Tennis Elbow Glossary of Medical Terms

These are medical definitions of medical terms from the MedTerms.com medical dictionary that appear in the Tennis Elbow article.

Aleve: See: Naproxen .
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Aspirin: A good example of a tradename that entered into the language, Aspirin was once the Bayer trademark for acetylsalicylic acid .
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CT scan: Computerized tomography scan. Pictures of structures within the body created by a computer that takes the data from multiple X-ray images and turns them into pictures on a screen. CT stands for computerized tomography.
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Diagnosis: 1 The nature of a disease ; the identification of an illness. 2 A conclusion or decision reached by diagnosis. The diagnosis is rabies . 3 The identification of any problem. The diagnosis was a plugged IV.
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Elbow: The juncture of the long bones in the middle portion of the arm. The bone of the upper arm (humerus) meets both the ulna (the inner bone of the forearm) and radius (the outer bone of the forearm) to form a hinge joint at the elbow. The radius and ulna also meet one another in the elbow to permit a small amount of rotation of the forearm. The elbow therefore functions to move the arm like a hinge (forward and backward) and in rotation (outward and inward). The biceps muscle is the major muscle that flexes the elbow hinge, and the triceps muscle is the major muscle that extends it. The primary stability of the elbow is provided by the ulnar collateral ligament, located on the medial (inner) side of the elbow. The outer bony prominence of the elbow is the lateral epicondyle, a part of the humerus bone. Tendons attached to this area can be injured, causing inflammation or tendonitis (lateral epicondylitis, or tennis elbow). The inner portion of the elbow is a bony prominence called the medial epicondyle of the humerus. Additional tendons from muscles attach here and can be injured, likewise causing inflammation or tendonitis (medial epicondylitis, or golfer's elbow). See also: Elbow bursitis ; Elbow pain ; Nursemaid's elbow.
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Elbow joint: Three long bones meet in the middle portion of the arm at the elbow joint. The bone of the upper arm (humerus) meets both the ulna (the inner bone of the forearm) and radius (the outer bone of the forearm) to form a hinge joint. And the radius and ulna also meet one another in the elbow to permit a small amount of rotation of the forearm. The elbow therefore functions to move the arm like a hinge (forward and backward) and in rotation (turn outwards and inwards).
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Elbow pain: Elbow pain is most often the result of tendinitis, which can affect the inner or outer elbow. Treatment includes ice, rest, and medication for inflammation. Elbow pain has many other causes including arthritis and bursitis . Funny bone sensation is irritation of a nerve at the elbow that causes numbness and tingling of the inner elbow, forearm as well as little and ring fingers. Bacteria can infect the skin of a scraped (abraded) elbow to cause pain.
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Forearm: The portion of the upper limb from the elbow to the wrist.
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Hammer: The malleus .
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Ibuprofen: A non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) commonly used to treat pain, swelling, and fever . Common brand names for Ibuprofen include Advil, Motrin, and Nuprin.
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Incision: A cut. When making an incision, a surgeon is making a cut.
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Inflammation: A basic way in which the body reacts to infection , irritation or other injury, the key feature being redness, warmth, swelling and pain . Inflammation is now recognized as a type of nonspecific immune response .
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Injury: Harm or hurt. The term "injury" may be applied in medicine to damage inflicted upon oneself as in a hamstring injury or by an external agent on as in a cold injury . The injury may be accidental or deliberate, as with a needlestick injury . The term "injury" may be synonymous (depending on the context) with a wound or with trauma .
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Joint: A joint is the area where two bones are attached for the purpose of motion of body parts. A joint is usually formed of fibrous connective tissue and cartilage. An articulation or an arthrosis is the same as a joint.
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Lateral: 1. In anatomy, the side of the body or a body part that is farther from the middle or center of the body. Typically, lateral refers to the outer side of the body part, but it is also used to refer to the side of a body part. For example, when referring to the knee, lateral refers to the side of the knee farthest from the opposite knee. The opposite of lateral is medial .
2. In radiology, slang for a lateral X-ray .
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Medical history: 1. In clinical medicine, the patient's past and present which may contain clues bearing on their health past, present, and future. The medical history, being an account of all medical events and problems a person has experienced, including psychiatric illness, is especially helpful when a differential diagnosis is needed.
2. The history of medicine.
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MRI: Abbreviation and nickname for magnetic resonance imaging . For more information, see: Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Paul C. Lauterbur ; Peter Mansfield .
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Naproxen : A non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used for the management of mild to moderate pain, fever, and inflammation . Naproxen blocks the enzyme cyclooxygenase that makes prostaglandins, resulting in lower concentrations of prostaglandins. As a consequence, inflammation, pain and fever are reduced. Brand names for naproxen include Anaprox, Naprelan, Naprosyn, and Aleve.
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Nerve: A bundle of fibers that uses chemical and electrical signals to transmit sensory and motor information from one body part to another. See: Nervous system .
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Outpatient: A patient who is not an inpatient (not hospitalized) but instead is cared for elsewhere -- as in a doctor's office, clinic, or day surgery center. The term outpatient dates back at least to 1715. Outpatient care today is also called ambulatory care .
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Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pain has both physical and emotional components. The physical part of pain results from nerve stimulation. Pain may be contained to a discrete area, as in an injury, or it can be more diffuse, as in disorders like fibromyalgia . Pain is mediated by specific nerve fibers that carry the pain impulses to the brain where their conscious appreciation may be modified by many factors.
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Pharmacy: A location where prescription drugs are sold. A pharmacy is, by law, constantly supervised by a licensed pharmacist.
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Physical therapist: A person trained and certified by a state or accrediting body to design and implement physical therapy programs. Physical therapists may work within a hospital or clinic, in a school providing assistance to special education students, or as an independent practitioner.
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Physical therapy: A branch of rehabilitative health that uses specially designed exercises and equipment to help patients regain or improve their physical abilities. Physical therapists work with many types of patients, from infants born with musculoskeletal birth defects, to adults suffering from sciatica or the after- effects of injury, to elderly post-stroke patients.
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Radial: A word with diverse meanings in medicine and the biomedical sciences:

