Preventing Elbow and Wrist Injuries

Even a fairly simple elbow or wrist injury can put you on the sidelines for quite a while. As with most things, prevention is the best way to stay in the game, whether you're a casual recreationist to a professional athlete.

Tennis Elbow (radial collateral ligament)

To prevent tennis elbow:

• Engage in adequate strength and stretching routines for the forearms
• Use proper sporting techniques
• Stretch and strengthen the forearm, wrist extensors and flexors, biceps and triceps.

Elbow, Hand and Wrist Pain

To prevent pain in the hand, wrist and elbow, you should:

• Regularly do strengthening exercises.
• Rest frequently and take breaks if you're doing a lot of repetitive motion.
• Use protective equipment to help prevent stress and damage from repetitive motions.
• Practice good posture at all times. Remember that the hands, wrists and elbows are not designed to carry a lot of weight.
• Seek medical attention if you have chronic or unusual pain in your wrists, hands or elbows

Elbow Tendonitis

Preventing elbow tendonitis is relatively straightforward:

• Do strength training on your wrist muscles as well as the muscles inside and outside of the elbow. A good wrist exercise includes squeezing a tennis ball or doing wrist curls and extensions with a dumbbell.
• Do additional stretching exercises for the wrist and elbow muscles after your play.
• Avoid playing if the symptoms of elbow tendinitis are present.
• Ice down your elbow and keep ice on it for 10 to 12 minutes with a 20-minute rest in between applications.
• Use non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs).
• Use a brace band when you compete as it can help readjust the impact points to reduce the pain you suffer.