How to Cure Tennis Elbow Fast!... 7 Home Remedies That Work...

by David
(Montreal, Canada)

Want to finally treat and cure your tennis elbow or golfers elbow and get off those harmful anti-inflammatory drugs? Here’s 7 powerful home remedies for lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow) that you definitely must consider…

QUESTION:

After playing various racquet sports for the past 20 years, I’ve ended up with a bad case of tennis elbow. I’m currently on strong anti-inflammatory medication, which I’m not happy about. I’ve always been a healthy, active person and this problem is really starting to bring me down. Do you have any natural treatments or exercises for healing tennis elbow? I would really love to be able to get back to my tennis and golf again. Any help would be most graciously appreciated. Thank you, David.

ANSWER:

Lateral epicondylitis or tennis elbow is a very common condition amongst sports players, particularly tennis players. In fact, some famous tennis players that have suffered from tennis elbow throughout their careers include; Venus Williams, Andy Murray and Bjorn Borg. Squash, racquetball, badminton, fencing and weightlifting/bodybuilding can also cause lateral epicondylitis. Golfer’s elbow is very similar to tennis elbow but also affects the wrist and fingers as well as the elbow and forearm region. The treatment options for both of these conditions is exactly the same though.

Symptoms of tennis elbow include; pain and tenderness in the bone (bony knob) on the outside of the elbow, pain and tenderness in the forearm and wrist, pain when lifting and grasping objects, and difficulty extending and locking out your forearm. With golfer’s elbow the pain and soreness usually extends to the fingers and hands as well as the wrists and elbow.

Thankfully, getting rid of tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow quickly is quite easy. To do this, you need a combination of internal and external remedies and treatments.

Here’s 7 of the best…


Home Remedy for Tennis Elbow #1… Rest and Ice: Yes, this is the standard “nothing new” treatment for any form of inflammatory type injury, but it works. Taking some time off from your sporting activities to allow for recovery is definitely a good idea. At the same time, regularly applying ice to the affected area helps reduce the pain and swelling. Take a bag of frozen veggies or a face wash with 4 or 5 ice cubes in it and apply this to your elbow. Leave on for 20-30 minutes. Repeat this process several times a day for the next few days until you feel relief.


Natural Remedy for Tennis Elbow #2… Hot/Cold Method: This is my favorite method. Rather than just using coolness to reduce the pain and swelling, you add heat as well, which gets the blood flowing and reduces the pain and inflammation even faster. Take a hot compress and heat in a microwave oven to a point where it’s nice and hot but doesn’t burn your skin. Or, add boiling water to a hot water bottle and place this on the affected area. Leave either of these on for around 3 minutes then remove and replace with the cold compress (as recommended above). Leave this on for about a minute then go back to applying the hot compress for 3 minutes again. Continue with this cycle until you’ve gone through it 10-12 times. Remember also, you must keep the hot compress hot so you may need to reheat it again half way through the cycle.


Natural Treatment for Tennis Elbow #3… DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide): DMSO is an excellent topical treatment for tennis elbow. This substance is a powerful anti-inflammatory that goes to work fast and promotes rapid healing of inflamed muscles and joints. Mixed with a little cayenne pepper, DMSO is even stronger and more effective. Find yourself a good quality DMSO cream (such as these) and apply to the affected area when required. Add a little cayenne pepper powder to your DMSO cream too for extra benefit. Just make sure you don’t add too much as cayenne can become quite warm on the skin.


Natural Cure for Tennis Elbow #4… White Willow Bark: Willow bark contains a potent pain-relieving compound called salicin (which aspirin is made from), that produces the same numbing effects as aspirin, but without any of the negative side effects. White willow bark has been repeatedly proven in studies to reduce pain and inflammation in the body without causing stomach upsets or diarrhea. This is one herb that’s safe to use, even long term. The best way to get your white willow bark is in either powdered or capsule form. The recommended daily dose is between 600-1800 mg’s per day of the capsules. For the powder, simply follow the recommendations listed on the packaging.


Home Remedy for Tennis Elbow #5… MSM Biological Sulphur (Methylsulfonylmethane): MSM really is a miracle joint healing supplement. In fact, it’s one of the most popular natural supplements for treating chronic arthritis pain and inflammation, simply because it works so well! MSM has been proven in multiple studies to reduce joint inflammation, improve flexibility, and improve collagen production.(1) This of course makes it a perfect remedy for both tennis and golfer’s elbow. You can buy MSM in either capsule or powdered form. It’s even available as a topical joint relieving cream as well. Once again, for dosages and recommendations, follow the directions listed on the container.


Natural Treatment for Tennis Elbow #6… Vitamins and Minerals: Vitamins and minerals, particularly calcium, magnesium, boron and vitamin D, are crucial for healthy joints, ligaments and muscles (they’re the building blocks). If you’re suffering from a vitamin and mineral deficiency then sore and inflamed joints and muscles will be a regular occurrence. The best way to fix this is with some coral calcium. Coral calcium is highly absorbable and contains all of these nutrients in the perfect amounts and ratios. Barefoot Coral Calcium is by far the best if you can get it and contains extra vitamins and minerals. Here’s what it looks like if you’re interested… Barefoot Coral Calcium Complete.

Along with this, if you’re still using commercial table salt in your house you need to throw this out and purchase some Himalayan pink rock salt. Pink rock salt contains over 80 essential minerals and trace elements in a highly usable and absorbable form. This is another excellent way to get the minerals your body desperately needs every day. Pink rock salt is also cheap to buy and lasts for ages. You can find the crystals, powder or pink rock salt grinders in the salt isle of your supermarket.


Natural Cure for Tennis Elbow #7… Stretches and Exercises: Gentle stretching and a few simple exercises after a short rest period will do wonders for healing your tennis elbow. Dr Ernest W. Johnson developed one of the most successful exercise programs for treating tennis elbow… the eccentric and concentric treatment regimen. All you need is a light-weight dumbbell, a table and a chair. Here’s the full exercise program, complete with pictures and instructions… Tennis Elbow no More - Practical Eccentric and Concentric Exercises to Heal the Pain.

Along with performing these exercises, grab a tennis ball and spend 10 minutes a day squeezing and releasing the ball. Slowly work up to holding the squeeze for around 10-12 seconds. This exercise is particularly useful for those suffering from golfer’s elbow, but it also helps tremendously with tennis elbow as well.


In addition to the 7 remedies listed above, make sure you eat plenty of anti-inflammatory foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, cold water fatty fish (or take a fish oil supplement), herbs and seeds. Herbs such as ginger, turmeric, cayenne pepper and cinnamon, in particular, are exceptional inflammation relievers, so be sure to add these to your foods and cooking as much as you can. At the same time, limiting foods that exacerbate inflammation in the body such as refined and processed foods, especially fried foods, will go a long way to healing your tennis or golfer’s elbow quickly (and permanently).


So be sure to follow all of the recommendations listed above David and you’ll soon be back playing your tennis and golf at full pace again in no time.


Good luck and all the best to you!


Regards,

Troy (Certified Holistic Nutritionist & Herbalist, Health & Wellness Coach)