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Pulled something last Saturday (riding at Cannock). Doc said "Tennis Elbow" and, if its not much better in 4 weeks will give me a steroid injection.
Holiday to Andorra in 6 weeks, cycling.
Will I be OK?
any healing tips to speed up the process or positive advice most welcome.
I had it about 18 months ago.
Doc advised shop bought anti inflammatories.
Took for a week or so and bob was my uncle .
Get well soon, at it's worst I couldn't pour a kettle!
Do this stretch;
Put your arm out in front of you like a flat Nazi salute.
Bend your hand down so your fingers are pointing at the floor.
Grasp your fingers with the other hand and pull to make the stretch stretchier.
Then, keeping everything where it is, rotate your elbow outwards to make the stretch even stretchier.
...and rub it hard 3 times a day over the hurtiest bit.
[quote=crikey ]Do this stretch;
Put your arm out in front of you like a flat Nazi salute.
But make sure your girlfriend doesn't have your mobile phone at the time.
And ease up on tugging the monkey for a couple of weeks... 😉
Had it and dont envy you, at worst I couldnt pick a can of pop up , just need to get rid of the rotator cuff injury I have had for 12 months now
And ease up on tugging the monkey for a couple of weeks...
It's my left arm!
I'm right handed
'Tennis Elbow' is a long term over use injury brought on by repetitive movements like racket sports or factory work. Pain is usually on outside of elbow. What you have is probably just a strain so prognosis could be better than said tennis elbow which is hard to make better. Get it rested. Ice the area for every so often over three days then start adding heat and trying some stretches. If in doubt talk to a physio. Doctors can throw the term tennis elbow around too easily sometimes!
If you have proper tennis elbow the. Expect a long period of struggling to shake hands, grip anything broad (I'm thinking bricks by then I'm a builder).
It's a major PITA and steroids don't always work. If you're going to get one, ask for it to be done at the hospital using ultrasound so they can see the needle going to the right place(otherwise you're just wasting you're time - it bloody hurts that way but its the only reliable method.)
I have had it for 10 years in both arms !, it's better now but has never gone away. Sorry to pit a downer on things but that's my experience. At least you may be ble to short circuit the grief I've had.
If it remains go and get a hard sports massage on it, get the guy to really beat the heck out of it, and then use a powerball or wrist exercisers to keep the muscle in good shape once it recovers.
I had to have 3 goes to free up the stiffness in my forearm, and have to occasionally get the grip exerciser out when it starts feeling like it is stiffening up again.
Rub an ice cube into the sore area until it melts. Repeat as and when you feel the need.
As above 🙂 rub Ice onto outside of elbow. If its a sprain then it'll be right in a couple weeks if it is Tennis Elbow which I doubt if its a sudden injury then expect 6 - 24 months or surgery to improve it.
There is very little evidence to support the use of friction massage with tennis elbow.
I was told to do reverse wrist curls (or something like that), basicly get a dumbell with weight on only one end, sit in a chair holding it in your bad hand and rotate it with the good arm and then lowerit slowly with the bad arm. Three ways to do it, clockwise, anticlockwise and with a normal dumbell with your palm up.
Doing it in reverse strengthens the tendons but leaves the muscle be as the tendon is always stronger, so doing normal exercises tear the muscle, which then gows back stonger, but the tendon never catches up, but muscles are stronger when lowering weights so doing the exercixes in reverse doesnt build them up (unless you go crazy with huge in which case it's a way body builders get big quickly as it can be done with such big weights).
My wife is a physio, and is always recommending ice, for almost every muscular ailment. I've suffered from tennis elbow on and off for a long time now because i play guitar a lot. would recommend rest and ice much more than anything else.
I've biked in the Alps, even when it was quite bad - but I wore an epicondular cuff when I did so which helped relieve the strain on the elbow a lot.
Read up about eccentric loading and get a flex bar or some weights.
I have had tennis elbow in both arms this past year. Eccentrics really work well.
Steroid injections for a reactive tendinopathy are not effective by the way. Go see a sports physio or consultant.
I had TE for a while. Tried ice, painkiller, anti-inflammatories, exercise, cuffs etc. Eventually, the GP persuaded me to get the injection. It was ****ing painful. I mean really, really painful. I almost hit the ceiling. Later that day I was getting into the car and bumped my elbow on the door. I dropped to my knees in the supermarket car park, crying in pain. My daughter (4 at the time) was screaming "daddy, daddy are you OK?".
