. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37924127/
  • Gattie, E., Cleland, J., & Snodgrass, S. (2019). Systematic review of manual therapy, dry needling, and other modalities in myofascial pain treatment. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31563367/
  • Kietrys, D. M., Palombaro, K. M., & Azzaretto, E. (2020). Combination of manual therapy and dry needling improves muscle tone, stiffness, and pressure pain thresholds in athletes: Randomized controlled study. Journal of Sport Science and Medicine, 23(4), 852–862. https://www.jssm.org/volume23/iss4/cap/jssm-23-852.pdf
  • Tough, E. A., White, A. R., Cummings, T. M., Richards, S. H., & Campbell, J. L. (2009). Acupuncture and dry needling in the management of myofascial trigger point pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. European Journal of Pain, 13(3), 3–10. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19786404/
Location: Ka Yuan TCM & Wellness Sdn Bhd 嘉缘中医