Exercises for Tennis Elbow

Just like any other joint, our wrists have extensor and flexor muscles - they help to bend the wrist for lifting and dropping the hand. It's important to strengthen both these sets of muscles while recovering from tennis elbow. Here's how you can stretch the wrist flexors:

• Stretch your injured arm out in front of you, palm facing down towards the floor. You can place the forearm on a table for support - take care that your wrist is off the table and there is room for your hand to move up and down.
• Now, slowly drop the hand. With your other hand, hold the fingers and gently push them towards the body. You should be able to feel the movement in the inside of your forearm.
• Hold the fingers down for 20 seconds or so and bring them back up.
• Repeat this movement three to five times. You can gradually increase the repetitions as the movement becomes easier over time.

The extensor muscles in your wrist help you to hold your hand up. Here's how you can strengthen these muscles after suffering a tennis elbow injury: 

• Stretch your injured arm out in front of you without bending the elbow. Your palm should be facing down.
• With your other hand, hold the fingers and the hand upwards. You should be able to feel the movement on the outside of your forearm.
• Hold the fingers in this position for 20 seconds or so and release.
• Repeat this movement three to five times, and gradually increase the repetitions.

Tennis elbow severely affects the patient's grip strength. This strength can be regained with regular practice and a lot of patience. Try it like this:

• Hold a stress ball made of sponge, a soft tennis ball or even a rolled-up sock in your injured hand.
• Squeeze and release at least 20-25 times.

A joint injury limits the range of motion in the affected limb(s). This can be improved with targeted practice. In the case of tennis elbow, strengthening the wrist can aid in recovery. Here's another way to strengthen the wrist and increase its flexibility:

• Bend the injured elbow to a right angle, with your upper arm aligned to (next to) your body.
• If you can, hold a lightweight dumbbell. If not, extend the hand, palm facing upwards.
• Turn your wrist to make your palm face down and hold it for 10 seconds.
• Turn the wrist back up again.
• Do at least three sets of 10 repetitions each.

Adding light weights can help in the recovery process. However, you should listen to your body and only lift weights according to your comfort level and skill in the days and weeks after the injury. Try it like this:

• Hold a light dumbbell or hammer in your hand.
• Place the injured arm on a table or a stable platform from the elbow, and let your wrist and palm hang from the edge of the platform.
• Holding the object from the middle so the entire weight is in the hand, curl your wrist upwards and hold it at the top for about five seconds.
• Bring the wrist back down. Repeat this over three sets of 10 reps each.

It is a good idea to try and incorporate these exercises into your daily life when you are recovering from tennis elbow. Using things around the house to stretch the muscles in specific ways is a great idea. Here's how you can use a light towel for this purpose:

• Sit or stand comfortably, keeping the shoulders relaxed. Hold a towel with both hands.
• Use both hands to twist the towel in opposite directions like you would to wring clothes.
• Repeat this over 10 times and reverse the movement of the hands for another 10 reps.

Similar to the wrist curls, this movement requires you to grip the weighted object. Try it like this

• Place your arm on a table or platform, with the palm facing down hanging over the edge.
• Keep the arm anchored to the platform and lift the wrist up towards you.
• It may cause pain to do this over and over, so you can replace the weight with a lighter object if you experience any discomfort.
• Hold the position at the top for about five seconds and bring it down. This is one rep.
• Do at least three sets of 10 repetitions each.