This is a question I get asked daily! And the answer is, It Depends!
On what, Emma?
Several things:
How long have you suffered?
This is THE most influential factor to how long it will take to heal. Generally, the length of time you've been feeling it, is the length of time it will take to heal it. So, if you've been suffering for 2 months, it will take 2 months to settle it down - as long as you do the right things to settle it down!
Now this is true, up to a point. I've helped clients who have had tennis elbow for years. For 3, 5, 7 years, and it didn't take YEARS for me to be able to help them heal. Why not? Once you get past the 12 month mark, it's going to take 6 to 12 months to settle it down...depending on these factors:
2. How many different tissues are involved?
This is the next most important consideration when figuring out how long it will take to heal. If it is JUST the tendon that is affected by tennis elbow, then it can heal relatively quickly. If the muscles, nerves, shoulder, wrist, hand, neck and back are involved, it's going to take longer to resolve.
A side note to this is that the longer you suffer, the more LIKELY more tissues will become affected.
3. How committed are you to healing your elbow?
This may seem like an easy one to answer: "Emma, of course I'm committed to healing my elbow! I am done living in pain!" But, are you prepared to put in the work your elbow needs to fully heal? I don't just mean resting it over the weekend and then expecting it to feel fine when you return to work on Monday. I mean, willing to incorporate ALL the factors that your elbow needs to heal and continue them for as long as your elbow needs them (as we discovered above, this could be 12 months).
Looking at these 3 factors, you should be able to figure out how long your elbow will take to heal, as long as you are doing the right things at the right time.
The frustrating thing about tennis elbow, is you can't just sit back and wait for 12 months and expect it to be healed. It doesn't work that way. If you don't heal the tendon correctly, it won't heal, it's as simple as that! You may know people, or have heard of people, who have had tennis elbow for 10, even 20 years! This is unnecessary suffering in my eyes and I'm on a mission to heal 100,000 elbows without injections or surgery. Will yours be one?
You can learn more about my Tennis Elbow Relief Program at www.TennisElbowQueen.com/Course
Hit me up with questions at Emma@TennisElbowQueen.com
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