I treat a lot of the top Seniors level (35+) tennis players in British Columbia, many of whom compete in the national and world championships every year.  These are not professional athletes, but very active adults with full time jobs that work hard and play harder.  The combination of work + age + sport inevitably results in aches, pains and unfortunately injuries.

The top five things that tend to bring tennis players into the physio for servicing are:

1.  Tennis Elbow
2.  Rotator Cuff Impingement
3.  Knee Pain
4.  Torn Calf/Achilles
5.  Low Back Pain

Below I will briefly touch on some of the principles you should follow in dealing with these injuries as they relate to tennis, age and work.

Tennis Elbow

Lateral elbow pain does not necessarily follow the “if it hurts, ice it” rule.  Nine times out of ten the root cause of lateral elbow pain stems from your neck and the back of your shoulder.  It is usually an irritation of your C6 nerve root in your neck and the radial nerve in your arm…that being said, if your elbow is hot, red and swollen, go ahead and ice it, but don’t expect just ice and rest to fix the problem.  Hands down the best way to fix tennis elbow is to go for IMS acupuncture to calm down the nerve irritation.  Once the arm feels better have a physio teach you how to move more efficiently so your swing doesn’t create too much strain on your neck and shoulder.  You may also need a tennis pro to adjust your technique and/or your racquet.
Suggested articles:
Elbow Pain: why it can last so long & how to fix it properly
Why Elbows Hurt

Rotator Cuff Impingement

Most shoulder pains are some form of an impingement (which implies a pinching of one or more of the tendons of your rotator cuff).