Suffer From Tennis Elbow? Get Back In The Game

NEW YORK (CBS 2) -- If you've been active this summer, you may be paying the price with what's commonly called "tennis elbow" or "golfer's elbow" – a nagging pain that can be difficult to get rid of.

Despite the name associated with the condition, it can come from any overuse – typing, carpentry and the like. But, as CBS 2's Dr. Max Gomez reports, there is a new device and procedure called Topaz is curing those that suffer from the condition.

Troy Furbay has played tennis for most of his life, throughout college and as a young family man, but he was forced to stop when he developed tennis elbow.

"It's basically a sharp pain right on what feels like the outside bone of the elbow," he said. "And then it sort of goes down into the muscle half way down the forearm."

It didn't just affect his athletic performance. It affected his life.

"Even writing was starting to hurt," he said. "Working on the typewriter, on the computer."

When ice, rest and anti-inflammatory medications didn't help, Furbay sought help from sports medicine doctor Eric Balaguer of Plancher Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, who introduced him to a device called Topaz.

Tennis elbow occurs where muscles of the forearm attach to the arm bone via a tendon. Repetitive use causes micro-tears in the tendon that disrupt blood flow, causing pain and making it hard to heal.

"So every time time you do any kind of motion with your wrist, when you extend your wrist you have a great amount of discomfort in the area," said Dr. Balaguer. "And it keeps progressing and progressing."

The Topaz device uses radio-frequency to heat and essentially melt tissue just around the tiny tip of the elbow, avoiding damage to surrounding tissue.

For tennis elbow, Dr. Balaguer made tiny holes in Furbay's painful elbow tendon, making a small grid of micro divots all along the tendon. This stimulates the body to mobilize its dormant healing powers.

"And that will promote healing components to return to the area and increase the blood flow, creating a pretty rapid healing in the area." said Dr. Balaguer.

After Furbay had the Topaz procedure, he iced his elbow for a couple of days, then started light exercises – and within three weeks, he was swinging the racket again.

"Not real heavy, it was sort of light hitting and just…I could feel it wasn't strong," he said. "But after three to four weeks after that, I sort of felt about 100 percent."

The Topaz procedure is done under local anesthesia and light sedation in an out-patient O.R. setting.

No one is saying this should be your first choice for treating tennis elbow because although it is minor, it's still surgery.

But for folks who've tried conservative therapies and the pain is too much, or they really want to get back to playing sports, this could be the ticket.