If you've ever had pain at the outside of your elbow that's worse when shaking hands, opening jars or even brushing your teeth, you've probably had tennis elbow. Although you don't have to be a tennis player to get it, the name arose because so many tennis players get it during their careers.Tennis elbow (or lateral epicondylitis) is notorious for being an extremely stubborn condition to treat, often lasting months or even years. And the pain can be excruciating.
Thanks to a recent breakthrough in sports medicine, there is an amazingly effective and simple solution: The Tyler Twist.
Tennis elbow occurs when the muscles and tendons at the outer edge of the elbow are overused -- either all at once or slowly over time -- and become inflamed & painful. The outer edge of the elbow is known as the lateral epicondyle, and this is where the muscles that extend your wrist are found.
In the sports medicine community we have always known that eccentric exercises (or "negatives") make tendons capable of carrying greater loads. I routinely use eccentric drills with my patients to help them recover from tendon injuries like jumper's knee or Achilles tendonitis. But for some reason no one had developed an easy way to eccentrically load wrist extensors. Until Tim Tyler, PT.
He developed a simple tool called a Flexbar which makes eccentric loading of wrist extensors very simple. And you can buy a Flexbar for about $15.
In the first research study he performed using his new technique, researchers actually had to end the study prematurely because the "Tyler Twist" exercise group was improving so rapidly that it became an ethical problem to deprive the control group of this treatment.
How much better was it? The Tyler Twist exercise group saw 79% improvement in 5 weeks, while the traditional physical therapy group saw only 15% improvement. Pretty dramatic.
Below you'll find a link to both the research study and a video demonstration of the exercise, BUT...
If you have persistent or severe elbow pain, GET YOURSELF CHECKED OUT FIRST. Come see me or another sports medicine professional to make sure you don't have a more serious injury or condition. Elbow pain can be caused by many things, and prompt diagnosis can make all the difference.
If you have tennis elbow, try the Tyler Twist, then post your results on our page!
-Daniel Bockmann, DC
To read the research article on the Tyler Twist, click here:http://www.biomedsearch.com/nih/Addition-isolated-wrist-extensor-eccentric/20579907.html
To see a video demo of the Tyler Twist in action, click here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsKGbqA9aNo
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