History Of Tennis Elbow
Tennis elbow
is also named as
Shooter’s Elbow
or
Archer’s Elbow
. Depending on the site of the condition, it is named as
lateral epicondilytis
.
Overuse
of muscles in the forearm and arm are the prime cause of Archer’s Elbow. The outer part of the elbow becomes
tender
and
sore
.
No inflammations
have been seen by histological studies. The other names it carries are
lateral epicondylalgia
,
lateral epicondylosis
or simply
lateral elbow pain
.
The history says, tennis elbow was
first
described by
Runge in 1873
. This term was then used by
Major
in the year
1883
in his paper
“Lawn-tennis elbow”
. This condition was also seen among the
Dodgeball players.
About
1-3%
of the overall population are affected by Shooter’s elbow. And most surprisingly more than
50%
of total tennis players have suffered from this during their careers. Less than
5%
of those diagnosed are seen to have been found playing rigorous tennis. The shooter’s elbow affects men more in comparison to women. The age group between
30-50 years
is most affected. But chances are there which can affect people from all age groups.
Bowlers, golfers
and
baseball players
are also seen to have been affected due to their repeated use of arm, elbow and wrist. Gardeners, house cleaners (doing vacuuming, sweeping, scrubbing), landscapers, assembly line workers, mechanics, carpenters etc. are also the victims.
The lateral epicondylitis appears as a non-inflammatory, chronic
degenerative
condition. The tennis players use a repetitive hit to thousands of tennis balls. This often lead to tearing of the tendon attachment at the forearm.
The condition has seen to have improved with dedicated treatment plans in among
90-95%
of people affected by lateral epicondilytis. However, only about
5%
of people do not show any results with conservative treatment. So surgery is recommended for them. The injured unit of the muscle and tendon present around the elbow is treated with surgery. Surgery promises relief in pain and regain of previous strength.