I am going to have to weigh in on this... I am sport chiropractor... no, not the type that only works on backs. Not the type that only adjusts spines. The type that is a neuro-musculoskeletal specialist. I have worked on the best athletes from many of the national teams in the USA and specialize in upper extremity injuries, especially that of the shoulder and do work on elbows extensively.
First: DO NOT... DO NOT get surgery until it is the absolute LAST step.
Second: Lay off the ice... ice does two things, and two things alone; it reduces blood flow and it reduces pain. That is it. It will not allow for adequate healing nor will it speed healing.
Third: instead of ice, use heat... improves local blood supply (think increasing blood supply means you are bringing nutrients to the area)
Fourth: try to determine the perturbing factors... what do you do for a living? Are you working in one position day after day and can that be an issue? Are you swinging a hammer day after day and are you gripping things, perhaps improperly, day after day, hour after hour? Figuring out the cause is EVERYTHING on this.
Fifth: if you have not already, and I don't understand why anyone would not, PLEASE get some serious soft tissue work done on this. I am not talking about massage... I'm talking about heavy duty Graston Technique, Active Release Technique or other like IASTYM. What this does is to increase blood supply, reduce fibrosis, improve range of motion and decrease pain... eventually. You CANNOT train/strengthen/stretch effectively, unhealthy tissue.
Sixth: Acupuncture can be very helpful to reduce pain as well as if done directly on the tendon itself and on the lateral epicondyle itself (the attachment point of the tendon) blood flow introduction is seen and therefore an improved healing outcome
Seventh: Perform the bull dog exercise (if you don't have an idea of what this is I am more than happy to send it to anyone whom is interested via PM)
Eighth: in the initial phase, you can use eccentric exercises to assist with decreasing fibrosis... try using a therabar (on amazon.com for $20) several times each day
Ninth: I am not sure why anyone would inject this tendon with corticosteroids when we know that it does nothing long term.... NOTHING. Short term, like to get your through a championship game, yes, it can help. But long term it can actually lead to soft tissue necrosis/death and worse pain and dysfunction.
Tenth: If the above fails, try ESWT (Extra Corporeal Shockwave Therapy)... radially pulsed, high frequency sound waves applied directly to the tendon(s)/region(s) with the goal of breaking up scar tissue and improving healing time. Typically and out of pocket expenditure of $300 for the entire treatment course but well worth the investment compared to surgery with piss poor outcomes in my experience.
Eleventh: You cannot... you CANNOT strengthen unhealthy tissue. So, don't even think about trying to make the region(s) stronger before the tissue is healthy once again.
That about covers it... I am sure i have more ideas for you all but I am on vacation right now and dont have the bandwidth! Best of luck and I am more than happy to discuss the above with anyone who has questions.
Erik