Tennis Elbow Home Treatment- Causes And Natural Therapy For Painful Elbow

Natural Treatment For Tennis Elbow

Tennis elbow, technically known as lateral epicondylitis, is a condition in which the outer part of the elbow becomes swollen, tender and painful. This happens when the tendons attached to the elbow joint become inflamed, either due to gradual and prolonged wear and tear of body tissue or due to accidental injuries caused by lifting or gripping heavy loads, sudden jerks during exercising or playing, or hitting against a hard surface. The symptoms of this condition are - difficulty in grasping and lifting objects, pain in moving the wrist or stretching out the fingers, and a tight, painful feeling while moving or bending the forearm.

There are a few useful home remedies that can treat tennis elbow. You should apply ice packs on the swollen elbow every couple of hours for 10-15 minutes. This will help reduce the swelling and the pain. You may also alternate the ice packs with hot compresses for faster relief. Another useful remedy is to bake a couple of potatoes, mash them, tie them up with gauze and apply this as a poultice on the elbow while the potatoes are still warm. This helps greatly in lessening the pain. It is also advisable that you use a tight elastic band around the swollen elbow whenever you are not using your hand, especially before going to bed at night. This helps compress the muscles, tendons and ligaments in the region and reduces pain and inflammation. Also, you should gently lift up your arm straight so that it is at the level of your heart, and keep it in this position for a couple of minutes at regular intervals of time. This helps minimize swelling. Before going to bed every night, warm a cup of mustard oil with a handful of mustard seeds in a pan and massage the affected elbow with the oil, while still hot. This is a very popular and effective natural remedy for reducing local swelling and pain. For another remedy, crush a few fresh celery leave and add their juice to a glass of lukewarm water. Drink this mixture before every meal. This helps in speeding up the body’s natural healing process and reduces pain and swelling. You should also consume fish on a regular basis, as this is a natural source of omega 3 acids, which relax strained muscles and thereby help treat tennis elbow. Moreover, rest your elbow as much as possible by avoiding any form of exertion that might cause further damage.