6 Everyday Habits That Make Tennis Elbow Worse

That nagging pain on the outside of your elbow didn’t show up overnight. And despite the name, you probably didn’t get it from playing tennis.

Tennis elbow (lateral elbow tendinopathy) affects 1-3% of adults annually, with the highest rates among people in their 40s and 50s. It develops when the tendons on the outside of your elbow become irritated from repetitive gripping, lifting, or wrist movements—often a form of repetitive strain injury. Chronic tennis elbow pain can range from a dull ache to sharp, burning discomfort that makes simple tasks like opening jars or shaking hands surprisingly difficult.

If you’re dealing with elbow pain, certain everyday habits could be making your symptoms worse—and keep it lingering longer than it should. Understanding these habits gives you control over your recovery.

1. Death-Gripping Everything (Yes, Even Your Coffee Cup)

One of the biggest culprits? 

Gripping things harder than you actually need to. Computer mice, steering wheels, coffee cups, tools—most of us hold these objects with way more force than necessary, especially when our forearm muscles are already tired or irritated.

This constant, low-level tension never gives your elbow tendons a break. Think of it like clenching your jaw all day—eventually, something’s going to hurt. Your forearm muscles attach right at that tender spot on the outside of your elbow, and every tight grip pulls on those already-irritated tendons.

What helps: Practice using a lighter grip. Notice how tightly you’re holding your phone, your pen, or your steering wheel. You can probably ease up 30-40% and still function just fine. Give your tendons some breathing room-this is a key foundation of effective tennis elbow treatment.

2. Computer Work With Poor Setup

Spending hours at a keyboard with your wrists bent backward, your mouse too far away, or your desk at the wrong height creates constant strain on your forearm muscles. When your wrist stays cocked back while you type or navigate with your mouse, those extensor muscles on the back of your forearm work overtime—and they all attach at your outer elbow.

Add repetitive clicking, scrolling, and reaching throughout an 8-hour workday, and you’ve got a recipe for chronic elbow tendon irritation. Research shows that repetitive movements combined with forceful activities significantly increase tennis elbow risk—and office work absolutely counts as repetitive movement.

What helps: Adjust your workstation so your forearms are roughly parallel to the floor when typing. Keep your mouse close enough that you’re not reaching. Take micro-breaks every 20-30 minutes to stretch and shake out your hands and forearms. These small adjustments add up over thousands of repetitions per day.

3. Wearing Your Elbow Brace Too Tight (Or All Day Long)

Elbow braces and compression sleeves can be helpful tools when used correctly, but many people wear them too tight or for too long—creating a new set of problems while trying to solve the original one.

When a brace or strap is overly compressed around your forearm or elbow, it can put pressure on the nerves running through that area—particularly the radial nerve, which travels along the outer part of your forearm. This can lead to numbness, tingling, or radiating pain that feels different from your original tennis elbow symptoms. You might notice pins-and-needles sensations in your thumb and first two fingers, or a strange aching that travels down toward your wrist.

Additionally, wearing a brace 24/7 creates dependency. Your muscles start relying on external support rather than doing their job, leading to weakness over time. Think of it like wearing a back brace constantly—eventually, your core muscles stop working as hard because the brace is doing the stabilizing for them.

What helps: If you use a counterforce brace (the strap that goes around your upper forearm), it should feel snug but not restrict blood flow or cause numbness. You should be able to slide a finger underneath comfortably. Use the brace strategically during aggravating activities—like typing, using tools, or lifting—then take it off afterward. Don’t sleep in it. The goal is temporary support during high-demand tasks, not permanent dependence.

4. Pushing Through Pain Without Modifying Activities

Pain is your nervous system’s alarm signal—not necessarily a sign that you’re causing damage, but definitely a sign that your current tissue tolerance is exceeded. Completely avoiding everything that hurts can lead to weakness and fear-based movement patterns. 

On the flip side, repeatedly pushing through significant pain without any modification keeps re-irritating tissues that need time to adapt.

The sweet spot? 

