Do I have tennis elbow (from the elbow down to the forearm hurts)?
I had my first tennis practice 2 days ago (joining school’s team). Now my inner arm hurts. It’s like, when I touch my elbow bone and like the tendons on it, it hurts. I’ve only had one practice, and I’ve already gotten hurt. What a surprise.
Anyway, do I have tennis elbow? How many days will it take to heal? My next practice is this monday, but it’s optional so I don’t have to go. What should I do to get rid of the pain and the injury in general? Please help.
and the muscles in my forearm hurt. it’s the inner part, when you face your palm up. BTW, I play with my right arm and that’s the one that’s hurting. My left is fine, just a tiny bit sore.
Tagged with: elbow bone • forearm • inner arm • muscles • palm • right arm • surprise • tendons • tennis elbow • tennis practice • tiny bit
Filed under: Tennis Elbow Home Cures
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You don’t seem to have a tennis elbow, for several reasons. 1) A tennis elbow is a so-called RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) with the focus on ‘repetitive’, so this means that you don’t get a tennis elbow overnight, not after a couple of days.
2) A tennis elbow is VERY local, and hurts when you press the elbow bone (or when you shake someone’s hand who has a firm handshake). Normally, there is no pain in the inner arm (this indicates sore muscles).
3) A tennis elbow is an instanteneous pain that manifests itself while playing (especially when playing back hands) and not after a couple of days.
4) It is pretty normal that you would feel pain (sore muscles) after a first sports session, because you will use muscles that you don’t normally use that much. So they become sore. Moreover, IF your muscles are sore, the biggest pain will be after two-three days, and not the day itself or even the day after.
5) Sore muscles will take 4-5 days to heal, the pain will gradually subside. Like others said, it is good to stretch your underarm. Open the palm of your hand as if to receive something, and then gently pull your stretched fingers towards your elbow. You should feel the sore muscles, and maintain a constant pressure for about 15 seconds, and repeat this 3 times at 15 second intervals. You can repeat this stretching exercise several times a day. But don’t pull too hard or overextend.
Just a last note… Top players hardly suffer from tennis elbows, because their technique is good, and their timing is good. Most tennis elbows come from wrongfully executed movements, mostly on the backhand. Especially if you hit your ball too late on your backhand side, your elbow will suffer.
So have your coach advise you on a proper backhand technique, make sure you hit the ball early enough (not when it’s behind your waist), put a vibration dampener in your strings (one is sufficient), and try to play smoothly.
Especially when learning tennis, you should make sure that you play smoothly ‘through’ the ball with a supple arm and a supple hand. Don’t squeeze the life our of your tennis racket, simply hold it, not even too firmly. Do a youtube for Roger Federer forehand, and see how smoothly he plays through the ball.
Have fun!
Thomas
It doesn’t sound like you have tennis elbow, but more like you are sore. This happened to me when I first started playing tennis. Make sure you stretch your arm before and after practice. I stopped becoming sore a few days after practice b/c my body got used to it. Also, try taking asprin before you have practice.
If your elbow gets worse and not better I would tell your coach and set up an appointment with Sports medicine at your school.
Hope this helps, and good luck by the way!
p.s. Tennis elbow is the result of playing A LOT of tennis like the pros. I doubt you’ll get it unless you’re playing tennis nonstop.
When I started playing tennis, my arms were sore too, but I didn’t have tennis elbow. Although one time I did, and my arm felt almost immobile. If you think you have tennis elbow, you should see a doctor or your team’s coach to make sure. Seeing as you have only been playing for two days, you probably just aren’t used to hitting the ball and are just sore.