He had to give the elbow to tennis lessons

BY THE DOC

BRITAIN is great once again. Well, its athletes are anyway.

With Olympic success last year and Andy Murray’s Wimbledon victory last month, it seems we’ve become a bastion of sporting achievement.

That’s great news in terms of health — for the most part.

A middle-aged chap who came in to the surgery last week seemed to fancy himself as the next tennis sensation to emerge from these isles.

He had dusted down his racquet, donned his Bjorn Borg headband and headed off to the courts for a few lessons.

Tennis is quite an intense sport, of course. Hitting a ball again and again, having not practised for years, had taken its toll.

He’d ended up with some pain in his arm in what looked like a case of lateral epicondylitis, better known as tennis elbow.

Although it’s associated with the sport, typically only around 5% of people get tennis elbow from playing racquet sports — it’s much more likely to occur during something like DIY.

Repetitive motions, like hammering or turning a screwdriver, are often to blame for bringing it on.

In my patient’s case, his exertions on the tennis court had done the damage.

Swinging the racquet a few times too many had left tiny tears on the base of the tendons in his arm — on the outside of upper forearm, just below the bend of the elbow.

These wee tears typically occur in people who aren’t used to exercising that area.

For some people, the pain flares when they turn a door handle, or open a jar. There can also be twinges when picking up small objects, like a pen or a fork.

For other people it can be a constant dull ache, which is sore enough to keep them awake at night.

Painkillers help, as do ice packs applied to the area.

I told my patient to give tennis a miss for a while. If things didn’t improve, he’d maybe need to see a physio.

Typically, tennis elbow lasts between a few weeks and a few months, but it can stick around longer.