What’s The Best Treatment for Tennis Elbow?

A recent New York Times article looked into the standard cortisone treatments for elbow pain and tennis elbow to explore just how effective they really are compared to placebos, and nothing at all.

As it happens, cortisone may cause more damage over the long term than it helps over the short term. This is because cortisone focuses on inflammation alone, which may not represent the root cause of the problem:

For decades, tennis elbow was thought to be caused by inflammation in the tissues around the joint. Newer science, however, including biopsies of the sore tissues, shows little inflammation, except in the very early stages of the injury. Instead, it is thought to involve degeneration of the tissues: If the joint is used repeatedly and strenuously, the body cannot repair any resulting minor damage before more damage occurs, and the tendons that hold the elbow together begin to fray and buckle.

If nothing else, studies such as this one remind us that we have much to learn about the issues and biology surrounding chronic pain.

If you are suffering from tennis elbow in San Diego and want to speak with an expert orthopedist who understands the limits of injections, you have come to the right place. Please reach out to us here today.

Good News for Elbow Pain

Pain treatment has always been something of a mystery in American medicine; some patients respond well to painkillers, while others suffer with chronic pain for years at a time.

Part of the issue has been our diagnostic tools: it’s not unusual for imaging to tell one story, while functional testing may tell another. All of which is prelude to this promising announcement, which suggests we are making some important progress in our ability to understand and treat specific types of elbow pain:

For medial elbow pain, the combination of stress ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance (MR) arthrography is associated with improved specificity, sensitivity, and diagnostic accuracy compared with either modality alone, according to a study published in the June issue of Radiology.

In other words, when we look at pain through two accurate lenses at once, we can often develop a more accurate diagnosis, leading to more individualized and effective care.

If you have been experiencing elbow pain in San Diego and want to work with the best orthopedist for pain of the shoulder, elbow hand and wrist, please don’t wait. Contact Dr. Bill Holland for an expert workup today.

http://pubs.rsna.org/doi/abs/10.1148/radiol.2015151256
http://www.doctorslounge.com/index.php/news/pb/63896