A couple years ago I went through a bout w tennis elbow, it hurt bad and it lingered for a long time (months on end). I tried massages, ice/heat and band exercises. Plus I'd ice my elbow in a ice bath for 15min after a workout/before the hot shower. I've also had to reduce frequency of certain types of lifts/grips. My muscles can lift it, but my elbows hate how I grip things.

Post-injury maintenance, my elbow will get irritated after a day/weekend of activity that strains the elbow - motorcycle riding (handlebar position), manual labor/home projects/medium to heavy yard work, even lifting if I let myself run away with what feels good. In those cases I'll ice it, take an anti-inflammatory and do a few ROM movements to get it settled down again.