Pertaining to the radius, the smaller bone in the forearm . The radial artery is so named because of its proximity to the radius.
Pertaining to the radius of a circle.
Spreading from a central point. A radial keratotomy is an eye operation in which incisions are made in the cornea that resemble the spokes in a wheel.

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Recurrence: The return of a sign, symptom or disease after a remission. The reappearance of cancer cells at the same site or in another location is, unfortunately, a familiar form of recurrence.
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Rehabilitation: The process of restoration of skills by a person who has had an illness or injury so as to regain maximum self-sufficiency and function in a normal or as near normal manner as possible. For example, rehabilitation after a stroke may help the patient walk again and speak clearly again.
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Rupture: A break or tear in any organ (such as the spleen ) or soft tissue (such as the achilles tendon ). Rupture of the appendix is more likely among uninsured and minority children when they develop appendicitis .
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Scan: As a noun, the data or image obtained from the examination of organs or regions of the body by gathering information with a sensing device.
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Sore: 1. (adjective) A popular term for painful. I have sore fingers from typing dictionary terms. She has a sore throat . 2. (noun) A nondescript term for nearly any lesion of the skin or mucous membranes. He has a number of sores in his mouth.

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Steroid: A general class of chemical substances that are structurally related to one another and share the same chemical skeleton (a tetracyclic cyclopenta[a]phenanthrene skeleton).
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Strain: 1. An injury to a tendon or muscle resulting from overuse or trauma. 2. A hereditary tendency that originated from a common ancestor. 3. To exert maximum effort. 4. To filter.
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Surgery: The word "surgery" has multiple meanings. It is the branch of medicine concerned with diseases and conditions which require or are amenable to operative procedures. Surgery is the work done by a surgeon. By analogy, the work of an editor wielding his pen as a scalpel is s form of surgery. A surgery in England (and some other countries) is a physician's or dentist's office.
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Syndrome: A set of signs and symptoms that tend to occur together and which reflect the presence of a particular disease or an increased chance of developing a particular disease.
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Tendon: The tissue by which a muscle attaches to bone. A tendon is somewhat flexible, but fibrous and tough. When a tendon becomes inflamed, the condition is referred to as tendinitis or tendonitis. Inflamed tendons are at risk for rupture.
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Tennis elbow: A painful injury to the tendon that is attached to the outer part of the elbow due to repetitive twisting of the wrist or forearm which causes irritation and inflammation of the extensor tendon. This tendon attaches to the lateral epicondyle of the humerus. The condition is therefore also known as lateral epicondylitis. Tennis is not the only culprit. Any action that involves repetitive twisting of the wrist or forearm such as using a screwdriver can lead to this injury.
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Tension: 1) The pressure within a vessel , such as blood pressure : the pressure within the blood vessels. For example, elevated blood pressure is referred to as hypertension . 2) Stress, especially stress that is translated into clenched scalp muscles and bottled-up emotions or anxiety. This is the type of tension blamed for tension headaches.
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Therapy: The treatment of disease .
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Wrist: The proximal segment (the near part) of the hand consisting of the carpal bones and the associated soft parts.
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X-ray: 1. High-energy radiation with waves shorter than those of visible light. X-rays possess the properties of penetrating most substances (to varying extents), of acting on a photographic film or plate (permitting radiography), and of causing a fluorescent screen to give off light (permitting fluoroscopy). In low doses X-rays are used for making images that help to diagnose disease, and in high doses to treat cancer . Formerly called a Roentgen ray. 2. An image obtained by means of X-rays.
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