tennis elbow

[Anonymous]

actually i am a weightlifter but i feel you may be able to offer assistance...your my last hope

i received, not so graciously, outer elbow tendinitis after my loser-of-a-spotter failed me in nose-crunchers about 8 months ago. i stopped evertything for 3 months, ibuprofined up, and slowly got back into lifting. 3 months back, i was at 80% of my max when it came back again. i have stopped completely for the past 2 months, ibuprofined more, the pain is gone although sometimes i 'notice' that all is not quite right.

WHAT CAN I DO TO ELIMINATE MY ELBOW TENDINITIS FOREVER??? i realize i probably was overzealous when starting my training back up the first time...i don't want ot repeat my mistake.

is their any strengthening exercises i can do? i really want to be able to focus on my bi's and tri's in the future. this tendinitis can't happen again. HELP!!! my mental state is slipping away day-by-day.

thanks

[asharpe]

Hi,

Tough questions. Here's a few sites that might help:

http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/
http://www.exrx.net/index.html

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

actually i am a weightlifter but i feel you may be able to offer assistance...your my last hope

i received, not so graciously, outer elbow tendinitis after my loser-of-a-spotter failed me in nose-crunchers about 8 months ago. i stopped evertything for 3 months, ibuprofined up, and slowly got back into lifting. 3 months back, i was at 80% of my max when it came back again. i have stopped completely for the past 2 months, ibuprofined more, the pain is gone although sometimes i 'notice' that all is not quite right.

WHAT CAN I DO TO ELIMINATE MY ELBOW TENDINITIS FOREVER??? i realize i probably was overzealous when starting my training back up the first time...i don't want ot repeat my mistake.

is their any strengthening exercises i can do? i really want to be able to focus on my bi's and tri's in the future. this tendinitis can't happen again. HELP!!! my mental state is slipping away day-by-day.

thanks

[Anonymous]

My own experience of tennis elbow is the only short term answer is ibuprophen and REST - lots of it! Yes, I know it sends you nuts but the long term alternative is that the elbow becomes useless for a very, very long time. (i.e. years.)

Advice I got from my physio was most people start back training too hard when they think the elbow is better for 'normal' usage. You have to do a very, very gradual return to training otherwise, as you have experienced, the injury comes back.

Failing that, stop weight lifting and do something far more interesting like playing tennis - with your other arm of course!

Merlin N.

[Phil]

One of the factors that has always been reputed to make a difference to tennis elbow is the size of grip used. If a grip that is too small is used the hand has to grip more tightly than it otherwise would and this puts strain on the muscles in the arm. Applying the same concept to lifting, you may find (particularly if you have large hands) that putting wraps on the bar, or if possible using a bigger bar, helps.

Just a thought.

Phil

[rasinton]

Hi

I've just recovered from Tennis Elbow by following my physio's advice - a combination of not playing for 7-8 weeks, ultrasound, massage, hot/cold treatment, forearm exercises (static - squeezing a rubber ball, etc.) and stretching. A frustrating time, but, it worked for me!!!!

I regularly hear another school of thought, which is to carry on and ice-pack the elbow/arm after playing. Works for some folk, but, my condition was "chronic", which meant I could play satisfactorily anyway as I didn't have the strength in the arm to control the racquet.

However, I am aware of a newer type of treatment that's around - Shockwave - and here are a couple of Web sites that may help.....

The first one is a general site, promoting the technology.....
http://www.ismst.com/events.htm

....and this one is a US manufacturer's site which is easier to read and has information more suited to the layman (i.e. me!) .....
http://www.healthtronics.com/ossatron/index.html

It refers mainly to heel problems because it has been used for that for a while, but, it is now being used for elbows! Have a search on the Web for more information ("ESWT" is a good one to search for).

If you do go for this - can you post some details of your experiences when it's been done, please?

Hope this of interest! :D

[Hawkeye2]

Hi there,

the classic tennis elbow is no inflammation. An inflammation would be hot and maybe swollen, but the tennis elbow is not.

The reason is usually a shortening of a muscle in the elbow.
As a result, this muscle "tantalizes" a specific elbow tendon, which causes the elbow pain.

So rest will stop additional stress to this tendon, but will not resolve the problem.
It starts all over again when resuming your training.

The only help is to stretch this elbow muscle when ever possible !

There is a swiss site in german, where you can find pictures of several exercises, try them out and stretch in every free minute.

http://airbed.ch/tennisarm/behan1.htm

The german text probably won't help you, but look at the pictures for the stretching exercises and there's the english version at the end of the page, too.

It work's, I could cure my elbow pain from tennis perfectly in no time with these tipps.

Good luck !

[David Pavlich]

I had the same affliction from lifting. I ended up at the doc's for a cortizone shot. I was back in the weight room 2 weeks later and have never had it since.

David

[backhandjake]

;) thanks Hawkeye,

yeah the stretching the extensors really work
i was doing something similar but not as intense.
read everything on this board...why didn't i see this earlier?

thanks again,
jake
:D