Pickleball has taken Edmonton by storm. From the indoor courts at the Kinsmen Sports Centre to the growing number of outdoor courts across the city, more Edmontonians than ever are picking up a paddle. It's social, competitive, and great exercise — and it's producing a steadily growing number of elbow injuries.
What Pickleball Elbow Actually Is
Tennis elbow — clinically known as lateral epicondylitis — gets its name from tennis, but it doesn't discriminate by sport. Any activity involving repeated wrist extension and forearm rotation can irritate the common extensor tendon where it attaches to the bony prominence on the outside of the elbow. Pickleball's quick backhand drives, volleys, and sustained paddle grip are particularly effective at overloading this tendon over the course of a long session.
The pain typically presents on the outside of the elbow and radiates down the forearm. Gripping anything — a mug, a door handle, a paddle — becomes uncomfortable. Many players try to push through it. That's usually how a manageable case becomes a stubborn one.
Why Massage Gets Results
The muscle and tendon complex that drives lateral epicondylitis — particularly the extensor carpi radialis brevis — develops tight bands and trigger points that keep the pain cycle running even after the initial inflammatory phase has passed. This is why rest and ice help in the short term but rarely resolve the problem on their own.
Deep tissue massage directly addresses these soft tissue changes. Sustained pressure on the forearm extensors releases adhesions, restores normal muscle fibre glide, and improves circulation to the tendon — which has relatively poor blood supply and heals slowly without manual intervention. Cross-friction massage at the tendon attachment, though briefly uncomfortable, stimulates healthy tissue remodelling at a cellular level.
Most clients notice a measurable reduction in resting pain and improved grip strength within two to three sessions.
“Rest and ice help in the short term. But the soft tissue changes that keep pain cycling need hands-on work.”
It’s Not Just the Elbow
One thing that surprises many clients: elbow pain often has a proximal component. Tension in the rotator cuff, restricted shoulder mobility, or dysfunction in the cervical spine can refer down the arm and contribute to forearm pain — or prevent the elbow from fully recovering even when it's being treated directly.
A thorough assessment at Thai Healing Hands includes the shoulder girdle and neck as part of any upper extremity complaint. We treat the whole arm, not just the part that hurts — because addressing only the symptom without its source is how injuries become chronic.
Pickleball season doesn't need to come with a permanent elbow companion. Get the treatment that lets you keep playing.