What Does a Compression Sleeve do for Tennis Elbow?

The medics at Mayo Clinic facilities have seen their fair share of tennis elbow cases, presenting everywhere from emergency rooms to physician's offices. If you're new to the sport, knowing what to look for can help you get a jump on a proper diagnosis.

Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) is a painful condition resulting from overloaded elbow tendons as a direct result of repetitive motions that impact wrists and arms. You don't have to play tennis to receive this diagnosis, as plenty of plumbers, carpenters, butchers, and house painters can attest.

Symptoms include forearm and wrist pain when undertaking usually easy tasks like holding a coffee cup, turning a doorknob, or shaking someone's hand. Allow the earliest symptoms of this ailment to go untreated, and you risk muscle strains that can tear those tendons, thus exacerbating the potential for long-term damage.

You don't have to survive medical school to understand the value of how a tennis elbow compression sleeve works if you've ever enjoyed the relief this simple product delivers. To deliver the greatest number of blows to adversaries on tennis courts, your body must circulate blood efficiently, or you're going to wind up on the losing side of the net.

Employing a tennis elbow compression sleeve can immediately begin to impact blood, fatigue, swelling, and soreness. As a result of this affordable product, you and your elbow receive a boost of confidence-building blood oxygenation that contributes to your success, no matter the activity in which you engage.

Further, each time you engage in exercise, your muscles rely upon blood circulation to keep your body functioning at maximal performance levels. Consistently delivering oxygenated blood to body parts is no easy job if you've been injured or hurt. Wear a compression sleeve, and your body gets an immediate boost as blood flows at maximum efficiency, helping deliver oxygen-rich blood to muscles and tissue and returning deoxygenated blood to the heart.

According to experts posting on the Tennis Elbow Classroom website, there are specific times and places to wear a tennis elbow compression sleeve. Wearing one all the time is never advised since it "may be detrimental to your tendon healing process." So there's no need to wear a tennis elbow compression sleeve when you're relaxing or not engaged in activities that stress the elbow area. Recommendations for wearing a compression elbow sleeve include the following scenarios:

• If you have suffered a significant tear and you want to continue to play tennis, golf, pickleball, ping pong, and participate in similar sporting endeavors, wear a tennis elbow compression sleeve while you are engaged to protect the elbow while recovering.

• If you intend to engage in activities that require heavy exertion – this could include gardening, furniture moving, carpentry tasks, and the like – it's a prudent move to wear a compression elbow sleeve so the elbow area is supported.

• If embarking on projects that are likely to subject your elbows to forceful, dynamic, or sudden motion, consider donning an elbow compression sleeve as a precautionary measure. Contractors are especially at risk, given the potential for further injury on the job.

• If you rely upon weightlifting exercises to stay fit, wearing an elbow compression sleeve enhances performance because it keeps connective tissue warm and staves off injury. A tennis elbow compression sleeve can legally be worn when competing in select weightlifting events (bench press is the only exclusion).

• Perhaps you find yourself thinking twice about ordinary tasks that require a range of motion to undertake them – lifting groceries, picking up objects with your palm facing down, using a screwdriver, or engaging your car's steering wheel. An elbow compression sleeve makes a great solution to accomplishing tasks without pain.

• Importantly, if the job you rely upon to earn a living is impacted by your inability to bend your elbow, you are likely a good candidate for wearing a compression elbow sleeve.

What are the benefits of wearing a tennis elbow sleeve?

• Tennis elbow compression sleeves keep impacted areas warm, speeding up the healing process and contributing to pain mediation.

• A compression elbow sleeve supports the entirety of the joint rather than just the small area covered by some types of braces.

• Wearing a compression elbow sleeve lowers blood lactate levels and mediates blood pooling.

• A compression elbow sleeve is not just lightweight but easy to put on and remove in a flash.

• The tennis elbow sleeve has been around for 60 years, and products keep improving.

• An elbow compression sleeve is more comfortable than stiffer tennis elbow braces.

• You can choose a tennis elbow compression sleeve of various materials, including neoprene, nylon, spandex, and hybrids.

• After recovery, an elbow compression sleeve can help relieve arthritis, tendonitis, and bursitis symptoms.

• Researchers say that a tennis elbow sleeve can reduce symptoms of lymphedema.

• Tennis elbow sleeve products come in all price points and designs.

• Because they limit movement, and elbow compression sleeves lessen the risk of sports-related injuries.

When should a compression tennis elbow sleeve be worn?

Using common sense and understanding that no compression tennis elbow sleeve should be worn continually, you should wear one any time you undertake activities cited above. Knowing when not to wear a compression elbow sleeve is equally important. Indiscriminate use not only delays the healing process but can negatively impact performance.

That stated, how long should you wear a tennis elbow sleeve? On average, it takes between 1 and 3 weeks for tennis elbow pain to diminish, and it is likely to take between 3 and 5 weeks for the condition to heal fully. Decide not to wear a tennis elbow compression sleeve and expect your pain and suffering to last longer.

What factors impact these time constraints when you wear a tennis elbow sleeve? Your age. The extent of the injury. And your willingness to follow the therapeutic measures recommended by your physician, trainer, and authoritative websites. The bottom line is that wearing a tennis compression sleeve to excess can impede the natural healing process, so all your work to rehabilitate this area of your arm could be for naught.