Abstract
Tennis elbow is an overload injury of the extensor tendons of the forearm. This study was designed to determine the effect of the microcurrent electrical nerve stimulation (MENS) on reducing pain and disability and increasing hand grip strength in patients with tennis elbow. Sixty patients completed the program and were randomly assigned into two groups. Group 1 (experimental, n=30) received MENS and therapeutic exercises. Group 2 (control, n=30) received sham MENS and therapeutic exercises. Both groups received two visits a week for six weeks. The following parameters were evaluated: pain with the numerical rating scale, disability using the disabilities of the arm, shoulder & hand and hand grip strength using a hand dynamometer before and after intervention. There was a decline in pain, disability and a rise in hand grip strength in both groups compared with baseline (P<0.005 on the paired t-test). The first group showed statistically significant differences in the reduction of pain and disability and increase of hand grip strength compared with the second group (P<0.05 on the independent t-test). MENS may play a role in treating tennis elbow by reducing pain, disability and increasing hand grip strength.