Do I have tennis elbow or something else? Do I need to stop playing?

I’ve been playing tennis for about 3 months now. Loving it - taking lessons, playing in clinics, starting to do matches. So much fun.

I have developed some mild pain in my elbow, and I’m trying to figure out if it’s tennis elbow. The pain mostly occurs immediately around the actual elbow bone, almost like a circle around the bone. I feel it mostly when I straighten my arm fully, and some other random motions. I also have some light soreness in my upper forearm (closer to where TE traditionally manifests) when
I straighten my arm and raise my hand up, but it’s pretty minor.

When I play, I don’t feel any pain. I don’t feel much pain immediately after, either. The pain comes on the days off.

I have taken some tennis elbow self-diagnosis tests at home - pain when holding a cup, pain when pushing my hand up against resistance, etc, and I feel no pain with these tests.

So first question is - does this sound like tennis elbow, or something else? Like tendonitis or arthritis? Or perhaps just aches from starting a new sport? I am 37 btw.

To avoid TE like the plague, I am doing the Flexbar daily, along with strengthening my forearm and wrist muscles.

Second question - if I rehab aggressively, limit play to 2x a week, and be very mindful of my grip and form, can I play through this and expect it to heal? Or do I have to take some
prolonged break to let it heal?

I appreciate any thoughts or similar experiences. I’ve read through existing threads here and they have been helpful, but it’s been a while and I figured I’d see if there are fresh thoughts on this.

Thank you!
 

LuckyR

Legend
Sounds like your lateral epicondyle isn't tender, so isn't tennis elbow. If it's aching in the forearm the next day it's almost certainly of muscular (not tendon) origin.
 

LOBALOT

Hall of Fame
Or bone spurs in the elbow which I had just above the pointy part of the elbow in back.

Many years of baseball/pitching, football/throwing, tennis/serving, then a long break and when I came back I aggravated bone spurs.
 
It sounds like you play a lot now after just starting 3 months ago. My guess is it will get better in time. Every time I make a major adjustment to my swing or my game different muscles squawk till they get used to the change. Hang in there!
 
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