DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have played tennis since I was a freshman in high school. I am now 44. I have never had any tennis-related trouble until this year. I have tennis elbow. At least, that’s what I think I have. Lifting anything with my right arm hurts beyond belief. I can’t pour milk from the milk carton. What can I do? – R.B.

ANSWER: Tennis players are not the only ones who come down with tennis elbow. All players of racquet sports – squash, racquetball – can get it. Carpenters, dentists and even violin players frequently are victims of it. Twisting the wrist or resisting a wrist twist, as happens when the racquet strikes the tennis ball, is what causes the injury.

To make sure we’re talking about the same thing, let your hurting arm hang down at your side with the palm facing forward. With the other hand, feel the bony bump on the side of your arm, a short distance from the elbow crease. That’s the lateral epicondyle, and it’s the place where forearm muscle tendons attach. Those muscles bend the wrist backward and hold the wrist steady when an outside force (the tennis ball) strikes the racquet in a backhand stroke. Repetitive force on those tendons creates tears – tennis elbow.

Rest is the most important aspect of healing, and it can take two or more weeks for the tendons to recover. In the first few days, icing the region for 15 minutes four times a day is helpful. After that, heat speeds healing. Anti-inflammatory medicine like Advil, Aleve and Motrin ease pain and reduce inflammation. If things don’t turn around, your doctor can inject the area with cortisone. The injection gives almost immediate relief, but wait two weeks after the shot before playing. A too-soon return assures the return of tennis elbow. Some novel treatments that are being studied include injecting a person’s blood platelets into the area and injecting Botox, a medicine used for just about everything.

You might want to have a knowledgeable player watch you hit your backhand. Most often, it’s a faulty backhand that leads to tennis elbow, even in a person playing the game as long as you have.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have been training since 1998 to break the record for the length of time jumping rope. My pulse is very slow, 35 to 40 beats a minute. Is pushing my body so hard for so many years good or bad for my heart? I practice up to six days a week for four hours nonstop. – D.H.

ANSWER: That’s an awfully long time to engage in very strenuous exercise without taking more than one day a week off.

Your low resting pulse indicates your heart is in good shape. You haven’t done it any harm. You didn’t give your age, so I don’t know if you’ll be able to continue this pace indefinitely.

Jumping rope is excellent exercise. It’s also demanding exercise. It’s been said that 10 minutes of rope-jumping is the equivalent of 30 minutes of jogging. I don’t know if that is true. Most untrained people can’t jump for four minutes, let alone four hours.

You should vary your style of jumping. Try backward jumping and side-to-side jumping to balance out muscle development and give your joints some relief. Don’t raise your feet much more than an inch off the ground – another way to save your joints.

I believe you should take more rest time. This extended, intense exercise is going to catch up with you if you don’t.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: When my 68-year-old husband exercises, he smells like rotten onions. He claims that deodorants and antiperspirants are harmful. He says you need to let your armpits breathe. I say he’s wrong. – Anon.

ANSWER: Many people believe that deodorants and antiperspirants are harmful. I’m not one of them. Armpits don’t breathe. The lungs do.

Your husband can wash under the arms before and after exercising. Skin bacteria cause the odor, not sweating.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com

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