Treating Your Tennis Elbow at Home
Tennis elbow is a common overuse injury that affects up to 5% of the general population. Despite its name, tennis elbow isn’t limited to athletes. It often develops from repetitive movements in daily life or work—such as typing, lifting, or using hand tools.
Common symptoms include pain or tenderness on the outside of the elbow, discomfort when gripping objects, and weakness during wrist extension. These symptoms can linger for months or even years, making everyday tasks frustrating and uncomfortable.
Tennis elbow is caused by repeated microtears in the tendons that attach the forearm muscles—particularly the extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB)—to the outer elbow. While it was once thought to be an inflammatory condition (“epicondylitis”), current research shows it’s more accurately a degenerative tendon issue. That’s why treatment should focus on active rehabilitation rather than just rest or anti-inflammatories.
A quick word of warning, tennis elbow recovery can often take a while. The average recovery time varies, but can range from 6 months to 2 years. Many people start to see an improvement within a few weeks, but full recovery can take longer depending on the severity, adherence to rehab, and individual factors.
Tennis Elbow Exercises To Do At Home
A 2023 study found that all types of exercise helped with tennis elbow to some degree, but combining wrist stretching with strengthening worked best. The particular kind of strengthening exercises shown to be beneficial are known as eccentric exercises, where you slowly lower your wrist against resistance. These exercises rebuild tendon resilience and reduce pain over time.
Wrist extensor stretch. The video shows how to hold and stretch the painful arm. I prefer my patients to do long, gentle stretches of around 30 seconds, repeating this several times a day
Exercise 1 - Wrist extensor stretch for tennis elbow
Exercise 2 - Eccentric exercise with weight . This exercise is done using a small weight, usually a dumbbell around 1kg. The video shows the basic movement, but I would improve on it by lowering the dumbbell more slowly, taking around 3-5 seconds. Look to do 3 sets of 15 reps daily.
Exercise 2 - Eccentric exercise with weight .
Exercise 3 - Twist exercise with bar. This exercise uses a small flexible foam bar to work the wrist extensors. These bars have been shown in studies to help with both tennis and golfer’s elbow, and work the forearm muscles in a more dynamic way than the dumbbell exercise. The bars can be purchased here on Amazon for about £20. Rather than describe it , it’s better to watch the video below to learn how to do it correctly. Look to do 3 sets of 15 reps daily.
Exercise 3 - Twist exercise with bar.
Finally, gentle self-massage can help relieve tennis elbow by reducing muscle tension, improving blood flow, easing pain, and breaking up tight or stiff tissue.
How can osteopathy help?
Osteopathic treatments can complement tennis elbow recovery by addressing not just the local tendon injury but also related factors such as improving joint mobility in the elbow, wrist, and shoulder, reducing muscle tension and compensations in the surrounding areas, enhancing circulation and nerve supply to promote healing, and providing pain relief. Osteopaths can also help identify and correct biomechanical imbalances or posture issues that may contribute to repetitive strain, supporting faster and more comprehensive recovery alongside exercise.
If you live in East Grinstead or Forest Row and have a tennis elbow problem, come and see me at Osteo Studio.
Cliff Russell, Registered Osteopath.
