Injured by Your Mouse? How to Get Relief
If you're complaining about a condition that is commonly known as "tennis elbow," your friends may ask you how this could possibly be, as you have never lifted a racket in anger! Be that as it may, this disorder (called lateral epicondylitis) is very painful and can seriously affect the forearm when somebody tends to place excessive or repetitive stress on these areas. How could you have developed this condition, and what can you do about it?
Tennis Injury
In the sporting world, athletes may develop tennis elbow due to the very high impact movements involved in hitting a tennis ball. The particular action causes the extensor muscles to more very rapidly, stretching the tendons and damaging the nearby muscles.
It's the Mouse!
You may be rather sedentary and don't believe in doing anything that remotely resembles a high impact movement. In fact, your forearm may barely move at all as you manipulate the computer's mouse on its pad. However, by gripping this device in a certain way for long periods of time, you can nevertheless cause symptoms that are very similar to those of a tennis pro.
Narrowing It Down
You may notice a variety of different symptoms, and they can vary depending on whether the damage is to the tendon or to the muscle. You can find out if your tendon has been injured by flexing your wrist and holding it in place. If you find that you encounter a shooting pain when you subsequently straighten your wrist, then you are likely suffering from tendinitis.
Remedial Massage
To help, you should schedule a visit to your massage therapist. They will be able to manipulate the soft tissue using a technique known as "friction," in between their fingers and thumbs. You'll be amazed how much relief remedial massage can give you when it is performed by a qualified therapist. You can also schedule a deep massage where the vulnerable tissue will be stretched out carefully, and this positive stimulation will help to relieve the tendons.
Changing Your Lifestyle
Sometimes relief will be evident right away, but at other times you may have to come back for subsequent treatment. In the meantime, try and adjust your lifestyle habits, and in particular, avoid spending too much time working on the computer with that mouse.
Checking It Out
Ask your local massage therapist to help diagnose your issue and to see whether tennis elbow is indeed at the root of the problem.