EXERCISES FOR EPICONDYLITIS

Stretching and Strengthening Exercises for Epicondylitis

Grip exercise:

Standing or sitting in a chair. Extend your arm perpendicular to your body. Thumbs up. Make a tight fist. Hold for 5 seconds.

Perform:

• 10 repetitions
• 3 sets per day

Goals:

• Improve tendon load tolerance
• Reduce pain
• Strengthen tendon and extensor muscles
• Improve grip strength and muscular endurance
• Prevent relapses

Wrist Extensor Stretch 1:

Standing or sitting in a chair, stretch your arm perpendicular to your body, palm down. With your other hand, bend your wrist downward until you feel a tightness. When starting stretches, it's crucial to avoid pain. You should stretch only until you feel tension in the muscle and tendons, and then hold that position for a while until the tension decreases. With practice, you can extend the length of the stretch, but you should never feel pain.

Goals:

• Elbow pain relief.
• Improve stiffness of the extensor muscles.
• Promote proper alignment of tendon fibers.
• Improve the resistance of the common extensor tendon to tension.

Wrist Extensor Stretch 2:

Standing or sitting in a chair, make a firm fist with the hand being rehabilitated. Bend the wrist downward with your healthy hand. Gradually stretch your elbow to full extension. You'll notice some tightness. When starting the stretch, it's crucial to avoid pain. You should stretch only until you feel tension in the muscle and tendons, and then hold that position for a while until the tension decreases. With practice, you can extend the holding time, but you should never feel pain. Gradually return to the starting position.

Goals:

• Elbow pain relief.
• Improve stiffness of the extensor muscles.
• Promote proper alignment of the tendon fibers.
• Improve the resistance of the common extensor tendon to tension.

Wrist flexor stretch:

Standing or sitting in a chair, stretch your arm perpendicular to your body, palm facing up. With your other hand, bend your wrist downward until you feel a tightness. When starting to stretch, it's crucial to avoid pain. You should stretch only until you feel tension in the muscle and tendons, and then hold that position for a while until the tension decreases. With practice, you can extend the length of time you hold it, but you should never feel pain.

Goals:

• Elbow pain relief.
• Improve flexor muscle stiffness.
• Promote proper tendon fiber alignment.
• Improve the flexor tendon's resistance to tension.

Eccentric extensor exercise with dumbbell:

Sit on a chair with your forearm supported and your wrist extending off the table. Hold a 2 kg weight in your hand. Pull your wrist down with the weight of the weight to the limit of movement (eccentric phase). Hold for 5 seconds. Return with the help of your other hand until you fully bend your wrist back to its limit of movement WITHOUT exerting strength in the wrist you are rehabilitating (concentric phase). Repeat.

Perform:

• 10 repetitions
• 3 sets per day. Alternating days

Goals:

• Elbow pain relief.
• Improve stiffness of the extensor muscles.
• Promote proper alignment of tendon fibers.
• Improve the resistance of the common extensor tendon to tension.

Wrist flexion exercise with dumbbell:

Sit in a chair with your forearm supported and your wrist extending off the table. Palm facing up. Hold a 2 kg weight. Bring your wrist up to the limit of its range of motion. Hold for 5 seconds.

Perform:

• 10 repetitions
• 3 sets per day.

Goals:

• Elbow pain relief.
• Strengthen the flexor muscles.
• Improve muscular balance with the forearm extensor muscles.
• Improve grip strength.

Make an appointment with Dr. Jordi Jiménez. He will see you in the center of Palma de Mallorca and help you regain your quality of life.