Have you started feeling a burning, nagging pain on the outside of your elbow that radiates down to your forearm? Have simple daily tasks—like pouring a cup of coffee, turning a doorknob, or even shaking a friend’s hand—become painful chores? If you love playing padel or tennis in Jeddah, simply gripping your racket might have become a nightmare.

This highly frustrating condition is known as “Tennis Elbow.” Ironically, 95% of people suffering from this issue have never touched a tennis racket in their lives! It is an injury that frequently affects office workers, painters, homemakers, and weightlifters alike.

Elbow pain associated with “Tennis Elbow” (Lateral Epicondylitis) is essentially inflammation or micro-tears in the tendons connecting your forearm muscles to the outer bony part of your elbow. This usually happens due to repetitive strain on these muscles and tendons over long periods.
Despite its popular name, statistics show that this condition is mostly related to lifestyle and occupational habits rather than just sports. It is an overuse injury that develops slowly, creeping up on you until the pain becomes impossible to ignore.

To understand the problem, you have to look at your forearm anatomy. The muscles controlling the opening and closing of your fingers do not live in your palm. Instead, they run along your forearm and attach to a small bony bump on the outside of your elbow.

When you perform repetitive motions that require a strong grip—such as playing a padel match, using a computer mouse for hours, or twisting a screwdriver—you place immense stress on this small tendon.

Over time, without sufficient rest, tiny micro-tears begin to form. This tearing leads to severe inflammation, a sudden drop in grip strength, and a stabbing pain whenever you try to use your forearm muscles.

Tennis elbow symptoms typically start gradually and worsen over time. It is crucial to pay attention to these warning signs early on:

1. Localized Pain: A burning sensation or pain on the outside of the elbow that may travel down to the forearm and wrist.
2. Weak Grip: A noticeable loss of grip strength, making simple tasks like opening a jar extremely painful and difficult.
3. Morning Stiffness: Feeling stiffness or rigidity in the elbow joint right after waking up.
4. Pain with Movement: The pain clearly intensifies when turning a doorknob, gripping objects, or bending the wrist.

This is where holistic assessment shines. Many patients receive local treatments for their elbows for months with no improvement. The reason is that the real problem was never in the elbow to begin with!

Your arm is not a detached part of your body; it is a mechanical and neurological extension of your neck and shoulder.

1. Neurological Connection: The nerves that power and control your elbow and forearm muscles exit from your lower neck. If you have stiffness or blockages in these vertebrae, the nerve signals weaken, leaving your forearm muscles highly prone to rapid tearing.
2. Mechanical Connection (Kinetic Chain): If your shoulder joint is stiff and weak, your body will compensate by placing all the movement load on the much smaller elbow joint. This eventually leads to the elbow breaking down from exhaustion.

The golden rule at Rikaz: To successfully treat your elbow, we have to ensure that your neck and shoulder are performing their mechanical functions properly!

Before resorting to complex medical interventions, there are several effective steps you can take at home or work. These tips will help relieve elbow pressure and speed up your recovery.

Our tennis elbow treatment protocol does not rely on cortisone injections, which can actually weaken the tendon over the long term. Instead, we focus on rebuilding the tissue and restoring your body’s natural mechanical balance:

If your elbow pain persists for weeks and does not improve with stretches and rest, it is time to seek expert help. At Rikaz Clinic, we do not just mask the superficial pain; we dig deep to find the root cause of the problem.

Led by Dr. Mohammad Yashar, an RMIT University (Melbourne) graduate, we rely on a strict “assessment-first” approach. We understand that elbow pain is often the result of faulty movement compensations or dysfunctions in other joints, such as the shoulder, neck, or upper back.

Through advanced chiropractic care and precise adjustments, we work to restore proper joint movement, improve nerve signaling, and correct the entire biomechanics of your arm. We also utilize targeted myofascial release techniques to break down scar tissue within the damaged tendon. This comprehensive approach ensures the pressure is lifted off the injured tendons and prevents the injury from returning.