By Craig Smith Nottinghamshire CCC physio

Tennis elbow may sound amusing, but it's not an injury to be laughed at.

It is a very painful injury that occurs to the outside of the elbow where the tendons that cock the wrist become inflamed.

These tendons attach to the bony part of the outer elbow bone called the "lateral epicondyle".

The scientific name for the injury is "lateral epicondylitis", meaning inflammation to the outside elbow bone.

But we refer to it as tennis elbow as it's mainly suffered by - surprise, surprise - tennis players.

When I was about 12, I had a problem with my elbow and I didn't play at all for six months Tim Henman

It's caused by the repetitive nature of hitting thousands and thousands of tennis balls.

Tiny tears develop in the forearm tendon attachment at the elbow.

The pain starts slowly but increases to a point where hitting the ball, especially a backhand shot, becomes just about impossible.

If you rest your arm when the discomfort first appears, then these micro tears will heal.

However, if you keep on playing, the micro tears will become bigger eventually causing pain and swelling that prevents you from hitting a ball completely.

Pain can stretch down your forearm to your hand and simple things like holding a cup of tea or carrying your bag become painful, forcing you to use your other hand.

The first thing to do is rest from tennis to allow the micro tears to heal.

The main cause for the injury is playing too much, so you'll have to cut out ball-hitting altogether.

Other reasons may be equipment-related, such as too large a handle or a racquet that's strung too tightly.

These things may need minor adjustments from your coach.

The best treatment for tennis elbow is a combination of: