When your arms are involved in repetitive tasks in which you need to bend your elbow, you notice constant pain in your elbow, and this condition is known as tennis elbow. It’s also called lateral epicondylitis. So, if you’re suffering from tennis elbow, can you stop playing tennis? No, you shouldn’t do that. We’ve discussed the reasons for tennis elbow in another post, so here we’ll only discuss how to sleep with tennis elbow.
How to Sleep with Tennis Elbow – 5 Tips for Better Sleep
It’s not easy for tennis players to sleep with tennis elbow, especially for side sleepers. While sleeping, you need to keep your elbow in a position that aggravates the inflammation only slightly. Well, you can follow the below-given tips to sleep better.
1. Don’t Sleep on the Affected Arm
As mentioned earlier, side sleepers will find it difficult to sleep with tennis elbow. Sleeping on their side and especially lying on the affected arm can minimize the flow of blood to injured tendons. As a result, the healing process slows down.
The best approach is to sleep on your back. In this way, you’ll not put pressure on the affected arm. More importantly, it will not disturb the blood flow, and the healing process will be quick.
2. Use Pillows for Elbow Support
If you don’t even sleep on your affected arm, there is still a possibility that you might not sleep well. Lying in this position can put pressure on the elbow, and your tendons will be more painful. Moreover, you can twist your forearm during sleep; it will also result in pain.
If you want to avoid these issues, use pillows to support your affected elbow. By doing this, you can maintain your forearm in untwisted position and also the upper arm muscles at ease. So, it’s a helpful tip for sleeping better with a tennis elbow.
3. Warm Your Elbow
You can use a warm bath towel to slow down the stiffening effect. Do this practice before bedtime. If the pain is persistent at night, turn the water hot and heat the elbow area. Heat increases the blood flow and relaxes the muscles. Repeat this practice as many times as needed.
4. Use Tennis Elbow Brace
Sleeping with tennis elbow is a challenge. Therefore many people want to know how to sleep with tennis elbow. Another useful tip for sleeping better is to use braces. Braces can support the muscles present in the forearm, and you can wear them slightly below the elbow.
Wearing braces can keep your arm up at night and reduce pressure on the injured tendons. As a result, it relieves pain and reduces inflammation. Braces don’t allow forearms muscles to contract. Therefore it’s helpful for tennis elbow even if you clench your fists in sleep.
5. Keep Your Injured Arm Down
Sleeping position is the major factor that delays the healing of the injury. When you keep your affected arm overhead, it increases the tennis elbow and pain. It also results in chronic pain. The only way to heal quickly and reduce pain is to keep your affected arm down.
If you’re struggling to play with tennis elbow, read our review guide about the best tennis racquets for tennis elbow. Moreover, our guide about best tennis strings for tennis elbow can also help players suffering from tennis elbow. After reading this guide, players can choose the best strings for tennis elbow.
Final Words
Undoubtedly, sleeping with a tennis elbow is a challenge, but after following the tips mentioned above, you can sleep better. If you have tried any other practice or tip and it worked for you, you can share it with us.
I am 27 years old and playing tennis since the age of 15. I am passionate about tennis and love to write about tennis and tennis products whenever possible. I regularly play tennis and love to review tennis products.
