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Lateral elbow pain, frequently referred to as “tennis elbow,” is a common, yet challenging injury to treat. Commonly accepted treatments like stretching the painful muscles, wearing an elbow strap, and various forms of massage work as often as they don’t. A big reason for this is that there are different structures that can be responsible for exactly the same complaints over the outside of the elbow. These complaints can be caused by the joint itself, by the tendons attaching to the outside of the elbow, or by the nerve running over the elbow. To complicate matters further, the underlying cause of the pain can be in the neck or the wrist, not necessarily in the elbow itself. The elbow is made up of the humerus, ulna, and radius. These 3 bones need to function in unison to allow us to bend and straighten our arm as well as move our hands from palm down to a palm up position. Any disruption in the biomechanics of these 3 joints and the motion can become restricted and, over time, the surrounding structures can become irritated. Our job is to find out exactly what tissue is the pain driver. Once that is accomplished, it is even more important to figure out what caused that tissue to break down in the first place. That way, we can make sure that our treatment actually addresses the root cause of your problem, and not just a symptom. The Physical Therapists at Mondo are expertly trained to help you with problems like this and get you back to doing what you love.