Tennis Elbow? Try Botox

Category: Tennis

Publish Date: 05-04-2010 05:37 PM -0400

For all you players with tennis elbow, here’s the good news: A new study shows that botulinum toxin can help reduce pain from tennis elbow. Yes, that’s right, Botox isn’t just for your face anymore. The most common use for Botox is, of course, cosmetic. Doctors inject it into patients’ faces to temporarily paralyze muscles (it usually lasts for three to six months) to prevent wrinkles from forming. But researchers at Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex at Tehran University in Iran found that, when injected at the proper spot, Botox eased arm pain in tennis-elbow patients. The study, which was published by the Canadian Medical Association Journal, tested 48 subjects who hadn’t had relief with other treatments.�

Now for the bad news: If you were planning on using that arm to, you know, play tennis, be warned. That paralyzing effect doesn’t just reduce pain, it also reduces strength, even making it difficult to fully extend�the third and fourth fingers. Sounds like this remedy needs further study.

In news from a former player who went the Juvéderm route, rather than the Botox route, to deal with wrinkles, Lindsay Davenport tweeted yesterday about the dangers of too much sun exposure: “At dermatologist getting something cut out of my lip...downside to career in the sun,”�she wrote. “Wear sunscreen and get your skin checked regularly!” She speaks the truth. Especially as we head into the summer months, remember to slather on the sunscreen and wear protective gear when you hit the court.�

Finally, is anyone else happy to see Dinara Safina back on court? She may have lost her first match in Rome to Romania’s Alexandra Dulgheru, but she reached the quarterfinals in Stuttgart last week. Her steps back on court may be tentative, but she’s happy to be taking them. She had two stress fractures on a disk and a muscle rupture in her back that went undiagnosed last summer that have really derailed her ever since. It’s hard to imagine a doctor not taking the greatest care with a professional athlete of Safina’s stature. Surely, she could pay for the best possible treatment, but from Safina’s telling, the doctor said she was fine and pushed her to practice. Now, she says, if she reinjures it, “that might be it for my professional career altogether.” For now she’s taking it easy and enjoying being on court. And her fans are enjoying seeing her play again.

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