Modifying how you do things rather than completely stopping. If gripping a barbell for bicep curls hurts, try using dumbbells or resistance bands instead. If opening jars triggers pain, use your palm instead of a twisting grip. If certain work tasks flare symptoms, break them into shorter intervals with rest periods.

What helps: Keep moving and staying active, but be strategic about it. Mild discomfort (2-3 out of 10) that settles within a couple hours is generally okay. Sharp, increasing pain that lingers or gets worse the next day suggests you’ve exceeded your current capacity. Think of it like training a muscle—you need a challenge to build strength, but you don’t want to overload so much that you can’t recover.

5. Skipping Forearm Strengthening (And Only Resting)

When your elbow hurts, resting makes intuitive sense. And in the very early stages—the first few days of acute pain—short-term rest can calm things down. But long-term avoidance creates a bigger problem: your forearm muscles get weaker, your tendons lose their ability to handle normal loads, and you become more vulnerable to future flare-ups.

Research consistently shows that progressive, gradual strengthening exercises are the most effective treatment for tennis elbow. Not stretching, not massage, not rest—strengthening. Your tendons need controlled loading to rebuild their capacity to handle the demands of daily life, which is the cornerstone of lateral epicondylalgia physiotherapy and structured forearm rehab.

What helps: Start with simple, light resistance exercises even if you still have some discomfort. Wrist curls with a light dumbbell, squeezing a stress ball, or using resistance bands all work. The key is gradual progression—adding small amounts of resistance or repetitions over weeks, not days. This systematic loading helps your tendons adapt and strengthen rather than remaining weak and reactive.

6. Ignoring Posture and Shoulder Position

Your elbow doesn’t exist in isolation—it’s connected to your shoulder, your neck, and your entire upper body. Rounded shoulders, forward head posture, and poor shoulder blade positioning all affect how forces travel through your arm.

When your shoulders roll forward (common with desk work and phone use), your arms naturally rotate inward. This changes the angle at which your forearm muscles work, often increasing strain on the outer elbow tendons. It’s subtle, but over thousands of repetitions daily, it matters.

What helps: Work on shoulder blade strengthening (rows, band pull-aparts, YTWs) and thoracic spine mobility. Simple cues like “chest up, shoulders back” during tasks can reduce unnecessary elbow strain. Better posture doesn’t cure tennis elbow, but it removes one contributing factor from the equation.

Why Early Physiotherapy Helps

Tennis elbow tends to linger. The natural course shows that while 80-90% of people recover within 1-2 years, that’s a long time to deal with pain that affects your work, hobbies, and daily function. Early physiotherapy intervention dramatically shortens this timeline.

A physiotherapist can help you identify which specific habits are aggravating your elbow, design a progressive strengthening program tailored to your current capacity and goals, teach you proper modification strategies so you can stay active without constant flare-ups, and address contributing factors like grip strength, shoulder positioning, and movement patterns you might not notice on your own.

The earlier you address these patterns, the faster your recovery. Waiting months while continuing the same habits that caused the problem just prolongs the pain.

The Bottom Line

Tennis elbow doesn’t develop from a single event—it builds gradually from accumulated stress on your elbow tendons. Tight gripping, poor computer ergonomics, repetitive twisting, pushing through pain without modification, skipping strengthening work, and ignoring posture all contribute to the problem.

The good news? 

You have control over all of these factors. Small changes add up.

 Lightening your grip, adjusting your workspace, bending your elbow when lifting, strategically modifying painful activities, starting gentle strengthening exercises, and improving your posture can all reduce the constant strain on your elbow tendons.

If you’ve been dealing with elbow pain for more than a couple weeks, or if it’s starting to interfere with work or daily activities, don’t wait for it to magically resolve. At Westwood Physiotherapy in Guelph, you will get assessed, understand what’s driving your specific symptoms, and start addressing the root causes rather than just hoping rest will fix everything.

Your elbow tendons are resilient—they just need the right approach to rebuild their capacity to handle what you ask of them every day.