Adverse tension in the neural system. A preliminary study of tennis elbow

This study investigated adverse tension in the neural system in 20 subjects suffering from unilateral symptoms of tennis elbow. A neural tissue tension test developed by Butler (1987 and 1991) was employed. Results indicated that the neural tissue was significantly less extensible in the arm with tennis elbow. Glenohumeral abduction range was on average 12 degrees less in the symptomatic arm when the test was performed with wrist and finger flexion and nine degrees less when the test incorporated wrist and finger extension. The test using wrist and finger flexion, which is considered to bias tension towards the radial nerve, reproduced the subjects' tennis elbow symptoms in 55 per cent of cases. These results suggest that adverse tension in neural structures may contribute to the pain.