Gabby Logan has spoken about a secret health condition that she has been struggling with for months, tennis elbow.

The 51-year-old Sports Personality of the Year presenter said the elbow injury has stopped her enjoying her hobbies of playing sports, which has impacted her mental health.

Logan told The Mirror: “I was doing loads of padel and golf, but I’ve had tennis elbow for about three months, which I haven’t had time to sort out. I’ve had to modify all my gym training to accommodate it. I can’t swing a golf club, which is really annoying because I was enjoying my golf,” she added.

“There’s not much you can do to mitigate it. It doesn’t respond to anything so it goes away and then comes back six months later.”

The NHS describes tennis elbow (also known as lateral epicondylitis) as a “condition that causes pain around the outside of the elbow.” The pain tends to pass naturally within several months, but it can persist for up to a year and might require treatment.

The mother of two has found that the pain has even ‘flared’ up while she’s been on-screen. She said: “When I was at the Women’s Euros, I was having a flare up while I was holding the microphone, which was annoying. I realised the other day that it’s not great mentally when your hobbies are related to sport and you’re not able to do them – then you’re just working all the time.”

What is tennis elbow?

The main symptom of tennis elbow is pain on the outside of your elbow or down your forearm, which might be worse when lifting or bending your arm, gripping objects or moving your wrist.

Typically this condition is caused by overuse or strain to the elbow and repetitive stress on the joint, according to Healthline, as it weakens the tendons and muscles along the forearm.

Despite it’s name, the condition can arise from a range of activities such as DIY when using a hammer or screwdriver, swimming, any racket sports or typing for a long time on a computer, not just as a result of playing tennis.

Tennis elbow ranges drastically from being a mild discomfort to some patients, while others might be in on-going pain that disrupts their sleep, work, hobbies and day to day life.

The NHS lists other symptoms of tennis elbow as tenderness or swelling in the elbow, pain in your forearm or difficulty straightening your arm. If you experience any of these symptoms, visit your GP who can provide some suggested treatment to manage the pain.

Nuffield Health says that in 90% of cases, these flare ups in the elbow pain tend to come to an end within a year. In only a minority of cases (8.5%), the pain can be on-going and might need surgical treatment.

How to treat tennis elbow at home

• Avoid any rigorous activity with your arms. For the mean time, it might be worth switching up your workouts or daily routines to avoid putting too much strain on your elbow.

• Use anti-inflammatory gel. Rub the gel, such as ibuprofen gel, into the affected area to help manage the pain during the day and to help with sleep during the night.

• Try to do this simple exercise. Though it might be tempting to avoid using your affected arm as much as possible, try to bend and straightening your arm and repeat this exercise a few times throughout the day to strengthen the elbow.

• Use a hot or cold pack. This is another great way to manage the pain during the day by resting a frozen bag of peas or a hot water bottle on your elbow every few hours.

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