What causes tennis and golfer's elbow

Tendons adapt to load gradually. These conditions develop when repetitive gripping and wrist work outpaces that adaptation — the tendon's collagen becomes disorganized and weak (true tendinosis, degeneration, rather than simple inflammation), and then everyday tasks hurt: shaking hands, turning a doorknob, lifting a coffee cup.

The overlooked half of the story is the kinetic chain above the elbow. The forearm muscles are the last link in a chain that runs from the neck through the shoulder blade and shoulder. A restricted neck segment can subtly weaken the muscles it supplies; a stiff or poorly stabilized shoulder forces the forearm to produce force it wasn't designed to produce. This is why elbow-only treatment so often fails, and why one arm develops the problem when both do the same work.

How we evaluate it at Vitality Chiropractic

Your examination covers the painful tendon directly — palpation, resisted wrist and grip testing to confirm which tendon group is involved — and then works up the chain: elbow and wrist joint motion, shoulder mechanics and shoulder-blade control, and the cervical spine, including neurological screening, because nerve root irritation at the neck both mimics and perpetuates elbow tendinopathy. In our clinical model, restricted joint motion affecting muscle and nerve function — vertebral subluxation — is part of what we're testing for at every level of that chain. Thermal scanning and HRV provide objective baselines, and imaging is used when clinically indicated.

What care looks like

Chronic tendinosis is one of the conditions SoftWave therapy is best suited for: acoustic waves stimulate blood flow and the cellular healing response in exactly the kind of poorly vascularized, degenerated tissue that defines this condition. Around it: Avant laser therapy for pain and inflammation; specific adjusting to restore motion at restricted wrist, elbow, shoulder, and cervical segments; soft-tissue work through the forearm; and — critically — a progressive loading program for your home care, because research is clear that tendons rebuild through graded load, not total rest. We'll also correct the provoking mechanics, from grip size and tool technique to workstation setup. Your written plan includes re-evaluations where grip strength and pain-free function are re-tested against baseline.

When chiropractic first makes sense — and when we refer

Tendinopathy is a textbook conservative-care-first condition — guidelines and evidence support exhausting non-invasive care before injections or surgery, and cortisone in particular has been shown to help short-term but often worsen long-term outcomes in tennis elbow, which is worth knowing before you agree to one. We refer when examination suggests something else — significant tendon tears, joint pathology, or nerve entrapment needing further workup — and when an appropriate course of care isn't producing measurable progress at re-evaluation. You'll always know where your case stands, because we re-test rather than guess.