Best Brace for Tennis Elbow

Pain in your joints when playing sports can hurt you and your game. The most common form of pain in the elbow is tennis elbow. Tennis elbow is associated with pain on the outside part of the elbow and is common among tennis players, body builders, and people with strenuous jobs. Most injuries to the elbow are from over use of the arm, forearm and hand muscles that results in elbow pain.

What are the symptoms and causes of Tennis elbow?

If you have pain or soreness in your upper arm (near your elbow) you may have the condition.

This condition occurs when you have a partial tear in the tendon fibers on the outside or lateral side of your elbow. It is also known by the term Lateral Epicondylitis. It occurs on the outside of the elbow as opposed to Golfer’s elbow which occurs on the inside.

What is Tennis Elbow?

Lateral Epicondylitis, also known as tennis elbow is a significant problem for some tennis players. The most common symptom show is pain on the later or outside of the elbow when palms facing forward. This is where muscles and tendons attach to the outside area of the elbow. This is the most common sight for pain but can also affect the posterior or back part of the elbow. Pain worsens when shaking hands or squeezing objects. The opposite of lateral epicondylitis is medial epicondylitis which is located on the inner side of the elbow.

You may feel pain or weakness when you try to grasp something. You may also feel pain that radiates from the outside of your elbow to the back of your hand when you grasp with your hand. You may also feel this radiating pain if you twist your wrist or forearm. For example, brushing your teeth or opening a jar may be very painful.

You do not have to play tennis to get the condition. This injury is usually associated with tennis, but it is caused by repetitively twisting your wrist or forearm. It can also be the result of any activity in which you twist your wrist or forearm over and over.

Who gets Tennis Elbow?

Tennis elbow can affect as many as 50% of tennis players during their careers and is more common among men. Tennis elbow is often not caused from just playing tennis. People who work jobs or have leisure activities that require repetitive arm, elbow, wrist and hand movement/squeezing can develop these symptoms.

What can you do to help ease your pain?

You may want to use tennis elbow braces which are made especially for the treatment of this condition. Tennis elbow braces apply pressure to your arm which helps relieve your forearm pain. These braces can also increase warmth which improves the blood circulation in your arm and reduce the pain from the symptoms of the condition.

And they can also help to increase your elbow activity, function and can improve your arm endurance.

How a brace can help

A brace can be a great aid to the treatment or rehabilitation of tennis elbow. Two of the most common ways an elbow brace can help is by proving warmth and absorbing forces. Warmth is the best way to prevent muscle soreness associated with exercise. Force absorption can help prevent micro damage to the soft tissue of a joint that can build up during overuse to cause pain and inflammation. There are different types of braces that focus on these two aspects of pain relief in different amounts.

3 Types of Tennis Elbow Braces

3.1) Epicondylitis Clasp

This type of brace can be fitted precisely to the point required but needs to be fitted properly by a professional. By placing pressure on the muscle tendon that attaches to the bones of the elbow, the brace is able to absorb some of the forces being places on the tendon and prevent injury to those tissues. The disadvantage of this brace is that is can be more expensive than the other two types of brace and is recommended for a skilled tennis player.

3.2) Tennis Elbow Strap

This type of brace or strap is more simplistic and inexpensive. The strap wraps around your forearm below your elbow and has comfortable pads to alleviate pain in painful points. Similar to the epicondylitis clasp the strap absorbs forces were going to be transmitter through the muscle tendon connecting to the bone. The advantages of this type of brace are that they are easy to fit and adjust to personal comfort. This is a great support for most people playing tennis or suffering from tennis elbow symptoms.

Indications:

• Lateral epicondylitis（tennis elbow）
• Medial epicondylitis（golfer’s elbow）

Features:

• The pneumatic pad provides relief at the muscle insertion point
• Pneumatic pad
• Hook and loop closure for pressure adjustment
• One universal size

3.3) Tennis Elbow Sleeve

The tennis elbow sleeve is a combination of an elbow sleeve and a tennis elbow strap. The strap portion of the support provides compression, support and warmth. Warmth is important because it increased blood flow and vascularity which will lead to less swelling and inflammation as well as a quicker recovery. The support through compression this type of sleeve provides is great for unstable joints and those suffering from another joint issue. Similar to the tennis elbow strap, the strap portion of this support absorbs forces before they reach the affected tendon, helping alleviate pain and swelling.