But I don't play tennis!

I’m going to be seeing my doctor in a week for my annual visit and this time I will need to bring up the recurring pain in my elbow that’s come on in the last few months. I pretty sure it’s tennis elbow. I’m not sure what can be done about it, but at least I’ll have a chance to complain. I have no idea what type of motion I’ve been doing to bring it about, but I want to have some creative ideas to tell the doc.

So, what did I do to get tennis elbow?

A guy overusing his elbow over a period of months or years? There’s only one thing that springs to *my *mind:

You did the YMCA at one too many weddings, didn’t you?

Heh. I should have pointed out that I’m not a guy, doing that thing that guys repeatedly do. :slight_smile:

You have a week to take up tennis, apparently…

I got mine from playing badminton. Anything you do that rapidly extends your arm from a cocked to a full straight position will cause it or exacerbate it, if you already have it. I’ve had it for months now. It’s a pain in the ass.

I got the same thing (tennis elbow type injury) from piling wood the wrong way - picking up a piece of wood with just one hand and swinging it up - over and over again. Very bad. Oh - also painting a house, that can do it too. I really messed up my arm one summer when I did both the wood and the painting.

Oh yes - plus mousing the wrong way can exacerbate it quite a bit - as someone who does database work all day - this is something I need to watch out for.

Do you work at a massage parlor by any chance?

Mine went away when I stopped using a computer mouse.

Do you travel alot, pulling a rollerbag behind you through airports?

Do you give your SO a lot of handjobs?

Do you drink a lot, thus lifting your can, bottle, or glass repeatedly?

Do you work as a dishwasher?

Did you recently take up the violin?

Tennis elbow is just tendonitis. They only call tendonitis in the elbow “tennis elbow” because it’s really easy to get when you do play tennis (and don’t hit properly, or use too stiff a racquet or strings, etc).

As needscoffee mentions, computer use can lead to tendonitis in the elbow (and/or wrist).
I got mine from playing tennis. I wore a brace around my arm when I played for several months and took an Advil regimen for a week or so and it cleared up on its own. It does come back from time to time and when it does I use the brace when I play. I also use the brace for my wrist tendonitis (computer use caused).

That’s what I was going to say. I have mouse shoulder.

Here’s my tennis elbow from a non-tennis-player thread.

It’s weird that it’s in my left elbow which is not my dominant (mouse using) side. I really don’t use this arm very much at all for any kind of repetitive task.

Like I said, think about it. I was months into PT before it came to me that I used my left arm to grip the stretching tool tightly.