Instant effect of high speed low amplitude (HVLA) elbow manipulation on hand grip strength and pain in patients with lateral epicondylitis

Lateral epicondylitis (LE) is one of the common disorders in upper extremity and especially elbow problems, and it is a disease that causes pain in the lateral region of the elbow in cases that require the necessary force production for the grasping movement of the hand. Thirty-four volunteers with a diagnosis of lateral epicondylitis, aged between 18 and 50, were included in the study. The participants were divided into two as the study group (n=17, 7 females, 10 males) in which the HVLA elbow manipulation method was applied and the control group (n= 17, 6 females, 11 males) in which the sham manipulation was applied. All individuals were evaluated with the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and JAMAR Hydraulic Hand Dynamometer before and after the application. According to the results of the intra-group analysis performed before and after the treatment, an increase in the hand grip strength of the participants in the study group and a decrease in the pain value were found. No statistically significant difference was found in the control group. In the comparison of the data between the groups, a statistically significant increase in hand grip strength was found in the study group in which chiropractic HVLA elbow manipulation was applied. With the results obtained from this study, it was revealed that the application of chiropractic HVLA elbow manipulation had an instant healing effect on hand grip strength and pain values.