Many people have experienced the very painful condition called tennis elbow (epicondylitis lateralis). The suffering caused by repeated rotating movements with the arm has got its name because these exact movements are characteristic of tennis players but it also appears in other sports people and in the business sector in connection with the use of a computer mouse or in trades.
It is a case of a sterile inflammation in some of the tendinous insertions on the outer side of the elbow and sometimes also in the bursal sacs of the elbow joint causing the damaged tissue to swell, get red and warm, and hurt violently.
The pain feels like stinges or twinges and occur in connection with certain movements of the hand or forearm. In severe cases, a so-called "snowball creaking" (crepitations) can be experienced in which small arm movements make the bursal sacs of the upper arm creak like steps in melting snow.
The symptoms of a tennis elbow most often start with pain around the little bone crest on the outer side of the elbow. If the area is pressed, it feels sore and, likewise, if the wrist it bent upwards, pain arise around the bone crest.
The pain, however, is not only located to the elbow; it can radiate up into the upper arm and down by the outer side of the forearm. A very common consequence is a feeling of weakness in the wrist because of the pain setting in at the smallest exertion of the hand.
