Tennis elbow injuries are on the rise at a rapid pace. People are willing to do anything to dull the pain and get relief from it. So the question of the day is: does heat help tennis elbow or can it actually make it worse?
What really happens when you apply heat to your skin? First, it will immediately flood the area with blood. Your body will force blood away from other parts of your body and send it to the area which has heat applied to it, in this case your elbow.
Anytime you apply something warm/hot to your body, you immediately get a feeling of comfort and relief. You actually start to forget about your pain and discomfort to focus on the area which is being heated.
When you suffer from any sort of muscle or tendon pain/injury, it can be a direct result of a lack of healthy, oxygentaed blood. In order for a tendon or muscle to start healing in needs lots of rich new blood.
Aggravating your tennis elbow injury causes the “good” blood to disappear, which decreases blood circulation. This is when your the pain in your elbow comes back and your elbow may feel stiff and sore.
So is heat good for tennis elbow? In my opinion yes. Anything you can do to improve blood flow to a damaged muscle/tendon tissue, only good things can happen. This will help speed up your recovery process and improve arm movement.
But is it enough and will heat alone be enough to help tennis elbow sufferers fully recover?
The short answer is No. It is simple one aspect of the recovery process and should be used in conjunction with a treatment program for tennis elbow. Sure applying heat helps control your pain but it doesn’t really help repair the damaged tendon. You know this because when you the heat has been removed from your elbow for a few minutes, your pain comes back.
For individuals who have just discovered that they have tennis elbow (2-3 weeks in), heat can really help get your pain under control. It won’t stop your elbow from getting worse, especially if you continue with arm movements that aggravate the muscles, tendons and flexors of your wrist, forearm and elbow. This will only help in the short term.
When you are in the early stages of tennis elbow, you may only notice some discomfort every now and then. And it really doesn’t interfere too much with your day. You may get home after work and notice your elbow pain increasing and reach for the heat. Does this help or perhaps make your condition worse? Probably worse because …
The heat is giving you temporary relief but structurally the small tears in your extensor tendon are probably growing larger by the day. This is when you will start to notice an increase in elbow inflammation. Great inflammation, I bet you are thinking ice and does it help fight tennis elbow.
Basic first aid for any sort of muscle/tendon injury, especially for one that swells immediately is to apply ice. Check out the article below to see if the same applies for tennis elbow injuries.
Article: How and Where to Apply Ice for Tennis Elbow
Heat works ok for pain but when inflammation kicks in, you need another plan. Ok, so you’re applying the heat, lots of fresh, nutrient blood is heading to your elbow but what happens when you take it away. Inflammation builds up with fluid that is toxic and detrimental to your recovery.
Fluid that gets trapped in your elbow in the inflammation stage, inhibits the access of rich nutrients to your elbow’s damaged tissues. So in the end, the application of heat is really no good and will not help tennis elbow.
Then there is the question of: does massage help tennis elbow?
When you massage a muscle, again this draws blood to the area. Just like heat, a dose of new blood to structures and tissues that are strained or torn, is like water on a plant in Arizona in July. It sucks it right up! But is massage enough is it another piece of the puzzle when it comes to treating tennis elbow?
The best part about this massage technique for tennis elbow is that you don’t have to worry about making an appointment with a certified massage therapist. It is simple enough to do on yourself at home.
What about the latter stages of tennis elbow or perhaps for the individuals who are suffering from tennis elbow for a second or even third time around? Should heat be part of your daily pain relief program?
For pain relief yes but as I already mentioned, if you have been suffering from tennis elbow for a few months or have it again, heat is not going to be what gets you over the finish line. In other words, you need to be more aggressive if you ever really want to put your pain and suffering behind you.
One of the most vital mistakes that tennis elbow sufferers make is waiting too long for treatment. As with most injuries, the sooner you get treatment, the faster you can potentially get better.
Tennis elbow can be cured and beaten but what works cannot be found in a store or at your local pharmacy. What I am referring too here is that there is no prescription that your Doctor can write which will cure your tennis elbow. Drug companies have not yet come up with a pill for you to take which will regenerate your extensor tendon.
As for immobilizing your affected arm with some sort of strap or bandage, good luck with that! I can tell you that it will set your recovery back even further because it not only restricts healthy blood flow but it make the supporting forearm flexor and extensor muscles weaker because they are constricted by the brace, strap or band. Hence they don’t need to work as hard. These muscles go into dormant mode so when you remove the brace, your arm feels like it has been shot up with Novacane.
So what should you do for your injury now that you know that heat does help with tennis elbow pain but will not accelerate your recovery and cure it?
It requires a little effort on your part but if you have 5 minutes every other day, you can cure your tennis elbow at home in just steps while sitting in front of your computer. This video explains everything you need to know and how you can get started within the next 2 minutes.
