Report: Tom Brady Dealing With Lateral Epicondylitis (Tennis Elbow)
For the last several weeks, Tom Brady has been dealing with a right elbow injury, which has caused him to miss practice time and be listed on the injury report. Though it initially didn't seem to be much more than elbow soreness, Brady is reportedly dealing with something a bit more serious.
According to NFL Network's Mike Giardi, Brady is dealing with lateral epicondylitis, also known as "tennis elbow."
Jessica Flynn of Boston Sports Journal explained Saturday morning what lateral epicondylitis is.
"Lateral epicondylitis is an overuse injury to the tendons that control the wrist and attach to the bony prominence on the outer [if your palm is facing up] part of the elbow," Flynn wrote. "These tendons allow the athlete to extend or cock back the wrist and supinate the forearm [rotate the palm up]. Over time, the tendons can develop tiny micro-tears from repetitive work [throwing] and the area around the bony attachment gets inflamed. Patients I see complain that they can't lift a jug of milk or even a cup of coffee without pain, it hurts to shake hands or grip."
If Brady is experiencing the same pain symptoms that Flynn describes, then it's hard to imagine the 42-year-old QB is even close to 100%. That would explain why he hasn't completed over 56% of his passes over the past five games.
What are the treatments for this type of injury? Therapy, pliability work and rest. While Brady can certainly do the first two treatments in-season, getting rest is something hard to comes across for a quarterback who is still trying to get in-sync with his wideouts 15 weeks into the regular season.
This is an injury Brady will have to fight through for the remainder of the season. Hopefully it doesn't progress into anything worse.
