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ALTA: Experience the Best in Physical Therapy & Pilates
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Greetings!
Tennis Elbow (Lateral Epicondylitis)
Tennis elbow has plagued many people for years.  It may get better for awhile, but come back for no apparent reason. It's a source of frustration for doctors and patients alike. So what are we missing?
If tennis elbow is a problem for you, just the thought of picking up a pitcher of water or using a hammer makes you cringe. The medical term for tennis elbow is Lateral Epicondylitis, an irritation where muscle attaches to bone at the outside of the elbow. The name is misleading, because lateral Epicondylitis is rarely an inflammatory process, so using anti-inflammatories probably won't help. Taking a more holistic view is likely to lead to a solution.
Nerves from your neck supply your elbow, and neck problems can lead to restrictions in the nerves that stimulate the muscles of your arm, resulting in tightness and pain at your elbow. Overuse of the forearm muscles causes excessive tension at the bony attachment on the outside of the elbow. Tightness in general or a lack of flexibility often creates pain.
If muscular tightness has been a problem for a long time, Trigger Point Dry Needling will help your nervous system reset muscles to a more appropriate length. If nerve tightness is the primary issue, Neurodynamics might be the key to resolution. A combination of approaches is usually most effective.
 The paradox about muscles being tight is that they are also often weak. Pain felt at the elbow may be the result of micro tears at the tendon, which make the muscle-tendonous junction weak. A graded exercise program to strengthen the tendon might be just the ticket for you. See the exercise specifics at the bottom of the page.
You might say, "I've done PT and I still have problems." Don't give up. Consider another aspect of yourself that could influence elbow pain. If you appreciate your body as a reflection of your mind and heart, further exploration may shed light on the problem.
The idea that thoughts and feelings influence physical health is not new. Eastern traditions teach that each body part engenders an emotional as well as a physical aspect. These traditions also link the colon and small intestine energetically to the lateral elbow. For example, chronic digestive issues representing a lack of flexibility in your digestive system may be related to elbow stiffness and pain.
BodyTalk is a fabulous system for increasing balance within the body-mind complex and decreasing stress. At ALTA, therapists use the BodyTalk system to counteract the physical and emotional stresses of day to day life, and allow the body to recover.
If you are open to exploring, you can find multiple ways to get to a solution. Physical therapists trained in fascial techniques for the organs of digestion can help improve mobility there, and treat elbow pain indirectly. Visceral Mobilization, Trigger Point Dry Needling, Integrative Manual Therapy and Body Talk , in conjunction with more traditional PT treatment might be just the combination you need to solve a nagging elbow problem.
That's why at ALTA, we look at you, the whole person, not just your elbow.
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Tennis Elbow Exercise
In the past several years, eccentric exercise has been getting rave reviews for treating tendonopathies. During eccentric exercise, the muscle slowly lengthens as it contracts, putting added stress on the tendon as it does so.
A recent article in the New York Times describes a study in which people with intractable lateral elbow pain were divided into two groups. Traditional treatment was given to the control group, and eccentric exercise was added to the treatment of the experimental group. The study was discontinued early because a resounding 81% of the experimental group was better after doing the exercise.
For a video of the exercise, check the link on You Tube in the body of the New York Times article.
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The Boulder County Business Report published the List of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Centers in Boulder and Broomfield Counties by number of patients seen in 2008.
ALTA Physical Therapy and Pilates was ranked 4th!
We continue to grow and thrive because of the many referrals we receive from patients like you. Thanks so much for your confidence in us.
We are ever grateful.
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Help Us Make a Difference!
We write a newsletter each month or so, based on information we think might help you recover from or avoid injury. Sometimes, finding another way to do something helps just enough to make a difference. We want to make a difference. In that vein, please tell us what you want to know about physical therapy and rehabilitation. We'll deliver. Our survey is short and sweet. We hope to hear from you. Click to fill out our online survey.
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Boulder
Performance
Lab
Boulder Performance Lab, a physiology testing and assessment center at ALTA, has a new director! Gary Gianetti, an exercise physiologist with expertise in sports nutrition, is excited about retooling the lab. BPL plans to serve a broader need, including exercise prescription for weight management. For more information, contact Gary at 444-8708 ext 109. BoulderPerformanceLab.com | |
