Gp diagnosed tennis elbow. Been suffering for 5 months. Can’t get an nhs physio appt. Online advice very varied, including ice (advised by GP) and others say heat. Have seen NHS exercises but not sure advisable as still in pain. Also self massage. Please advise!

Hi Ruth To ice or not to ice....I really don't think it makes a scrap of difference as it's not a true inflammatory problem, it's more like an issue with how you've dealt with the load that goes through your tendon. The same goes for heat too. Whilst either of them may make it feel better (which is OK) neither of them will actually help with the healing and getting better process. To that end, don't even think about poking/massaging it - as said it's an issue with how you deal with the tendon load and when you poke or rub it, you increase the load on the tendon and that's not a good think to do. Instead you need to improve how your tendon deals with the load, and the magic ingredient is rehab (and a little time), this is a great place to start.

  We had some great success over the past few months with virtual session and TE....hang in there. The Guru