The concept sounds kind of wild, doesn’t it? However, upon closer examination, maybe it isn’t so far fetched…if viewed in the correct context.

Ultimately when tennis players experience elbow tenderness, the initial action to take is to look for and hypothesize the actual cause. In some cases the cause can be technique related. In others, equipment related. Still in other cases the elbow pain may not have been caused by any of the above, but rather an outside source. When this scenario arises, the actual act of playing tennis can irritate the injury, but may not be the root cause.

So, what is the cause? It can be any number of things. Certainly tennis related can not be ruled out, however, if you have healthy equipment, have not changed anything in your game and have been playing pain-free for a number of years, outside factors may very well be the root cause. A recent article I read on ERGO web helped bring this point home. In the article it states that prolonged use of mobile phones can cause tennis elbow. Specifically, “Since the elbow is bent over 90 degrees when using the phone to your ear, the ulnar nerve is compressed. Too much pressure can lead to decreased blood flow and pain. Untreated or not to take the necessary measures, the pain can be debilitating, experts point out.” The same article also refers to wii tennis as another possible external cause.

So there are two lessons to be learned today.

1. The root cause of tennis elbow is not always related to action on the court.
2. Using a bluetooth device can reduce the movement/action that puts pressure on the ulnar nerve.

For those interested in the full article, follow this link.