[Click! Health] Rapidly Growing Tennis Population... Beware of the Chronic 'Tennis Elbow' Disease

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Tennis has long been considered a sport enjoyed mainly by middle-aged and older adults, but recently it has gained popularity among the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), leading to a gradual increase in the number of tennis players.

However, there are also a significant number of patients suffering from lateral epicondylitis, commonly known as 'tennis elbow,' which occurs frequently during tennis play, requiring caution during exercise.

According to the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service on the 27th, over the past five years from 2017 to last year, more than 600,000 patients have visited hospitals annually due to tennis elbow. The medical term for tennis elbow is lateral epicondylitis or lateral tendinitis. It is a pain that occurs on the protruding part of the outside of the elbow and is considered one of the most common causes of elbow pain.

The muscles used to extend the wrist run from the wrist to the outside of the elbow. Tennis elbow refers to the partial tearing of the tendons that connect these muscles to the bone due to excessive strain during tennis movements.

During tennis movements, pain occurs in the tendons where the outer elbow bone and muscles meet, especially when the backhand is performed improperly or during the serve. The backhand involves twisting the wrist backward while the wrist is facing upward, applying strong force in a short moment, and during the serve, the muscles and tendons of the forearm cannot withstand the impact of the ball on the racket, causing pain.

The main symptoms of tennis elbow include numbness, pain on the outside of the elbow, a feeling of stiffness in the arm, and weakness. In particular, the pain area often appears not only in the elbow but also when moving the wrist.

When symptoms appear, diagnosis can be made through ultrasound examination, X-rays, or MRI. For self-diagnosis, pressing 1-2 cm below the round part of the elbow to find a tender point or feeling pain when applying strong force in the opposite direction of wrist movement can indicate tennis elbow.

When tennis elbow symptoms occur, rest should be taken until the pain subsides. Initially, ice packs are recommended, and when using the wrist, taping or wearing a brace is advisable.

Treatment methods include conservative therapies such as medication, exercise therapy, physical therapy, wearing braces, and injection therapy. For chronic pain, heat packs and physical therapy are used. However, when pain is severe or conservative treatments are ineffective, steroid injections are administered. Recently, due to the side effects of steroids, polydeoxyribonucleotide (PDRN) injections are increasingly used as an alternative.

PDRN is an antibiotic- and steroid-free injectable drug derived from DNA fragments isolated from the reproductive cells of trout and salmon. When injected into the body, PDRN promotes the formation of microvessels at the injury site to regenerate tissue and stimulates the proliferation of fibroblasts, the main component of fibrous connective tissue, thereby reducing inflammation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.