Tennis elbow, also known as lateral epicondylitis, can be a debilitating condition, especially for executive mums who balance demanding careers with household responsibilities. This condition, characterized by pain on the outer side of the elbow, is often caused by repetitive stress and overuse, even if you’ve never used a tennis racket. In this blog lets discuss three effective ways to prevent or manage it that are tailored to fit into your busy schedule.
Here are some easy and simple desk based tips to manage your Tennis Elbow:
Maintain Neutral Wrist Position While Working: As executive mums, long hours at a desk, typing on a keyboard, or using a mouse can strain your wrist and forearm muscles, leading to tennis elbow. Maintaining a neutral wrist position is critical. Ensure your wrist stays straight, aligned with your forearm, and avoid bending it up or down.
Here’s a quick fix: Use a rolled-up face towel under your wrist for support, or invest in a mouse pad with built-in wrist support. Similarly, when using a keyboard, ensure your wrists remain in a neutral position by using a desk setup with an ergonomic wrist rest. These adjustments will reduce strain on the tendons that attach to the outer elbow.
Stretch Your Extensor Muscles: Regular stretches for your forearm extensor muscles can help alleviate tension and improve flexibility. Try this simple stretch:
- Extend your arm straight out in front of you with your palm facing down.
- Gently pull your fingers back toward your body with your other hand, feeling the stretch along your forearm.
- Hold for 5 to 10 seconds and repeat 5-6 times a day. If you are short on time, you can hold the stretch for 3 seconds but do it more frequently, such as every hour. This will help keep the muscles relaxed and reduce the risk of overuse.
Try the Reverse Namaste Stretch: For a deeper stretch, practice the reverse Namaste stretch:
- Place the backs of your hands together in front of your chest, keeping your shoulders relaxed.
- Press your wrists against each other gently, creating a stretch in the forearm muscles.
- Hold for 10 seconds and repeat a few times daily.
This stretch is particularly effective because it combines wrist flexion and forearm relaxation, targeting the areas most affected by tennis elbow.
When we think of managing Tennis elbow or lateral epicondylitis, it is vital to address its central feature, ie inflammation in the outer elbow. The "itis" in epicondylitis means inflammation. Watch this video to learn 'How to Reduce Inflammation in Tennis and Golfer's Elbow Naturally?'
HERE is a free checklist on ‘Desk ergonomics: Set Up Your Workspace for Tennis Elbow Relief’ It has tips on simple adjustments to your workspace can help relieve and even prevent Tennis Elbow symptoms.
Get the course on "Simple Solutions to Manage your Tennis Elbow" HERE. In this course you can learn effective, easy-to-implement techniques to manage and reduce tennis elbow pain so you can move more comfortably, strengthen your arm, prevent flare ups, achieve long term relief and much more.
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