Theme 3: self-help and understanding of the condition
SAID, TENNIS ELBOW
While some participants did search for self-help advice online, using Google or YouTube, there was hesitancy from many. Some were unsure of the diagnosis and therefore what to search for, and some did not want to follow potentially incorrect advice without seeking the opinion of a healthcare professional, for fear of making their symptoms worse.I did Google once I was diagnosed as having Tennis Elbow. You’re kind of curious to know what exactly it is, but I didn’t do anything on the back of it. As in I didn’t try to do anything myself because I didn’t want to do anything wrong. DER011As mentioned in the introduction, the diagnostic label of Tennis Elbow is widely used, despite calls for it to be referred to as LET. Several participants reflected that the name of the condition was misleading. They had assumed that only athletes or people with sporting hobbies could get Tennis Elbow and therefore it could not apply to them.… but I didn’t think it would be Tennis Elbow, so I didn’t actually look up Tennis Elbow. But once it was pointed out, that was fairly obvious. You know, kind of a bit embarrassing. I didn’t think that might have been a possibility but I mean the name is misleading, isn’t it? … One always thinks sports. DER006I knew the name but I didn’t really think it was something—I assumed it was a sports injury from, you know, active physical sportsmen and I don’t really do that. So, it was when they said it sounds like it was Tennis Elbow when I went to the doctors’ I did some more research on it and then that sounded about right. As I say, it wasn’t something, I knew the word, it wasn’t something I expecting to be suffering from. SHE016