Tennis elbow: how to treat it with the benefits of ice and heat

If you think you are suffering from the condition of tennis elbow, consult your doctor: he or she will probably recommend, among other therapies, that you apply cold and hot packs to calm the pain.

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Have you ever heard of tennis elbow? Its medical name is lateral epicondylitis and it affects the muscles of the forearm.

It is an inflammation of the muscles often forced into the same repeated movement for days, months, years - just like what happens with tennis players (professional or not). If you think you are suffering from the condition of tennis elbow, consult your doctor: he or she will probably recommend, among other therapies, that you apply cold and hot packs to soothe the pain.

Let’s find out more with the support of an interesting article read on tenniselbow.com.

Tennis elbow: ice packs lessen pain

Cold and hot packs are some of the various remedies to treat the (intense, often disabling) pain caused by a functional overload of the elbow. Ice packs are indicated to act on the pain when it occurs: ice helps reduce inflammation and “anaesthetise the overall pain” generated by lateral epicondylitis.

A specialist may recommend that you apply ice packs for 5 to 10 minutes every 3-4 hours. This ice therapy should be repeated for a few days, always monitored by your doctor, informing him or her of any improvement or development.

Be careful! Do not directly expose the skin to ice or freezing temperatures. Wrap the ice carefully in a soft, dry cloth, or use a disposable ice pack or a carefully covered gel pack.

Warm packs relax the tense muscles of tennis elbow.

Lateral epicondylitis sufferers can alternate the benefits of ice and heat. Putting a warm pack on the elbow will, in the long term, help the elbow to heal and the pain to subside. Thanks to the action of heat:

- blood circulation is stimulated and tends to increase;

- muscles relax and expand around the elbow area, bringing immediate relief.

Heat therapy should not be applied for more than 10-15 minutes a day. Exercise caution with the temperatures: without adequate protection between your skin and the warm pack, you might burn yourself.

Along with the use of warm pack, it is recommended that you do stretching and exercises that target the elbow to restore muscle health and promote healing.

When to avoid ice and heat therapies?

Applying warm and cold packs is not always recommended. For example, ice should never be used before any activity that may cause a flare-up of tennis elbow. At the end of any activity/effort involving the elbow, the pain can be relieved with ice, thus controlling the inflammation.

The same applies to heat: its benefits should not be used for acute pain, but to soothe chronic conditions.

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