What is epicondylitis?
Lateral epicondylitis in the Padel is also called "tennis elbow". It is a degeneration injury to the tendons on the outside of the elbow.
Although it has this popular name, it is not common to find this injury in experienced players who practice it regularly. It is more common to find it in beginners of this type of sport, or when there has been some type of modification of the technique, or when there is a previous overload of another origin on the arm.
Sometimes the cause is not caused by physical exercise. For example, after a day cleaning, cooking or using a screwdriver.
Symptoms
The pain is located at the tip of the finger in the head of the radius bone, at the level of the elbow. Added to epicondylitis is inability or limitation to carry a weight to a certain height. For example, discomfort when pouring water from a heavy jug. Also pain during elbow stretching. It usually appears at the beginning of physical activity, in the warm-up, and after practice the pain reappears, and can persist for hours or days.
It is very important to have an ultrasound to diagnose this injury. In our clinic we have ruled out cases of epicondylitis in a few minutes, or we have treated the injury exactly thanks to being able to see it on a screen.
Although its name may mislead us, epicondylitis in the Padel It is not an inflammation per se, so anti-inflammatories do not usually make it go away. In medical terms, there is a degeneration in the tendon, a thickening of said tendon and, sometimes, the creation of blood vessels, which generates pain due to mechanical tension. This tension is caused by a continued overload of the elbow muscles. Another solution that medicine proposes is infiltrations and, in the worst case, surgical operation. But we, physiotherapists, insist that a more conservative treatment and muscle re-education gives better results and in a not very long time.
The cases of amateur players of Padel that come to us at the clinic are usually due to having stopped physical exercise for a season and going on to train and play without proper progression. Sometimes, The epicondyle can hurt on both forehand and backhand shots, since they are muscles that intervene in both blows, although with much more involvement in the backhand
Treatment of epicondylitis in Padel
The first phase of treatment should be reduce muscle overload, treat trigger points that occur in the muscles of the arm. These trigger points are areas in the muscle fibers that generate referred pain in another area, and which translates as tension in the tendon. Stretching and cryotherapy can also help, but always accompanied by specific exercises for each patient.
For example, after many patients, we have experienced a more evident improvement when we re-educate in sports gesture and propose strength exercises in the forearm than when we only send passive stretches.
In a second phase of treatment we usually apply invasive techniques such as Percutaneous Electrolysis with very positive results in a few sessions. The technique is minimally invasive, and consists of causing a rupture of the injured tissue so that it generates new fibers, and in the process, generates analgesia. In this phase we begin to develop specific isometric recovery exercises.
In the third phase, we continue using invasive techniques, we implement eccentric and concentric exercise, and we are increasing the load of workouts Padel and matches.
Another tip is to reduce, but not completely stop, physical activity, since it has been proven that the tendon needs a certain load to recover. We also recommend the temporary use of straps that press on the forearm to distribute the tension suffered by the tendon.
How to avoid epicondylitis in the Padel?
The best prevention is a proper progression when training or playing Padel, as well as good prior physical preparation. Especially after more or less long periods of less activity. You cannot go from 0 to 100 after spending months or years without playing, since the tendons need adaptation, and are relatively slow, especially in impact sports such as Padel.
With our ranking player Bea González we follow a weekly treatment to prevent overload. In Padel ProShop We recommend visiting a sports physiotherapist to check small discomforts and not letting them get worse could mean getting ahead of the injury.