I Have Elbow Pain and It Gets Worse After I Play Tennis

Elbow pain that gets worse after you play tennis can leave your elbow sore and tender because repeated swings place ongoing stress on the area.

If your elbow feels worse after playing tennis, you may notice that the pain is not necessarily at its strongest during the first few games. You might finish playing feeling only mildly sore, then notice the elbow becomes more painful while you're relaxing afterward or when you reach for something later.

The repeated swinging and gripping involved in tennis can keep stressing the same area around your elbow over and over. If you are playing frequently without enough time between sessions, the soreness may gradually become easier to trigger and harder to shake off.

Your Elbow Gets Sorer As The Tennis Session Goes On

The ache may build gradually instead of hurting badly on your first few swings.

You may start playing with little or no discomfort, then notice your elbow becoming sore as you continue hitting. Repeated forehands, backhands, serves, and firm gripping can make the painful spot increasingly noticeable as the session progresses.

The Pain Becomes More Noticeable After You Finish Playing

Your elbow may feel worse once the racket is back in the bag.

You might notice tenderness when you straighten your arm, pick something up, or grip an object after tennis. The pain can also become more obvious later that evening or the following morning because the elbow is reacting to the repeated activity from the previous session.

Why Your Elbow Keeps Hurting After Tennis

Your elbow has a hard time healing when blood flow and circulation are limited.

Tendons, ligaments, and other soft tissues naturally receive less blood supply than many other parts of the body. Because of this, they often take longer to heal after repeated stress or injury, leaving you more vulnerable to lingering pain and repeated irritation.

When circulation through the area remains limited, injured tissues have a harder time receiving the vital oxygen and nutrients they need to repair and heal. This can leave your elbow feeling stiff, tight, weak, or painful during everyday movement and activity.

What Can Help Your Elbow Feel Better

Your elbow starts feeling better when blood flow and circulation improve.

Chinese herbs have been used for centuries to promote healthy blood flow and circulation. Their medicinal properties help break up stagnant blood and fluids that remain trapped around injured tissues, interfering with circulation. As circulation improves, blood flows more freely through the area, allowing those tissues to receive the oxygen and nutrients they need to heal properly.

Topical herbal remedies made with these Chinese herbs can help relieve pain while improving blood flow and circulation to injured tissues. The right product depends on your symptoms and whether you're in the acute or chronic stage of recovery.

If you have pain, swelling, inflammation, or bruising, Acute Sinew Liniment helps relieve these symptoms by increasing circulation and dispersing stagnant blood and fluids around the injured area to speed recovery. During the acute stage of healing, getting circulation moving early allows injured tissues to receive the fresh blood, oxygen, and nutrients they need to repair and heal.

If your injured area is especially swollen, red, or warm to the touch after a recent injury or flare-up, Sinew Herbal Ice is also used to reduce swelling and inflammation while restoring normal circulation so you can quickly regain range of motion. While traditional ice is commonly used to reduce swelling, Sinew Herbal Ice acts as an ice alternative to reduce swelling and inflammation while also dispersing accumulated blood and fluids to speed the healing process.

If you no longer have swelling or inflammation, but still have pain, stiffness, weakness, or sensitivity in cold and damp weather, Chronic Sinew Liniment helps relieve these symptoms by strongly stimulating circulation and increasing blood supply to injured tendons and ligaments to promote their healing. This is especially important because tendons and ligaments naturally receive less blood supply, which is why chronic injuries can take longer to heal.

If you have residual pain and stiffness, or the area becomes more painful in cold weather, Sinew Injury Poultice is also used to significantly stimulate circulation to injured tendons and ligaments to further promote their healing. By strongly increasing circulation, it counteracts the reduced blood flow caused by cold weather that commonly aggravates chronic tendon and ligament injuries.

If you exercise, play sports, or do other strenuous activities, Sinew Sports Massage Oil warms and stimulates muscles for exertion and relieves muscle tightness and soreness after activity. Warming and preparing your muscles before activity can improve flexibility, enhance performance, and reduce the risk of injury.

Frequently Asked Questions

You may also find these commonly asked questions helpful.

Why does my elbow hurt more after I play tennis?

Repeated swinging and gripping can stress the tendons around your elbow, causing pain to become more noticeable after the tennis session ends.

Why does my elbow feel fine during tennis but hurt afterward?

You may not notice much pain while you're playing, but soreness can become more apparent once you stop and the elbow is no longer being warmed up by activity.

Why does my elbow hurt the day after playing tennis?

Repeated tennis activity can leave the elbow sore after the session, and the discomfort may remain into the next day while the area recovers.

Should I keep playing tennis if my elbow pain gets worse afterward?

If tennis consistently makes your elbow pain worse, reducing the activity gives the area more time to settle instead of repeatedly aggravating the same symptoms.

Can playing tennis repeatedly keep my elbow pain coming back?

Yes. Repeated tennis sessions can keep stressing the elbow before it has fully recovered, allowing the same pain to return each time you play.

The information provided here is intended to help you better understand your symptoms and recovery, but it is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Persistent, severe, or worsening symptoms should be evaluated by a qualified healthcare professional.