Phase 1 - immediately you have the injury.

1. Ice - apply for 20 minutes at least three times a day.
2. Rest - Use a heat retainer or support that will aid rest and speed up recovery.
3. Anti-inflammatory medication can be taken (under Doctors advice of course).
4. Identify what has caused the injury, e.g. overuse, bad technique, too much housework?
5. Maintain fitness by cycling, or running if pain allows.

Phase 2 - this phase can start anywhere from two days to two weeks after initial injury. If it is painful then continue with phase 1.

1. Apply ice - again 20 minutes at least three times a day.
2. Wear a heat retainer.
3. Very gentle stretching.
4. A sports injury specialist can apply ultrasound therapy.
5. If it is not painful, start a strengthening programme. The tendon needs to be strengthened fully before returning to play. However you must always be pain free when doing the strengthening exercises. If it hurts then you are probably making things worse.

Phase 3 - this phase can begin when you can start to hit balls without pain.

1. Wear a brace to protect the elbow when returning to play.
2. Continue with the stretching and strengthening programmes. It is important to do these even if you do not gain pain at this stage. Continue for at least three months.
3. Continue to ice the tendon after training.
4. You should now be ready to start back in full training but never neglect stretching and strengthening or the injury might return.

Tennis Elbow

Many thanks to Mike from Sports Injury Clinic for rights to this article