It is caused by damage on your tendoms that connects your arm muscles to the bone of your elbow.
You can cause damage by doing activities that strain your elbow, such as playing tennis (hence the name), using a screwdriver or raking leaves. It can be an accident, but it often happens over time.
Symptoms are a little bit obvious: Pain in the elbow, especially when you twist your arm or you're holding stuff. But the pain isn't just local, you can feel it on the lower arm, your shoulder or even your hand.
You're more likely to have Tennis Elbow in the arm you use the most. It isn't weird if pain comes and goes, 'cause it depends on how much you use your elbow. But if pain doesn't stop a few days later, or if your arm is red, swollen and/or tempered, you should go see a doctor as soon as you can.
Luckily, Tennis Elbow gets better by itself. Just try not to force your arm (pay attention to the pain) or do repetitive movements.
Some people use Ice Packs to ease the pain, and some use support or braces, to stop the elbow to do some moves.
If we start talking about painkillers, Ibuprofen is the most common nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) - they come as gel, tablets or creams -, it is known for helping Tennis Elbow in the short term, but there aren't studies about how they help in the long term.
You just try not to take them for long periods of time, 'cause they can have side effects, such as itching (for gel NSAIDs) or diarrhea (tablets) as mild effects, but it can get worst: your risk of having a heart attack increases on high doses for long time.
Studies say that steroids can be real effective against Tennis Elbow, but eventually the shot will wear off after a few months, and it may cause flushed face (like when you're embarrased...but a little more permanent) or you may feel pain where the needle entered on your arm.
To prevent having Tennis Elbow again, you need to strenghten your forearm muscles by doing exercises. If you want to, ask a physiotherapist for advice. You just need to do excercises for eight weeks to help reduce the pain, studies have said.
You can try acupuncture and, on really critical cases, surgery, but none of them have studies on how reliable they are.
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