Acupuncture for Tennis Elbow

Tennis elbow, aka ‘lateral epicondylitis’, is a painful condition that can be very tricky, or even impossible, for common western methods to treat. It’s a condition of trauma to the tissues on the lateral (outside part) of the elbow. If you are having it on the inside part of your elbow, it’s a similar condition, but known rather as ‘golfer’s elbow’, or ‘medial epicondylitis’. Both conditions are very treatable with acupuncture and massage or CranioSacral, both of which you can receive in one treatment with me in my acupuncture practice near downtown Sebastopol.
 
I have had many patients come in after months of physical therapy and pharmaceutical medications, desperate for relief. I haven’t had one patient leave without feeling better, even after the first treatment. Typically patients complain of not being able to sleep well, the arm pain waking them up with sensations of tingling or aching or numbness. Many times there is weakness and inability to perform simple daily activities like opening a jar. There are typically sharp shooting pains that come and go when making a fist or motions like shaking a hand and soreness or tenderness around the elbow or travelling down to the hand. Epicondylitis is easily diagnosable with some simple orthopedic exams; your doctor may do some imaging, but typically it’s not necessary for diagnosis.
 
Many times the injury is due to repetitive stress. For example, someone that is using a keyboard and mouse for many hours daily for work, massage therapists, ultrasound techs, weightlifters, knitters. Other times it can be from a short period of overuse, like spending a week digging in the garden and overusing the muscles and tendons in the area. Whatever the cause, treatment with acupuncture and other adjunct methods such as CranioSacral, massage, liniments, and herbal prescriptions can help relieve the pain and support the tissues in healing.
 
As far as treatment goes, a few methods will be employed based on your particular circumstances.
 

1. Acupuncture to relieve stagnation and muscle spasms, ensuring the qi and blood to flow freely and heal the microscopic tears in affected tendons.
2. Massage to the local area with analgesic liniments that promote healing and ease the pain.
3. CranioSacral therapy to help your body unwind from the trauma, and help soothe your nervous system, decreasing healing time.
4. Herbal prescriptions to help with the pain and healing. Meridian Comfort from Kan Herbals is a wonderful formula that I like to prescribe for elbow pain. Taking a high quality turmeric supplement is also very beneficial to decrease inflammation.
5. If you are not already working with a physical therapist, when the time is appropriate we can review some simple yet effective stretches and exercises for the tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow.

 
In summary, if you live in West County, or even Santa Rosa (I have quite a few patients that travel from Bodega, Graton, Occidental and other Sebastopol surrounding areas) and you are experiencing some elbow pain, please make an appointment today! The sooner that the pain is addressed the more quickly you will heal. I look forward to helping you heal your body! I offer 15 minute consultations to answer any questions you may have.