Tennis elbow or Lateral Epicondylitis

A few names for what has restricted my lifestyle the past few months. I have been wanting to write about this for a while now, partly as reference for myself (given the record breaking speed at which the memory cells are disappearing) lest I need it down the road (that is if I manage to get rid of it this time around!!) and maybe help some other poor soul who will find this information helpful. Those of you that have been privy to my occasional whining and moaning now get to read about all the sordid details as well. If this is of no interest to you, I would suggest you stop right here and look elsewhere for more interesting read.

I started having a slight nagging pain on the outside part of my elbow a few months back. I initially put it down to just a bruise from bumping my elbow someplace. It was baffling though that I had no recollection of bumping said elbow any place. After all, a pain that was persistent should have at least caused me to wince at the time I bumped it. The rest of the family was convinced as well that I had bumped it somehow and just didn’t realize it then. Hence topical bio freeze was applied generously to the elbow but little relief came from that. In addition I couldn’t touch any part of the elbow to pinpoint the exact location of the pain.

Thinking that this would eventually heal itself, I continued with my daily tasks with little thought to the pain except for when the pain would increase when I did certain motions. In a few weeks, it became painful to do some very mundane tasks. The hand could not be stretched straight down. I had to give it a slight bend to alleviate the pain. Lifting even a bunch of keys caused much pain except for when the elbow was bent. Suddenly simple tasks like pressing the car remote button, opening a bottle cap and twisting the hand in general turned extremely painful. I now realized I wasn’t going to be rid of this pain as easily.

It was a weekend and the OH and I were watching a movie when I suddenly had to read up on what all these symptoms could mean. I had by now realized that I needed medical intervention but being me had to do all my research before meeting the doctor. Thanks to Mr. Google I soon had a name for the symptoms I had been experiencing for weeks. Finally I got the doctor appointment to validate my research. At this juncture I was hoping the doctor to find a miraculous way of making the pain disappear (really!! I am stupid and optimistic that way.)

The doctor checked the arm out and prescribed exactly what was a text book option for tennis elbow,  viz. a cortisone shot. Considering the fact that my grandma was an asthma patient for the most part of her life and having seen the effects of cortisone on her, I for one am extremely paranoid about ingesting that substance in any form. I promised the doctor I would try pain killers for a couple of weeks before I signed up for the cortisone shot and bolted out of there as fast as my legs would take me.

After spending a few more weeks ingesting copious amounts of ibuprofen and heading nowhere, I was back to researching alternatives. People I talked to in and outside of work cautioned me against the cortisone shot and suggested that physical therapy was a great alternative that was mostly successful with little side effects other than forcing me to work at least one part of the body to be strong and heal

Soon I had a prescription from my doctor to get signed up for physical therapy. The sessions were available at the most convenient times after work and had minimal impact on my schedule.  The sessions themselves were extremely soothing to the elbow and not much exercise could be attempted with the pain level. Bio-freeze was spread using an ultrasound machine, the elbow was massaged and heat and cold pads were placed generously. This was followed by taping the hands with Kinesio tape to help restrict the motions and reduce exertion to said muscle and nerve.

The tape was modeled fashionably (NOT!) for the next few weeks but little relief came by after leaving the physical therapy center. This was followed by a marathon cooking weekend that did little to help heal the hurting elbow. After a eventful and busy weekend when I dragged self back for physical therapy my therapist took one look at the elbow and was convinced I needed some heavy duty medication. She suggested the iontophotoresis treatment. This process involves sticking a patch of cortisone to the injured elbow. When I tried to reason with her that the sole reason for my taking up physical therapy was to avoid the cortisone, she explained to me that this was a much mower dosage. While there was a 3 shot cap on the cortisone shot, there was a 10 treatment cap on the patch. She convinced me that this would give me the relief I was looking for. The technology was pretty amazing. When the cortisone and the alkaline are filled into the two parts of the patch, they start infusing the medicine through the skin and there isn’t the pain associated with the cortisone injection.

So I naively thought, until I walked out of the physical therapy center. The next couple of days were sheer torture. The hand hurt like hell and I had to ask for help at stores when I tried to run errands for basic groceries. Eventually it was time for my next session and I told my therapist I would have to stop my sessions if she expected me to take any more of that cortisone treatment. She insisted she had never heard of anyone being in such pain following that treatment and would have never recommended it if she had the slightest clue. Well, I guess now she has a new benchmark and some poor soul is going to be deprived of this treatment thanks to the way I reacted to it.

Where am I now? Right where I was a few months back, but just more informed regarding what hasn’t worked for me. After further research I am convinced the only treatment that is going to help is resting the elbow. The computer mouse has been shifted to the left arm, the only medications being consumed are vitamins to strengthen the nerves and heat and cold packs as needed. The left arm is working overtime and one can only pray that it stays strong to weather the beating it is being exposed to. There is now a bone spur, (meaning the bone juts out on the right elbow when the arm is bent) and the therapist assures me that it will recede once the scar tissues heal and new tissue forms over the bones and muscles. The therapy sessions are still on and at the end of this week I need to decide if it is worth pursuing the therapy. I am leaning towards continuing just to strengthen the arm in general, after all the abuse it has taken and my inability to lift even a single pound on that arm.