Tennis Elbow - anyone had it?

[Mike_45]

I have had the pleasure for over a month now of enjoying tennis elbow. I have a brace that my doctor gave me and have been wearing for a while. But the pain/annoyance just wont go away.

Any of you guys have this? And if so did you do any type of exercises to help speed the recovery?

I lift weights and it always feel better after this, but the next day, back to square one.

 

[Future]

Stop lifting weights. It puts strain on the tendons in your wrist which causes swelling and pain in the elbow.

If you're going to lift, I'd recommend trying to find a way to lighten your grip...maybe use straps to take strain off the hands.

Also, regardless of if your lifting or doing anything else with your hands, use a strap or a neoprene sleeve to keep the area just below the elbow compressed. It reduces swelling to improve bloodflow. I use one I actually bought for my knee, but it works pretty well.

I think the reason that it doesn't hurt while you lift is because when you do so, you are active enough to avoid swelling. But, I'd be willing to bet that in the long run its hurting your elbow. Might want to think about changing up your routine or just taking a break (that's the only things that's made a significant difference for me) and then easing back into it.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Yeah, got it when I was around 14. Doctor said I was going to go blind too if I kept doing what gave it to me.

Turns out moderation is the key. Only wear glasses now.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Yeah, I've gotten it pretty seriously in both elbows over the years. And also on the opposite side of my elbow, which they call "golfer's elbow" -- though both were from lifting.

Those tennis elbow straps really work, though. I guess that's what your doc gave you, the strap you tighten down just below your elbow to take pressure off that tendon attachment?

With me it was gripping the bar that hurt it, so like Future said, you might have to resort to using machines or different movements so you don't have to grip. I tried to do weighted bodyweight (oxymoron) movements instead of using a barbell or dumbbells.

Eventually it does gets better, though it can be slow.

 

[Mike_45]

Ok, thanks guys. My doctor said that I could lift, just as long as it didnt cuase further pain.

I am up for taking some time off though.

I think I was being somewhat stupid, I was working in my shop building some carts, which probably did more harm than good.

My little brace is a hit at work, my cube mate picks on me.

 

[justbob]

The braces and wraps didn't work very good for me. I took a two inch ace bandage (wrap)and rolled a tight hard little roll on one end about the size ring finger.Lay that roll right below the elbow where the pain is and then wrap the rest of the bandage around your arm holding the little roll snugly in place..works better for me then the little wraps with the gel pad in them ..

 

[Bill Wooten]

I've had it and used the straps as well. I didn't get noticeable improvement until I went to the Dr. and he told me to take Advil or Aleve regularly as an anti-inflammatory. That knocked it out.

 

[Eskimo]

An option other than anti-inflammatory or counter-traction brace on the forearm is to try and use Nitro patches over the tendon attachment site. They can be bought over the counter often now at 0.4 mg/hour dose. I've had some people have some success using just half contact with the skin for a dose of 0.2 mg/hr.

I generally advise against cortisone injections for this condition.

All that may be required in your case is a bit of rest.

By far the most common tendon involved is ECRB (extensor carpii radialis brevis) which is the major workhorse of that tendon group and tends to get heavily stressed during any gripping type activity. The idea of using some wrist straps to help lighten the load on your tendon attachment site when lifting weights makes sense once your condition has settled down.

 

[justbob]

Thanks for the professional input. Are the nitro patches available in the states.

 

[1fisher]

An option other than anti-inflammatory or counter-traction brace on the forearm is to try and use Nitro patches over the tendon attachment site. They can be bought over the counter often now at 0.4 mg/hour dose. I've had some people have some success using just half contact with the skin for a dose of 0.2 mg/hr.

I generally advise against cortisone injections for this condition.

All that may be required in your case is a bit of rest.

By far the most common tendon involved is ECRB (extensor carpii radialis brevis) which is the major workhorse of that tendon group and tends to get heavily stressed during any gripping type activity. The idea of using some wrist straps to help lighten the load on your tendon attachment site when lifting weights makes sense once your condition has settled down.

Can you speak more about your position on this? I had injections in both elbows (7 or 8 years ago) and both are as good as new.

 

[CATCH17]

I have had the pleasure for over a month now of enjoying tennis elbow. I have a brace that my doctor gave me and have been wearing for a while. But the pain/annoyance just wont go away.

Any of you guys have this? And if so did you do any type of exercises to help speed the recovery?

I lift weights and it always feel better after this, but the next day, back to square one.

I've had all kinds of issues lately with my joints.

Never tennis elbow though and I used to play a lot of racquetball.


Just ice it after you lift, take an ibuprofen for awhile, and try to get some glucosamine wtih MSM in it. A little Fish Oil will help too.


I started taking a Multi Vitamin called Orange Triad that has it in it.

 

[Mike_45]

Thanks for the good information again.

Where can we get these Nitro patches?

 

[Eskimo]

Can you speak more about your position on this? I had injections in both elbows (7 or 8 years ago) and both are as good as new.

They have just on average been found to be pretty ineffective for most cases of what is called "tennis elbow". Much more common than garden variety tendonitis which will often resolve on its own with a bit of rest is chronic tendinosis with disorganized fibroproliferative type changes in the soft tissue that become a source of chronic ongoing discomfort. In this setting, the steroid shot is usually ineffective. There can also be a fairly high rate of complications from the injection itself at this site so I'm not a huge fan of it but it does work for some people but so do things like normal saline injection int the studies. Ten to fifteen years ago this injection was very common but I really think its use has markedly decreased in the last five to ten years.

For cases of chronic tendinosis a very effective treatment mostly eludes us but I find the nitro patch technique to be very cheap. Some people will unfortunately get headaches from the nitro and can't tolerate it. One fellow physician who had this problem actually cut down to 0.1 mg/hr and had a decent response.

If this nitro treatment fails, I think interventional techniques that might be more likely to work are prolotherapy (tendon injected with sclerosant to generate a more robust inflammatory response which can induce proper healing) or alternatively something like platelet-rich plasma injection at the site to bring more growth factors to the site are other alternatives.

I'm not sure if nitro patches are available OTC in the US - you'll have to ask your pharmacist. Nevertheless, they will be readily available from a family doc.