Homeopathic Treatment for Tennis Elbow

While you can develop tennis elbow (epicondylitis) from a tennis-related incident, you also can put stress on your elbow's tendon attachments by doing other activities such as lifting weights, golfing and pitching a baseball. If you are looking for a homeopathic treatment for your case of tennis elbow, try one of the following remedies, which you can apply to your skin or take orally.

Arnica and Rhus Toxicodendron

• Before using any homeopathic treatment, consult a doctor or professional homeopathic administrator. You can find the following remedies as creams or gels in drug stores.

  People experiencing sports injuries often use Arnica (also known as leopard's bane or mountain daisy) to treat the shock or trauma of their injury, thanks to its effectiveness in absorbing blood, reducing swelling and rapidly relieving pain. If you experience bruising and feel worse at night, when you move your elbow and upon touch, apply cold Arnica cream or ointment to the injured area.

  If you feel stiffness and your injury worsens at night, in damp and in cold conditions but improves upon steady movement, apply warm Rhus toxicodendron (poison ivy, in a non-toxic prepared state) to heal the sprained ligament in your elbow and stop the nagging ache. If you use Rhus tox following Arnica, you should see even better results.

Ruta Graveolens and Bellis Perennis

• You can help soothe your sore elbow with Ruta graveolens (rue), an "herb of grace" that combines characteristics of Arnica and Rhus tox. If you feel tingling in your hand, stiffness, bruising and pain upon trying to move your injured area, apply warm rue to the affected area.

  When Arnica or other remedies do not resolve your injury completely, try using Bellis perennis (daisy), which works deeper than Arnica. Bellis works well if your symptoms include swelling and bruising and you feel worse after experiencing chills, bathing in hot water and anyone or anything touching your injured area. Your condition should improve upon applying cold Bellis, moving your joints and rubbing them.

Dosage Basics

• If you use homeopathy for your tennis elbow in a topical manner, apply the treatment 3 to 4 times daily until the injury heals. If you opt for an oral treatment, you can find medications in liquid or pellet form at health food stores or outlets selling homeopathic remedies; check the bottom of your medicine's container for dosage instructions.

  Use the 6th potency (shown as 6x or 6c) or the 30th potency (30x or 30c) if it's your first time using homeopathy as a treatment. A 6x medicine indicates 1 to 10 dilution, 6 times, with vigorous shaking between each dilution; a 6c medicine indicates to 1 to 100 dilution, 6 times. The more dilution and shaking a homeopathic medicine experiences, the more powerful it is. If you use higher potencies, exercise caution.

  If you have a non-severe injury, take a dose every 4 hours or 4 times a day. You should be able to stop taking the medicine after 2 to 4 days, unless you have a fracture or severe sprain, for which you may take the medicine for five to seven days. Immediately following a severe injury, you may need medicine every 30 to 60 minutes. If the pain has lessened after a couple of hours, reduce dosage to every other hour or every fourth hour.

  For 15 minutes before and after taking a dose (which you should do by placing the medicine under your tongue), do not brush your teeth, chew tobacco, drink, eat or put any other substance in your mouth.