As you get older, you may continue to live the same active, healthy lifestyle you’ve always had. If so, that’s excellent! Remaining active provides several benefits for your mind and body.
While many people encourage you to live an active life, they neglect to mention that it becomes more difficult. As your body ages, it has a more challenging time performing tasks it once did with ease.
One classic example of this is tennis elbow pain. Tennis elbow comes from repetitive actions in your arm, such as a poor and overused backswing in tennis.
The primary tennis elbow symptoms include radiating pain from your elbow, extending to your wrist and hand as well. This pain often makes simple tasks like shaking hands nearly impossible.
If you suffer from tennis elbow, several treatment options exist. In this article, we’ll explore the available treatment methods and what proves most effective. So, without further ado, let’s get started!
Home Remedies for Tennis Elbow Pain
Before you seek medicine or invasive treatment for your tennis elbow symptoms, try some home remedies. Whenever you have pain in your joints, the first step is to rest.
More specifically, avoid any strenuous activities that could require you to move the affected area too often. So, if you hurt yourself playing tennis, avoid going to the court for a few days.
Tennis elbow involves swelling or tearing in the joint. You can also apply an ice pack or a cold compress to the pain point to reduce swelling.
How often should you do so? Many would suggest that four applications daily for about 15 minutes. Over time, this pain should decrease.
However, you may not have time to rest at home. If you need more fast-acting treatment, you may consider medication.
Tennis Elbow Medications
The primary tennis elbow medications available are over-the-counter pain relievers. You may find that non-steroidal and anti-inflammatory drugs can eliminate the pain in your elbow.
These NSAIDs treat several issues, ranging from sprains and strain to headaches. Finally, if over-the-counter pills don’t work, consult your doctor about corticosteroids. Doctors administer these medications through injections into the injured area.
Depending on how severe your condition is, the results may last for several weeks. In best-case scenarios, the results could last for months. If you opt for corticosteroids, don’t neglect your rest.
Adding continual strain could lessen the longevity of your treatment success. If all else fails, however, you can also try one last method.
Physical Therapy for Lingering Pain
It may be that rest, ice, and medications don’t eliminate the pain. In these cases, you may want to ask your doctor about physical therapy. A skilled physical therapist will demonstrate how to improve your muscle strength.
They will also show you ways to enhance your flexibility, coordination, and endurance. As you progress in this therapy, you can lessen the chances of injuring yourself again.
As you go through therapy, you may also receive some accessories to help your arm recover. These items include forearm straps, bands, or splints. These help support your arm and promote your healing processes.
Choosing the Most Effective Treatment Instead
At this point in the article, you may be sweating a little. If you injure yourself, will you really have to undergo all this to recover?
You may not have to undergo all of these treatments if you injure yourself. However, it could occur. If so, it will cost you time and money.
So, how can you avoid spending time and money on your tennis elbow? You can instead choose to receive PRP therapy.
PRP (or platelet-rich plasma therapy) uses an innovative and modern technique to heal your body. Instead of injecting foreign substances into your system, it utilizes the platelets in your blood to heal your injury.
How does this work? We’ll explore this topic in the following sections.
Using Plasma and Platelets
Plasma is a fluid in your body that transports blood cells, nutrients, and other materials through the body. As such, it is an essential feature for blood coagulation.
Platelets exist within plasma. These cell fragments function like a small army in your blood, swarming areas where bleeding occurs to clot and prevent blood loss.
Platelets contain more than 1500 growth factors and proteins. Because of these factors, they can enhance your healing process and tissue repair.
How Do Doctors Inject Plasma?
PRP sets itself apart from other therapy treatments because it uses your body’s natural systems to heal itself. All they have to do is inject higher concentrations of platelets into the injured spot.
How does that work, exactly? We use a process that goes like this.
First, a doctor will draw blood from your arm. From there, they’ll place it in a centrifuge that spins the blood at high speeds.
As the centrifuge spins the blood, it separates platelets from other plasma components. Then, the doctor injects lidocaine to numb your elbow.
After numbing the treatment area, the doctor injects concentrated levels of platelet-rich plasma into the region. Once they enter your arm, the platelets release their growth factors into your blood.
As the growth factors spread, they enhance the body’s natural healing capabilities. So, your body can receive an extra hand as it endeavors to heal itself.
How Long Does It Take?
Unlike other treatments, PRP therapy often enables people to resume their normal activities quickly after treatment. It delivers results faster and in a more natural way.
The best part is, the procedure takes much less time than some of its alternatives. Typically, the operations only last for half an hour or so.
Consider if PRP Therapy is Right For You
As we’ve discussed, several methods exist to treat your tennis elbow pain. After a few days of rest and icing your injury, you may feel fine. If so, no problem!
If your tennis elbow symptoms won’t go away, though, PRP therapy provides a natural and reliable cure. So, if you continue to experience tennis elbow pain, make an appointment with us today!