Tennis elbow, or as it’s also known ‘computer elbow’ affects around 300,000 people1 in the UK every year. Commonly caused by sporting injuries or repetitive actions such as siting at a desk all day – elbow pain can be irritating at best but down right excruciating if it’s left without treatment.
Thankfully there are exercises you can do to stretch and strengthen the muscles around your elbow to prevent your condition getting worse and to avoid repeated elbow pain. Here are five easy elbow pain exercises you can do from the comfort of your own home.
1. Sock squeeze
This easy exercise will help to improve your grip and build your strength to avoid elbow injuries. To start with, use a sock, and as your tolerance grows you may want to graduate to something harder like a tennis ball.
- Grab a rolled-up ball of socks.
- Squeeze, then release it.
- Repeat this up to 20 times.
- Repeat with your other hand if required.
2. Double wrist rotation
The mobility of muscles and tendons in your wrist can have a big impact on elbow pain. Wrist rotations can help stabilise the wrist muscles so that no extra strain is put on your elbow.
- Hold both arms by your side.
- Raise your hands straight forward, with your elbows still by your side and your palms facing the ceiling.
- Slowly rotate your wrist so that your palms face downwards.
- Hold this position for 15 seconds.
- Repeat this up to five times
3. Wrist extension
Like the wrist rotation, wrist extension will help improve mobility and flexibility for your wrist joints and muscles. If you’re suffering from severe elbow pain, this one can be a sore one, so remember to work your way up to longer intervals.
- You can do this exercise sitting or standing.
- Hold your painful arm out straight in front of you with your palm down.
- Using the other hand, pull your fingers back towards your body – keeping your arm straight. You should feel pressure in your elbow.
- Hold this for 10 seconds, or as long as it feels comfortable.
- Repeat at least three times a day.
Top tip: For a full wrist extension exercise, try the same exercise but with your palm facing upwards.
4. Food can wrist raise
Don’t have dumbbells or weights at home? Don’t worry, all you need for this strengthening exercise is a can of food and a table.
- Take a can of food from the cupboard and sit at a table or desk.
- Stretch your painful arm out on the table with just your wrist and hand over the edge.
- Slowly raise the can of food up, keeping your arm down flat on the table.
- Hold this pose for five seconds.
- Repeat this 10 times.
5. Elbow bend
A good exercise for building strength in your biceps and triceps, start this elbow bend without any extra weights, but you may wish to graduate to using a can of food or weights once you’ve got some practice in.
- Stand up straight with your arms by your side.
- Raise your affected arm up slowly, so that your hand touches your shoulder.
- Hold this for 30 seconds or whatever is comfortable.
- Repeat this 10 times.
Daily exercise will help strengthen your arm muscles so that you’re less likely to suffer from elbow pain, but the reality is many of us will experience it at some point in our lives – especially if we’re working from home. A 30-minute session with a BioWaveGO can give you up to eight hours of pain relief so that you can get on with your day and give pain the elbow!
