Wrist pain & Alexander Technique

[Richard Whitehouse <richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Piece on Tennis elbow or tennis arm from Encarta:

Tennis Elbow, a painful musculoskeletal condition
affecting the elbow. Tennis elbow is also known as
lateral epicondylitis, because it is associated with the
lateral epicondyle, the point on the humerus where the
extensor muscles of the arm are attached to the bone. If
it is the medial epicondyle which is involved then the
syndrome may be referred to as either tennis elbow or
golfer's elbow.

Both tennis elbow and golfer's elbow are caused by
overuse. This may be during sport or certain forms of
work involving repetitive movements, such as repetitive
strain injury. The symptoms are local tenderness at the
site of the muscle insertions on to the bone and pain
when the muscles are used. In the case of tennis elbow,
there is pain on extension (straightening) of the arm.
The injury is caused by tearing of the muscles near the
site of insertion into the bone, or pulling of the
periosteum (which covers the bone). This initial injury
leads to a low-grade inflammation.

Treatment is ideally by resting the elbow and avoiding
all movement, although this may be difficult to sustain.
A leather sleeve may be worn which limits the extent to
which the arm can be extended, thus allowing some
movement while preventing the most damaging type of
movements. Local injections of corticosteroids may help
to ease the pain, although the administration of these
initially can be painful for the patient. Physiotherapy
and ultrasound therapy have also been shown to be
beneficial in the treatment of tennis elbow. On rare
occasions, surgery may be needed. If the injury has been
caused by sport or other activities, then it may be due
to poor technique. Coaching can help to prevent the
injury recurring.

Richard