Thread: tennis elbow

Originally Posted by dollarbill

anyone ever had this and if so how did you deal with, any helpful tips?

You can buy a strap that goes just below the elbow around the forearm that can help temporarily, but with repetitive use injuries rest is really the only long-term solution.

I use this. CVS or Walgreens has them. Get the XL or XXL. They run small.

Take a week or two off from lifting, ice it a few times a day and if you're going to do something that aggravates it take some ibuprofen. Don't continue to lift or it will just get worse and you'll eventually have to take a longer leave that a week or two.

here is a good site to check out. A physical therapist goes over this on the radio interview but you can get the jist of it here

superhumanradio.com/the-show/diy-tennis-elbow-golfers-elbow-treatment-that-really-works.html

I would suggest stop playing tennis. That sport (if you want to call it a sport) is for soccer moms. Try lifting weights.

All joking aside, wraps will help and a visit to a physical therapist may be a good idea. The physical therapist will be able to show you a few movements and massages that will help out a great deal.

Take a week off and rest. Take some anti-inflammatories if you need to. To prevent it next time take out the main culprits like skullcrushers that put too much stress on the elbows, and you can also start supplementing with glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM/Fish Oils as well.

Never tried the elbow straps, but if they work by all means try those out too!

thnx for input, going to try and chill for a week or so, even though i hate the idea, but know its whats best. hey gazhole is your pic form a movie?

I have been dealing with elbow pain for 2 years now. Went to 2 different orthopedics and they both said the same, tennis elbow!!. I wanted to continue to lift hard so I have my physician give me a cortisone shot and it helped out great. If you dont mind shots go with it.

Originally Posted by Gazhole

To prevent it next time take out the main culprits like skullcrushers that put too much stress on the elbows, and you can also start supplementing with glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM/Fish Oils as well.

I agree! Skullcrusher is what gave me that pain in my left elbow!

dollarbill, my advice is to get this dealt with asap. if you let things like tendinitis linger, they tend to stay with you for a LONG time. definitely visit a physical therapist.

Originally Posted by Bigred111

I have been dealing with elbow pain for 2 years now. Went to 2 different orthopedics and they both said the same, tennis elbow!!. I wanted to continue to lift hard so I have my physician give me a cortisone shot and it helped out great. If you dont mind shots go with it.

Cortisone shots just mask the pain. Its not a maintenance protocol and in fact you might end up hurting yourself more because the natural 'pain responses' of the body are masked by the cortisone shot. If its just plain miserable, then a shot will help it while it heals, but that doesn't mean you should go out and start doign the same stuff that irritates it in the first place. Take that time off to let it heal.

With regard to dealing with it - ICE is a huge help. Ibuprofen if its really bad, but try to not make it a regular protocol as it can irritate the lining of your stomach.

Personally I got my first exposure to what was described as the "opposite of tennis elbow" back in 1992. Over the years it has flared up, or gone away thru rest, ice, etc. More recently it has really become an issue. It seems like once you get it, it may recede and flare up, but never really goes away. You can work w/ different angles on your lifts, different grips, different bars (e.g. I strictly use an EZbar because the straight bar just plain old hurts).

Those little straps someone above mentioned did work well for me. I also used to use neoprene elbow sleeves, and more recently nylon sleeves. I don't like having a wad of neoprene pressing on my elbow joint on curl contractions and I found even the nylon sleevs would compress my arm to the point of discomfort, so I went to the pressure straps.

One thing that scares me about getting various flavors of tendonitis is that we tend to pretect the pain point by having other muscles try to do the work of the painful muscle or tendon. This then leads to other stress issues - basically surrounding muscles can start to ball up and cause other pain further down the road. I've found a good massage therapist can help break up some of the tensed muscle as well.

I found these tennis elbow exercises to give instant relief for me.



For long term strengthening of the forearms, here are some forearm exercises you can do. You only need an adjustable dumbbell and plates to perform these exercises. Hope these help.

Even better are negative reps. Same as above but lower the weight. Saw some treatment routine with a flexible rubber bar which used negative reps in a twisting motion, and the above exercise came to mind. Use a thicker rope wound around a few layers to increase the diameter of the bar for more resistance. Just lower the weight instead of raising it.