Tennis Elbow Brace

A new study finds no 'support' for the use of tennis elbow brace in tennis players to reduce muscle fatigue, which is thought to be a contributing factor in developing tennis elbow. In fact, the researchers found that wearing these devices actually increased fatigue after an exercise session.

The study, which appears in the latest issue of The Journal of Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy, tested the muscle response of 50 healthy men and women before and after about 10 minutes of strenuous exercise, which included wrist extensions using a dumbbell. The subjects were tested both with and without forearm support bands.

The results indicate forearm supports significantly affect muscle strength -- and not in a positive manner. In fact, peak grip strength dropped 18% after the exercise session when subjects weren't wearing a forearm support band, but even more -- 28% -- when they did. Peak strength during wrist extension was similarly affected: dropping 15% without the forearm support band and 26% with it. The electromyography found a 10% drop in power after exercise, whether the forearm support band was worn or not.

Plus, when wearing the forearm support band, many more subjects complained of burning pain, which could have led to a general loss in motivation.

"The one thing I have found with the [forearm support band] ... is that patients can do the activity that causes them pain," she tells WebMD. "I have not had patients complain of the arm fatiguing or complain of not being able to do their activity, or a loss of strength."

In fact, Freidhoff says in her 17 years as a physical therapist she remembers only one patient with tennis elbow from actually playing tennis who had so little success with a brace that surgery was needed to correct the problem.

"They certainly don't cure this condition; they're not panaceas" says Bob Stanton, MD, a sports medicine specialist in Ridgefield, Conn. "But I've had enough patients over 20-something years to think they have some benefit." The main benefit, Stanton tells WebMD, is pain relief -- not relief of fatigue.

"We're definitely not saying they're not effective. We've seen them work clinically," one of the study authors, Lt. Shane L. Koppenhaver, MPT, of the DeWitt Army Community Hospital in Ft. Belvoir, Va., tells WebMD. "It basically means [the study] doesn't support the theory that forearm supports work by decreasing muscle fatigue."

That said, Koppenhaver cautions that the study didn't look at the specific effect the braces might have while playing tennis -- but rather how they performed during an exercise regimen more like weight-lifting. He acknowledges it's possible that under normal tennis playing conditions the muscles might have more time to recover between strokes -- and that would mean less fatigue."

Now that we know that a tennis elbow brace is not effective in treating tennis elbow, I highly recommend you give my Tennis Elbow Secrets Revealed System a try.