Could my tennis elbow have caused arthritis in my elbow?

annietaylor9

Hi, this is my first time on here and I'm just wondering if anyone suffering from tennis elbow then went onto have arthritis in that joint?
Im a 40 year old female and ive had tennis elbow (TE) in my right arm for 2 years now. My GP gave me 3 steroid jags into the joint within the first 9 months of having the pain, it was only after these injections that i was referred to a physio! The injections helped for a few months at a time but my last jag was now 12 months ago and my elbow pain has been very bad for about 5 months now. I am due surgery on my elbow at the end of next week and when I saw the surgeon a couple of days ago he was a bit surprised to see that i am unable to straighten my arm. When i had my last hospital appointment in January i was unable to straighten my arm, since the middle of december, but the doctor just brushed over the fact my arm was bent. I thought it was just a symptom of the TE? However, the surgeon i saw this week says that he thinks it is likely that i have something else going on in my elbow and its possibly arthritis? So even if the TE surgery is a success, he can not guarantee that my arm will straighten again.
Has anyone else had a similar problem with their elbow? I look forward to hearing from anyone else who has experience of it as im feeling a bit worried that my elbow is never going to get better.
Thanks

dorcas

Hello Annie and welcome to the forum

Your experience with the pain in your elbow mirrors mine from 15 yrs ago. Then I attended my doc as I could not straighten my arm and I suspected TE. However my doc said he would refer me to a rheumatologist as he thought there was 'something more' going on.
Physio wasn't effective with this joint problem although hot wax treatment was very soothing and relieved the pain.

A year of tests and follow up at rheumatology I was diagnosed with PA (psoriatic arthritis). I was treated in the early days with NSAID (non steroidal anti inflammatories) and analgesics.
Similar to you I also had steroid injections in the joint but when these were no longer effective I was referred to an orthopaedic elbow surgeon.

I had a 'Radial Head Excision' operation in 2002 and it was wonderfully effective! It removed the source of pain and although I didn't quite regain full arm straightening in all other respects the arm was as useful as it ever had been. I was told the benefits could last up to 10yrs, beyond which, if the elbow became troublesome, it would need replacing.

You may/ may not have arthritis and it's natural to worry Annie, but all I can say is to take it one step at a time.

If it does come to it that you require surgery then we folks on the forum will support you!

I hope this has helped.

Iris xxx

annietaylor9

Thanks for your reply Iris, it's good to get advise from someone who has been through similar trouble with their elbow. My surgery is still planned to go ahead in about 9 days time, using the TOPAZ method of surgery on the elbow. I'm told it has a 70% chance of solving the TE problem but as i say that was prior to the surgeon realising that I cant straighten my arm. He did arrange for xrays of my elbow to be taken and he is going to discuss these with me when I am admitted to hospital for my operation.
So fingers crossed the surgery all goes well and after a period of recovery I start to regain a wider range of movement in my elbow.
Thanks again,
Annie

skezier

Hi Annie,

Welcome to the forum but sorry you got the problem.

I had a lot of elbow trouble in the worst one when i was a kid, I broke it and they put it down to the fact in those days they set it at an angle and stuck it in a cast for a long time.

My elbows are shot now the one that got broken mush worse then the one that also got damaged but never broken. I don't know for sure what it is but they say its pa cus I have got that and it has got my hands, feet wrists and ribs.

Your having surgery next week? First I hope it will go well for you and second what are they doing to it flower?

Back to the question I don't know about TE, I have had it but in my case i haven't got any arthritis in any place i haven't damaged. Its got one more place to get for sure and its found them all..... I can't tell you where in case it looks in

Nice to meet you and keep in touch cus this lot are so good at helping to calm and support you prior to and after the surgery. Cris x

dorcas

Hello again Annie,

WoW :shock: Topaz surgery? Not something I've come across... what'll the surgery entail? (sorry :oops: to be so nosey but it does help to know what new methods are out there)

It's good your surgeon's being so thorough...and he will be in the best position having seen your x rays to let you know exactly what's going on and what he can do to help.

Let us know what date you're going in so we can support you. :?:

Iris xxx

annietaylor9

I had never heard of TOPAZ either so i looked it up prior to seeing the surgeon. Its a less invasive technique for dealing with tennis elbow pain and has a similar success rate as the more traditional release method which is more commonly used, and has a slightly faster recovery rate. Ive pasted a wee bit of the technical stuff that explains it a bit better than i ever could, ha ha.

The TOPAZ MicroDebrider is a wand-like device about the diameter of a pencil tip. Through a small incision, generally an inch in length, the physician applies the device to the problem tendon for multiple 500 millisecond intervals of treatment. By combining low temperature radiofrequency energy with saline, a charged plasma gas is formed at the tip of the TOPAZ wand and is precisely directed into and through the damaged tissues. From start to finish, the whole process takes less than 20 minutes

I get my surgery on the 25th March, and if in the end this method is unsuccessful they then will probably give me the more traditional release method of surgery at some point in the future. I was feeling fine about the surgery until the consultant said that as my arm wont straighten its likely that there is another problem with my elbow, such as arthritis and now my head is spinning thinking....is it a bigger problem than i thought it was!

I know there is no point worrying about it and time will tell wot the outcome will be but im a born worrier!

I greatly appreciate everyones posts, thanks all for the support!
Annie

skezier

Hi Annie,

That sounds really good.... I wonder if it could be used for other areas that have tendon/ligament problems?

its natural to worry but your surgeon sound good and well we do half decent pocket duties if needed. hang in there flower cus the waiting for the op is worse than having it. Keep in touch about this cus it could help a few others as well. The people here are also the best there is when it comes to supporting you. Stupid to say but try not to worry too much. Cris x