Elbow & Forearm · Chula Vista · South Bay
Tennis Elbow & Golfer’s Elbow Treatment In Chula Vista
Most people with tennis elbow never played tennis. If gripping a coffee cup, a steering wheel or a laptop bag sends pain down your forearm, and a brace hasn’t fixed it, the tendon needs a healing stimulus, not more rest.
✓ Non-surgical ✓ No injections ✓ No downtime ✓ 20–30 min visits
Start Here
What This Actually Is
Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylalgia) affects the common extensor tendon on the outside of the elbow — mainly the extensor carpi radialis brevis. Golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylalgia) is the same story on the inside of the elbow, in the common flexor tendon.
Both are degenerative, not inflammatory. The tissue shows what pathologists call angiofibroblastic hyperplasia: disorganised collagen and abnormal vessel growth, with very little inflammation present at all.
The tendon in question is small, sits right on a bony prominence, and is loaded by every single grip you make. That combination is why it’s so stubborn.
The Real Problem
Why It Hasn’t Gone Away On Its Own
You cannot stop using your hand. Rest is functionally impossible for anyone with a job, a phone and a bag to carry, so the tendon is loaded through the problem all day.
The tissue is degenerated rather than inflamed, so anti-inflammatories and cortisone address the wrong mechanism. Cortisone in particular is well documented to work beautifully at six weeks and be worse than doing nothing at a year.
Straps and braces reduce the load on the painful spot, which relieves symptoms without changing the tissue. Take the strap off and you’re where you started.
The Treatment
How Shockwave And EMTT Address It
Shockwave delivers high-energy acoustic pressure waves into the tissue. The body reads that controlled stimulus as a fresh injury and reopens the healing process that stalled out. Here’s what that means for this specific problem.
A superficial tendon shockwave reaches well
The extensor and flexor origins sit close to the surface, which means we can deliver a precise, effective dose with radial or focused waves. Elbows tend to respond well and relatively quickly.
Reverses the degenerative pattern
The waves stimulate fibroblast and tenocyte activity and new blood vessel growth, which is the only way disorganised collagen becomes organised collagen again.
Breaks the pain cycle so you can load
Grip strength is limited by pain as much as by weakness. Reducing the pain signalling lets us start the strengthening work that actually keeps it from coming back.
Treats the whole chain
The forearm is rarely the only problem. We commonly find a stiff, weak shoulder and poor scapular control feeding load down into the elbow, and we treat that too.
What To Expect
What A Course Of Treatment Looks Like
Elbows are usually three to five sessions, a week apart, at about 20 minutes a visit.
There’s no downtime. You’ll be asked to go easy on maximal gripping for a day or two after each session, and to stop the thing that’s most provocative for a short window while we build capacity.
Most of the strengthening is eccentric and isometric wrist work you can do with a household object. It takes minutes a day, and it’s the part that stops this recurring in two years.
Straight Talk
Are You A Candidate?
Shockwave is genuinely good at a narrow set of problems. It is not good at everything, and candidacy is determined by examination, not by a website.
Shockwave Is Usually A Good Fit If
✓ Elbow pain lasting more than six weeks to three months
✓ Pain with gripping, lifting a kettle, shaking hands or a laptop bag
✓ Tenderness right on the bony point of the elbow
✓ You’ve tried a strap, rest, ice, stretches or a cortisone shot
✓ You’d like to avoid a second cortisone injection
When It Isn’t The Answer
✗ Numbness, tingling or weakness in the hand — that suggests nerve involvement (radial, ulnar or cervical) and needs assessing differently
✗ Pain that started with a specific fall or trauma
✗ Locking, catching or a significant loss of elbow range — that needs imaging
✗ Active infection, open wound, tumour in the area, or pregnancy
If you’re in this column we’ll tell you on the first visit and point you where you should actually go. We’d rather lose the case than sell you sessions that won’t help.
Not Just A Machine
What We Do Besides Point A Device At You
Most clinics that own a shockwave device deliver shockwave. You’re seeing a Doctor of Physical Therapy, so you also get a diagnosis and a plan for why the tissue failed in the first place.
Grip and wrist loading
Progressive eccentric and isometric wrist extension or flexion work. Small doses, done consistently, are what hold the result.
Shoulder and scapular control
A surprising number of stubborn elbows are a shoulder problem wearing a disguise. We assess the whole limb.
Workstation and tool review
Mouse position, racket grip size, tool weight, how you carry things. Cheap changes that stop the reinjury.
Weighing Your Options
Already Been Offered Something Else?
If you have a cortisone shot, an injection or a surgery on the table, these compare them honestly — including where the alternative is the better choice.
Your Next Step
Find Out If This Is Your Problem
Ask What Shockwave Costs
— And Whether You're A Candidate
One short form. A real conversation with our team, not a sales script.
On that call you'll get
✓ A straight answer on whether shockwave is likely to help your specific problem
✓ What a typical course involves — how many sessions, how far apart
✓ Exactly what it costs, with no packages pushed on you
✓ Whether something else would serve you better — including a referral elsewhere if that's the honest answer
✓ A time that works, if you decide to come in
No insurance required. No obligation. We'll come back to you within one business day.
Prefer to just ask? Call and we’ll answer the same questions on the spot.
Sports Performance Physical Therapy
861 Harold Place, Unit 307 · Chula Vista, CA 91914
(619) 397-1391
Mon–Thu 9:00am–6:00pm · Fri 8:00am–5:00pm
Serving Eastlake, Bonita, Otay Ranch, National City, Imperial Beach and San Ysidro. Kearny Mesa location also available.
Shockwave Therapy Chula Vista is a service of Sports Performance Physical Therapy. The information on this page is for general educational purposes only and is not medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It does not create a doctor–patient relationship. Individual results vary and no outcome is guaranteed. Shockwave therapy is not appropriate for every patient or every condition — candidacy is determined by examination. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider about your specific condition.