Two weeks later all the pain had gone and it's never returned. If it started up again I'd go straight to the injection 😉
It's horrible 😥 Had tennis & golfers elbow on both sides. Also tenosinovitis (wakners doom)in both wrists.
I get straight down the gym & hit the free weights. I've been down the steroid injection route several times & it's only provided relief once. I think it's down to the skill of the doc getting the needle in exactly the right place. The relief when it worked was within 48 hours & was complete. I had no re-occurence for six months. The bloke that got it right was easily the most confident GP I've been to. He said, " I can sort this out for you today" He then spent a couple of minutes examining my elbow then drew a little "target" with a ball point pen. The needle went in & the rest is history.
Good luck. The weights worked for me.
D.
I used a combination of an air cast (small plastic bubble held in place with a cuff over the problem area) that relived the pain, hard massage with my finger tip, reverse curls and acupunture.
All combined to enable my arm to work correctly but it hasn't gone completely.
There is very little evidence to support the use of friction massage with tennis elbow.
sorted out my forearm, which was quite bad. And previous threads have had others who have had the same experience, and then used things like powerballs to complete the healing and prevent re-occurence.
I got Ennis elbow during the Olympics. 😀
Not thinking I've got "proper" Tennis Elbow then. Thank heavens for that! Ice, ibuprofen and a few weeks rest ought to sort it by the sounds of thinks then.
Thanks for the advice
I had it, took over a year to go and still get the odd twinge. Really is a massive PITA once you get it
I was advised to use an epi clasp by my physio, it worked a treat and although mine has eased up now, I still wear the epi clasp if I'm doing any repetative actions for a while. If it is tennis elbow it won't be a quick fix though.
took me a year to get over mine. 2 steroid injections, last for a month then pain comes back.
ended up at physio who gave massages, ultrasound until only thing that shifted it was acupuncture!.
dont make the mistake i made a leave it too long before sorting out, steriods are only a temporary fix. Physio etc is way to go if full blown tennis elbow.
Lots of different approaches for tennis elbow, not all of them with good evidence, but you'll always find someone who believes it worked for them (whether it was a factor or not) and other cases in which it made zero difference.
Depends really if it's a short term strain or long term chronic injury. Ice cube suggestion along with rest is the one I'd go for. I'd leave off the stretches if it's very sore. There's all manner of straps you can buy, but I've never seen any reliable evidence that they make a difference in recovery terms.
>Pulled something last Saturday<
Not a medic but I've had T.E and that aint Tennis Elbow.
So, suck it up big boy.
😉
I had it since last summer. I was hoping it will go away during winter due to less "suspension stress", but nope it still annoys me every bit.I saw doctor twice and they recommended Voltarol pain relief gel, this made no difference to me.
I friend of mine had it too and he plays tennis regularly, for him it just suddenly went away (after suffering for several months) and he was able to hit the ball normally again.
I hope it gets better for you in time for your Andorra break.
Will I be OK?
You will probably die, sorry.
Ask your doctor/physio for an epi clasp, I tried the ice and voltorol gel and neither worked, also had a cortisone injection which hurt like bloody hell for a couple of days but didn't make the tennis elbow any better.
+1 for the epi clasp, this really sorted my tennis elbow out and for little cost or annoyance . I did get puzzled questions at work about the bulge in my jacket!
been suffering badly with mine now for over two years, lifting a cup of tea is very painful, like someone stubbing out a cigarette on my arm.
Have had 20 physio sessions, 3 acupuncture, countless stretching exercises and two steroid injections, power balls elbow cuffs, you name it I have tried it.
Riding my MTB is not as painful as my road bike. Strangely hill walking causes me most pain as gravity wants to straighten my arm which it no longer wants to do. The arm also seizes up over night and takes time in the mornings to get it moving.
Severe tennis elbow is not nice at all.
First injection worked for a couple of months, before the second injection was offered surgery but this would mean no biking/kayaking for 6-8 weeks minimum so went for the second injection and if/when it comes back am going to have the surgery in the winter.
I found one of those straps around my arm just below my elbow work very well. In fact I am in agony in minutes playing badminton without one.
ahh 'epi claps' is the name for it. I have one of the larger style. The slimline look a bit neater. My elbow pads actually do a good job as they are a bit tight still.
Good article on exercises to do. I did the exercises when I had golfers elbow and it made a massive difference.
http://www.athlon.com.au/articles/r&i_dodgyelbow.pdf
When I had it, riding the bike didn't give me much grief, but picking up a cup of tea would result in a lot of swearing.
Along with anti-inflammatory patches, and sleeping with my arms crossed & hands on opposite shoulders has cleared things up a treat.