Effect Of Adding Plyometric Exercises To The Conventional Physical Therapy Program Of Lateral Elbow Tendinopathy

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of adding plyometric exercises to the conventional physical therapy program for lateral elbow tendinopathy (LET) patients on pain, grip strength and tendon image represented as tendon thickness as compared to the contralateral healthy side, echotexture and vascularity. Thirty patients with unilateral LET with age ranged from 20-40 years, were randomly assigned into 2 groups, group A (10 female, 5 male) received the conventional physical therapy program and group B (9 female, 6 male) recieved the plyometric exercises in addition to the same conventional physical therapy program. Patients were assessed pre and post treatment for pain, grip strength and tendon structure using visual analogue scale (VAS), handheld dynamometer (HHD) and ultrasonography (US) respectively. The results were statically analyzed and revealed a significant improvement of pain and tendon image for both groups with no significant difference between them. The results also showed significant improvement of grip strength for both groups, with significant improvement in group B more than group A. This study proved that addition of plyometric exercises to conventional physical therapy program are more effective for more grip strength gains.