Condition

Elbow Pain

Tennis and golfer’s elbow treated at the tendon, not just the sore spot.

Locations
Elbow Pain at Rehab Lab

Tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow are tendon problems at the outside or inside of the elbow, usually from repetitive gripping, lifting, typing, or swinging. The pain sits right at the bony bump, but the real issue is a tendon that got overloaded and stalled in its healing.

These respond poorly to rest alone and very well to the right loading plus hands-on care, which is exactly how we treat them.

Why braces and rest rarely finish the job

A strap or a few weeks off can take the edge off, but the moment you go back to gripping and lifting, the pain returns, because the tendon was never rebuilt to handle load. A stalled, degenerated tendon needs to be loaded correctly to heal, not just protected.

We treat the tendon and the muscles feeding it with Graston and dry needling, use shockwave to restart healing when it is stubborn, and then progressively load the tendon so it gets strong and pain-free.

How we treat elbow pain

Good to know

Elbow Pain questions

How long does tennis elbow take to heal?

Tendons are slow healers, so plan on a steady program over several weeks rather than a quick fix. The good news is that correct loading reliably works, and we track your grip and pain so you can see it improving.

Can I keep working or training with elbow pain?

Usually yes, with modifications to how you grip and load while the tendon recovers. We will show you what to adjust so you keep going without feeding the problem.

Why is it called tennis elbow if I do not play tennis?

Because the name stuck, not because the sport is the usual cause. Most of the tennis elbow we treat comes from work: tools, keyboards, trades, lifting with the palm down. The tendon on the outside of the elbow is irritated by repeated gripping and wrist extension, whatever produces it.

Is my elbow pain actually coming from my neck or shoulder?

Sometimes, and it is worth ruling out. Nerve irritation in the neck or entrapment at the shoulder can produce forearm and elbow symptoms, and stiffness in the shoulder makes the forearm work harder. We test the whole chain, because elbow treatment on a neck problem goes nowhere.

Does a brace or strap help tennis elbow?

A counterforce strap can reduce pain during activity for some people, which makes it useful short term. It does nothing for the tendon’s actual capacity, so we treat it as a way to keep you working while the loading programme does the real work, not as the treatment.

Why has stretching not fixed my elbow?

Because tendon problems respond to load, not to length. Stretching an irritated tendon often provokes it. What changes a chronic tendon is progressive, tolerable loading, supported where needed by shockwave or Graston, and that is a different prescription entirely.

How long until my elbow is normal again?

Tendon problems are slow and we would rather say so. Expect six to twelve weeks for a genuine change in a chronic case, with earlier improvement in day-to-day pain. Cases that have run for a year take the longer end of that. The trajectory matters more than the speed.

Keep exploring

Related care

Tendonitis & Tendinopathy

Stubborn tendon pain that rest never fixed, rebuilt with load and shockwave.

Graston Technique

Instrument-assisted soft-tissue work to break down scar tissue and fascial restrictions.

Shockwave Therapy (StemWave)

Acoustic shockwave that kick-starts your body’s own healing response in stubborn tendons and chronic injuries that have not responded to rest or stretching.

Corrective Exercise & Rehab

Personalized strength and movement programming that rebuilds the way you load and move, so the pain we resolve in the office actually stays gone.

Further reading

Guides on this topic

Questions? Get in touch.

Ready to fix the cause, for good?

Book at our Wauwatosa or Appleton clinic and get a real plan from a doctor who treats you like a teammate.

Locations

Wauwatosa · Appleton · No referral needed