Tennis elbow is tricky- we all know that! There could be many things going on in the elbow. I have found a very high-- extremely high-- incidence of a tight pronator that contributes to tennis elbow. It makes sense as this muscle is used a ton in the tennis swing. You can see a stretch that is extremely helpful at WRIST WIDGET TM - TFCC BLOG Scroll down the blog to see the pronator stretch. Try this on both arms and see if you are indeed tight. This stretch should be performed when the arm is warm- either after a hot shower or cardio. It also should be performed twice a day. The best thing to do is to perform the stretch and then see how the elbow feels in the am. If you are playing tennis- do the stretch before and after playing. There are many theories about tennis elbow-- deep tissue massage, cortisone, dysfunction of the gall bladder meridian, lack of strength which contributes to the tear, microscopic tears that develop into scarring... so many! I find that immobilization at the initial inflammatory phases for 3 weeks (no use), then progressive stretching-- gently and slowly, then deep tissue massage for another 3 weeks and then isometric strengthening is great. The challenge is that some patients stay in the inflammatory phase for a long time and cannot progress easily. If you understand each phase and progress as tolerated, most find great resolve. If you integrate acupuncture, ultrasound, heat, icing (direct ice for 2 minutes only), estim, and diet- you will progress faster.

All the best to you!

Wendy