Tennis Elbow Treatment: What Works and What Doesn't

At a Glance

Tennis elbow treatment, sorted by evidence: what helps, what has little proof, and how to care for the sore outer elbow day to day.

📋 What You'll Learn

1. What tennis elbow really is
2. What studies say about steroid shots, shock waves and exercise
3. How to look after the arm day to day
4. Mistakes that stretch out recovery
5. Five questions from Google
6. The bottom line in three points

You lift a coffee cup, turn a door handle or spend the day on a mouse, and suddenly there is a sharp pain on the outside of your elbow. According to gesund.bund.de, tennis elbow affects about 2 in 100 people, and far from all of them play tennis. Painters, cooks and desk workers know it too.

Tennis elbow treatment is a crowded field of promises: injections, shock waves, braces, gels. Which of them hold up is hard to tell. The honest answer from the research is that patience and targeted training beat most quick fixes.

Here we sort out what sources such as IQWiG, the German Federal Ministry of Health and Cochrane say about tennis elbow treatment, and how you can care for the arm day to day, for example with the Rapid Hemp Devil's Claw Pain Gel or the Hemp Arnica Therapy Cream 75ml. Both are cosmetics, not medicines, and neither replaces a doctor's visit.

Research Spotlight

About 80% are pain free after one year

Source: gesund.bund.de (German Federal Ministry of Health)

Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylopathy) is irritation of the tendon attachments of the forearm muscles at the outer elbow. It usually comes from one-sided or excessive strain, not only from tennis.

It used to be seen as inflammation. According to gesund.bund.de, wear and tiny injuries where the tendons attach to the bone are now considered more likely. That explains why classic anti-inflammatory drugs are not the main route.

Typical signs are pain on the outer elbow that can spread into the forearm, a weaker grip and sharp pain when lifting or turning the forearm. It is most common between 40 and 60, and men and women are about equally affected.

The Mayo Clinic lists risk factors including jobs with repeated hand and arm motions, racket sports for more than two hours a day, smoking and obesity.

Why does it take so long? Tendons get less blood flow than muscles and recover slowly. On top of that, you can hardly rest the arm in daily life, because doors, cups and keyboards are part of it. Symptoms sometimes fade within weeks but often last months. About 80% are pain free after a year, according to gesund.bund.de.

The evidence is less dramatic than the marketing. What is best supported is that graded exercise and patience help, while many single measures show no clear advantage. Here is the overview based on gesundheitsinformation.de (IQWiG) and gesund.bund.de:

• Waiting and relative rest: Symptoms often fade within a few months. At first, avoid painful movements for some days to weeks, and increase load only when pain has clearly eased.
• Exercise and physiotherapy: Strengthening and stretching exercises, ideally about three times a day for one to three months according to IQWiG, may speed pain relief and improve mobility. This mainly means eccentric exercises for forearm and wrist, where the muscle slowly gives way under load.
• Cortisone injections: They relieve pain only temporarily. Some people who received several early injections had more pain after a few months than those who did not. Repeated injections can also thin the tissue.
• Shock wave therapy: Its benefit is not proven. Some good studies found no pain-relieving effect.
• NSAID gels and tablets (for example ibuprofen, diclofenac): They probably relieve pain somewhat, mostly at the start. They are not suited to long-term use because of possible stomach problems, and there is no evidence they speed healing.
• Braces and straps: They aim to offload the muscles. Whether they really help is unclear.

For shock waves there are solid numbers from the Cochrane review. It pooled nine placebo-controlled trials with 1,006 participants. In 11 of 13 analyses there was no statistically significant advantage. Only two pooled results favoured the treatment, and four other individual trials did not confirm that.

Compared with a steroid injection (one trial, 93 participants), 84% of the injection group had at least a 50% pain reduction after three months, against 60% in the shock wave group. That is a signal, not proof, and it says nothing about the longer term.

One important caveat: these are data on medical procedures. There are no comparable studies for skin care products such as gels or creams, and they are not meant to treat tennis elbow. They can improve how the skin around the strained area feels, and they fit well into rest time, massage and warmth.

