Tennis Elbow: Medications

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Medications

Along with tendon rest, people often use medicine to treat tennis elbow. Medicine can help with pain and relieve or reduce swelling.

Medication Choices

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the most commonly used medicines for treating tennis elbow. NSAIDs are available with or without a prescription.

Your health professional may suggest corticosteroid injections if you are still in pain after at least 6 to 8 weeks of tendon rest and rehabilitation.⁵ Corticosteroids are a class of powerful anti-inflammatory medicine. Even though inflammation isn't usually present in long-term (chronic) tennis elbow, corticosteroid injections may ease elbow pain.

What To Think About

Studies suggest that corticosteroid injections may give short-term relief, but they don't have long-lasting benefit when compared to other treatments.⁶ One study found that although corticosteroid injection therapy gave the most relief after 6 weeks, it was linked to more relapse and pain after 52 weeks than were rehabilitation and rest.²

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and corticosteroid injections don't cure tennis elbow, but they can reduce pain, allowing you enough relief to start rehabilitation exercises.

Avoid taking NSAIDs or other pain relief medicine to control pain if you are continuing activities that can further damage your tendon. If you don't feel the pain, you won't know that your elbow is getting worse.

Last updated:	February 14, 2007
Author:	Monica Rhodes
Reviewed By:	Martin Gabica, MD - Family Medicine, David Pichora, MD, FRCSC - Orthopedic Surgery
Editors:	Kathleen M. Ariss, MS, Pat Truman, MATC