Tennis, racquetball, badminton, and other sports that employ a racquet tend to put repetitive strain on certain joints in your body. Even the newer paddle-based sports, such as pickleball, harness these same motions and can cause the same types of injuries.
Fortunately, an orthopedic doctor specializes in diagnosing and treating injuries of the knee, shoulder, ankle, wrist, and elbow, so this is the type of specialist to see if you are experiencing chronic pain in one or more joints. Let’s talk about some of the more common injuries that tend to occur when playing racquet sports, and where you can go for orthopedic medical treatment that works for you.
Joint Injuries Often Caused by Playing Racquet Sports
The following are very common injuries you might experience while playing tennis or other racquet sports:
Tennis Elbow
Tennis elbow, medically known as lateral epicondylitis, is a condition that affects the tendons in your outer elbow. A tendon connects a muscle to a bone, and this condition occurs when you repeatedly and forcefully swing your arm and wrists in a way that puts repetitive pressure on the elbow.
Tennis elbow usually causes pain in the outer elbow, but the pain can spread to your wrist or forearm. You might also experience weakness that makes it difficult to perform tasks such as holding a glass.
Rotator Cuff Injury
Your rotator cuff is in your shoulder, and it consists of a group of tendons and muscles that keep the top portion of your upper arm bone in the shoulder socket. As the name implies, the rotator cuff enables your shoulder to move and rotate.
Repetitively hitting a ball overhead with a racquet puts excessive stress on your rotator cuff. These motions can cause the tendons in your shoulder to develop inflammation and to swell. As a result, you’ll have pain and limited range of motion in your shoulder. You might notice that the pain worsens when you move your shoulder.
Wrist Sprain
A wrist sprain occurs when you stretch or tear a ligament in your wrist. A ligament is a thick band of fibrous tissue that connects two bones together. You can sprain your wrist when you hit the ball with a racquet awkwardly or in a very high-impact manner.
A wrist sprain will cause swelling and pain in the area. You might also notice bruising and a reduced range of motion in the wrist. At the time of the injury, you may hear or feel a popping in your wrist.
Patellar Tendonitis
Also called “jumper’s knee,” patellar tendonitis can occur when you overuse or overexert your knees. As a result, you may develop tiny tears in the tendon that attaches the patella (kneecap) to the tibia (shinbone, or the larger lower-leg bone). These tears can cause pain and inflammation in your knee.
Orthopedic Treatment for Tennis Injuries in Plantation, FL
If you enjoy playing racquet sports but are experiencing chronic or intermittent joint pain, see an experienced orthopedic surgeon who can give you the least-invasive treatment possible that will work to provide relief from your pain. Here at Baylis & Brown Orthopedics, we treat everything from sports injuries to arthritis – and our goal is always to provide effective, efficient healthcare to keep you active and healthy.
If you have any questions or would like to schedule a consultation with one of our orthopedists, contact our friendly staff today by calling us at (954) 476-8800 or by filling out our appointment request form online now. We look forward to helping you get back on the court!