Skin care does not replace training or a doctor's visit, but it can be a useful part of your routine, simply because applying it is a calm moment in which you deliberately rest the arm. A warming product like the Rapid Hemp Devil's Claw Pain Gel traditionally suits days when the forearm feels tight and stiff. It contains devil's claw, arnica, comfrey, frankincense and hemp, plants that have long been used in natural care.

1. Wash and dry elbow and forearm. The skin must be intact and free of rash.
2. Take a small amount of gel. Use the amount stated on the pack; more is not better.
3. Spread it thinly over the sore area on the outer elbow and upper forearm.
4. Massage gently in circles for 1 to 2 minutes, without hard pressure on the tender spot.
5. Wash your hands thoroughly afterwards before touching eyes, face or mucous membranes.
6. Do not put a hot water bottle or a heating wrap directly on freshly applied product, as the skin may react strongly.

For evenings after a demanding week, the Hemp Arnica Therapy Cream 75ml is a second option, especially when the arm feels stressed or tender to the touch. It contains hemp, arnica, boswellia, aloe vera and shea butter and can be used as a massage cream. Patch test both products on sensitive skin first, and do not use them on broken skin.

Tennis elbow rarely gets worse through one big mistake, but through many small ones. The most common mistake is returning to full load after a few better days.

• Resting completely: Weeks without any training weaken the forearm muscles. According to IQWiG, load should rise step by step after the first rest phase.
• Rushing to an injection: Cortisone dampens pain in the short term but may interfere with healing. It belongs in a doctor's hands and should be weighed carefully.
• Betting on one single aid: Neither strap nor gel nor shock waves is a sure thing. The core remains moderate training.
• Ignoring the cause: If the mouse, a tool or a racket grip is the problem, the pain comes back. Adjusting ergonomics pays off.
• Using pain gels or tablets for months: NSAIDs are not meant for long-term use, according to IQWiG.
• Going it alone too long: If nothing improves after a few weeks, you need a diagnosis so nothing else is missed.

⚠️ Important Note

Skin care products are cosmetics and do not replace a medical check. See a doctor if the pain does not ease after a few weeks, wakes you at night, the arm is hard to use, or you notice tingling, numbness, swelling or fever. Use the products on intact skin only, and patch test on a small area first if your skin is sensitive.

✅ Key Takeaways

• Around 80% of people are pain free after a year according to gesund.bund.de, so patience is part of the plan.
• Graded training counts for more than injections or shock waves, whose benefit is uncertain or unproven.
• Cosmetic care can make daily life more comfortable but does not replace a medical check.

Tennis elbow treatment is not about one miracle remedy. The evidence points to patience, graded training and a medical check if symptoms persist. Cortisone and shock waves are not sure things, and the effect of many add-on measures is unclear.

A deliberate care routine can make the arm easier to live with day to day, for example with the Rapid Hemp Devil's Claw Pain Gel during the day and the Hemp Arnica Therapy Cream 75ml in the evening. Add smart control of your load and you give the arm its best chance.

🌿 Natural. Organic. Careful.

Try Hemp4Help's Rapid Hemp Devil's Claw Pain Gel

Made from natural ingredients, with no compromise on care.

✓ Free shipping over €50  ·  ✓ Natural ingredients  ·  ✓ Dermatologically tested

📚 Sources & References

1. Wie wird ein Tennisarm behandelt? (gesundheitsinformation.de / IQWiG). Overview of waiting, exercise, steroid shots, shock waves, gels and braces.
2. Tennisarm (gesund.bund.de). Causes, frequency, course and treatment options.
3. Tennisarm (aponet.de pharmacy guide). Symptoms, course and when to see a doctor.
4. Shock wave therapy for lateral elbow pain (Cochrane). Review of shock wave therapy for elbow pain.
5. Tennis elbow, Symptoms and causes (Mayo Clinic). Symptoms, causes and risk factors.