Tennis Elbow Surgery in Pearland, TX

What Is Tennis Elbow?

Tennis elbow, or lateral epicondylitis, develops when the tendons on the outside of your elbow break down from overuse. The tendon most commonly involved is the extensor carpi radialis brevis, or ECRB.
It connects your forearm muscles to the bony bump on the outer side of your elbow called the lateral epicondyle.

Every time you grip, twist, or lift with your hand, those tendons do the work. When you repeat those motions too often without enough recovery, small tears develop in the tendon. Over time, those tears cause inflammation, degeneration, and pain that doesn’t let up.

The condition typically affects people between 30 and 50, but it can show up at any age. And despite the name, most people who develop it have never picked up a tennis racket.

Symptoms of Tennis Elbow

Tennis elbow usually builds gradually rather than showing up all at once. Here’s what most people experience:

• Pain or burning on the outer side of the elbow that gets worse with activity
• Weak grip strength, especially when holding objects or shaking hands
• Pain that travels down the forearm toward the wrist
• Stiffness in the elbow, particularly in the morning
• Increased discomfort when twisting, lifting, or gripping — even light objects
• Pain that lingers after activity and starts showing up during rest

If your elbow has been bothering you for weeks and isn’t improving, it’s worth getting it evaluated before the damage progresses.

When Do You Need Surgery for Tennis Elbow?

Dr. Burke considers surgery when several factors point in that direction:

• You’ve been dealing with the pain for six months or more, and it’s not letting up
• Physical therapy, bracing, injections — you’ve tried them, and nothing has provided lasting relief
• The pain is getting in the way of work, keeping you up at night, or making daily tasks difficult
• Scans show enough tendon damage that it’s not going to heal on its own

Surgery isn’t the first step, and Dr. Burke doesn’t rush anyone toward it. But when your elbow has had every reasonable chance to heal and hasn’t, continuing to wait usually doesn’t change the outcome.

How Tennis Elbow Surgery Works

The goal of surgery is straightforward: remove the damaged portion of the tendon and give the healthy tissue a chance to reattach and heal properly.

Dr. Burke performs tennis elbow surgery as an outpatient procedure. You go home the same day. The surgery typically takes under an hour, and most patients receive regional anesthesia to stay comfortable throughout.

Open Release: Dr. Burke makes a small incision over the bony bump on the outside of your elbow. From there, he can see the damaged section of the ECRB tendon directly. He removes the damaged tissue and reattaches the healthy part of the tendon back to the bone. This approach works especially well when the damage is more spread out, because he can see everything clearly.

Arthroscopic Release: For the right cases, Dr. Burke goes in through a couple of tiny incisions using a small camera and specialized instruments. He finds the damaged tissue and removes it without opening the area up fully. The incisions are smaller, there’s less disruption to the surrounding tissue, and early recovery tends to move a bit faster.

Which approach Dr. Burke recommends depends on the extent of the damage, the location of the degeneration, and your specific anatomy. He walks you through both options and explains why one may suit your case better than the other.

Recovering from Tennis Elbow Surgery

Recovery from tennis elbow surgery takes commitment, but most patients see real improvement.

The First Two Weeks: Your elbow stays in a splint to protect the repair. Swelling and some discomfort are normal. Ice, elevation, and prescribed pain medication keep things manageable. You can move your fingers and shoulder during this period to prevent stiffness elsewhere.

Weeks Two Through Six: The splint comes off and gentle range-of-motion exercises begin. Dr. Burke may refer you to physical therapy at this stage. The goal is to gradually restore flexibility without stressing the healing tendon.

Weeks Six Through Twelve: Strengthening exercises ramp up. You begin rebuilding the forearm muscles that support the tendon. Activities increase progressively based on how the tendon is responding.

Three Months and Beyond: Most patients return to normal daily activities within two to three months. Returning to heavy lifting, manual labor, or sports may take four to six months. Dr. Burke clears you based on how the tendon has healed and how your strength has recovered, not just the calendar.

Physical therapy plays a critical role throughout recovery. Patients who stay consistent with their rehab program tend to recover faster and more completely.

Risks and Considerations

Tennis elbow surgery has a strong track record, but it’s still surgery, and that means some risks come with it. Infection, nerve irritation, stiffness, lingering pain, or some loss of strength can happen, though none of these are common.

In a small number of cases, the symptoms don’t completely go away after surgery. That’s more likely when the tendon damage was severe or when something else going on in the elbow is contributing to the pain. Dr. Burke talks through all of this with you ahead of time so you know what’s realistic for your case.

Why Choose Dr. Burke as Your Tennis Elbow Surgeon in Pearland, TX?

Dr. Burke has spent over 35 years treating elbow, hand, and joint conditions. His Certificate in Orthopedic Sports Medicine reflects his deep understanding of overuse injuries and how they affect active people. Tennis elbow is a condition he’s diagnosed and treated many times throughout his career, both surgically and non-surgically.

What separates him is how he approaches each case. He doesn’t look at your elbow in isolation. He considers how you use your arm, what caused the problem, and what you need to get back to. If conservative treatment can get you there, he keeps you on that path.

When surgery is the right move, he explains exactly what he plans to do and what the road back looks like. An elbow that’s been hurting for months only gets harder to treat the longer you put it off. We keep our schedule flexible so you can get in quickly and start moving in the right direction.