Tennis Elbow: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

That nagging pain on the outside of your elbow doesn’t care whether you play tennis. It shows up in people who type all day, painters and plumbers who repeat the same motion hundreds of times a shift, drivers, and even people who just held a phone the wrong way for too long. “Tennis elbow” is really just the common name for a much broader problem. If you’ve been searching for answers about pain that’s making it hard to hold a coffee cup or turn a doorknob, you’re not alone, and you’re probably not imagining it.

Here’s what’s actually happening, where the pain comes from, and what to do about it.

What Is Tennis Elbow?

The medical term is lateral epicondylitis. The tendons that extend your wrist and fingers become irritated where they attach to the outside of your elbow. It’s common too, affecting an estimated 1 to 3% of the general population and up to 7% of manual laborers, which is a big part of why so many people searching for this have never swung a racquet.

Where Does Tennis Elbow Hurt?

Most people feel it right on the bony bump on the outside of the elbow, sometimes radiating down into the forearm. It tends to get worse with gripping, lifting, or twisting motions. Shaking hands, turning a key, or carrying a grocery bag can all trigger it.

You Don’t Have to Play Tennis to Get It

Any repetitive wrist and forearm motion can cause tennis elbow. Painters, mechanics, plumbers, and office workers who type or use a mouse for hours are all common candidates. The “tennis” label is really a bit of a misnomer at this point. It’s actually an overuse injury that shows up due to repetitive motion.

Why It Doesn’t Always Stay in the Elbow

For a lot of people, the pain doesn’t only come from the tendon itself. Research points to the radial nerve being involved in many cases of this condition, sometimes with tension or irritation that traces back to the neck, shoulder, or upper arm rather than the elbow alone. That’s why two people with the same diagnosis can need very different treatment, and why treating the elbow alone doesn’t always fix it for good.

How We Treat Tennis Elbow

Ice and rest can take the edge off in the first week or two, but neither addresses why the pain started in the first place. That’s why it all tends to come back. A physical therapist can pinpoint where the problem is actually coming from, whether that’s the elbow, the nerve, the neck, or some combination, and build a plan around it.

Dry needling and manual therapy are common parts of that plan. A systematic review and meta-analysis found trigger point dry needling produced meaningful improvements in pain and grip strength for people with this condition, particularly when paired with a broader treatment plan.

Many of our physical therapists play tennis and pickleball themselves. We understand the demands the sport puts on your arm because we’ve felt it too. If it’s the specific mechanics of your swing that’s driving the problem, we’ll often work alongside a coach, but seeing a physical therapist first is the fastest way to find out what’s actually going on and get a real plan in place.

Learn more about our tennis and pickleball physical therapy on our Sports Performance Services page, or reach out to schedule an evaluation.

Medically reviewed by Amanda Hodgetts, PT, DPT, Cert. DN, [August 27, 2026]