After working too much on my iPad last fall, I eventually was diagnosed with tennis elbow.

At first, I thought it was exercise pain, so I kept on using my arm as normal. When it hadn’t gone away after a couple of months, I paid my doctor a visit and learned what it was.

The doctor told me to do some exercises and visit a physical therapist. She also prescribed antibiotics. I took the antibiotics, which made some of the pain go away. I also did some of the exercises.

A couple of months after that, my wife referred me to her masseuse. She massaged my arm and suggested I’d have a series of laser therapy treatments. The treatments made the ache change a bit and fade somewhat, which she said was good. I did some exercises too between visits.

A few months later, on a regular visit to my naprapat, she learnt about my elbow. She suggested that I should have acupuncture treatments on the arm and try some of the same and some other exercises. I did both and it got somewhat better while the treatments lasted.

Then I got around to booking treatments with a physical therapist. She told me some of what the others had said and recommended shockwave therapy. Now I have had perhaps five or six shockwave treatments. Some of the weeks between them have been better and some as usual. I also made some exercises I found online that should be good for treating tennis elbow.

As you probably understand, I have done a few things myself and had different treatments by professionals. The ache is there and it’s almost a year since the issues started.

The pain isn’t unbearable and I can do, but try to avoid, most things with my arm. It’s hard not to use both hands to carry grocery bags since it’s much faster than going several times. I often forget until I can feel that I just did something I shouldn’t. It also is difficult to not use my right arm when writing on a keyboard is my work.

I still do some of the exercises I learned from different places, but I don’t feel like I know which of them are most likely going to Help and I don’t know how often and long I should do them. Everyone I talk to say that tennis elbows usually take long to heal. That’s okay as long as I know that what I do is the right thing, but I don’t. 🙂

Oh, I also wear supportive braces five centimeters below the elbow. That is another thing I was recommended by my doctor, masseuse, naprapat and physical therapist. 🙂 I didn’t get it until about a month ago though. I think this is what has helped most with the ache so I wear it all my time awake.

Does anyone here have experience with tennis elbow? What worked for you? Do you have any magic tricks to share? 😃