Nursing a sore tendon

[SoreArms]

A couple of days ago I got pain in a tendon while benching (still hurts when lifting anything with about 5lbs or more). I received some advise on here to rest my arm for a week or two (no weight training) and to ice it 3 times a day, which I have been doing.

I've only been applying ice to arm and used icy hot ointment once yesterday.

questions

Does applying ice, then heat to tendon help or should I only worry about icing it?

How much time in between an ice and a heat treatment?

How often should Icy Hot (bengay) be used?

Anything else that could be helpful would be greatly appreciated.

I hate to make this sound like rocket science but this is my first tendon problem encountered and I really fear being sidelined for long. I just want to make sure I do everything I can to allow it to heal properly and as quickly as possible.

Thanks in advance buds.

 

[Scotsman]

A couple of days ago I got pain in a tendon while benching (still hurts when lifting anything with about 5lbs or more). I received some advise on here to rest my arm for a week or two (no weight training) and to ice it 3 times a day, which I have been doing.

I've only been applying ice to arm and used icy hot ointment once yesterday.

questions

Does applying ice, then heat to tendon help or should I only worry about icing it?

How much time in between an ice and a heat treatment?

How often should Icy Hot (bengay) be used?

Anything else that could be helpful would be greatly appreciated.

I hate to make this sound like rocket science but this is my first tendon problem encountered and I really fear being sidelined for long. I just want to make sure I do everything I can to allow it to heal properly and as quickly as possible.

Thanks in advance buds.

I ice for 20min then off for an hour. then repeat. Or do ice then off half an hour then heat for 20min then wait an hour till icing again.

You've been gay your whole life why stop now. Seriously just read the bottle for directions on useage.

Try taking advil (ibuprofin) will help with swelling created by the bursa on the tendon. The bursa is the sleeve your tendon rides in this is what gets damaged most of the time. Also the swelling tends to put pressure on the surrounding nerves which causes the pain.

Other than that just rest.

Cheers,
Scotsman

 

[SoreArms]

I ice for 20min then off for an hour. then repeat. Or do ice then off half an hour then heat for 20min then wait an hour till icing again.

You've been gay your whole life why stop now. Seriously just read the bottle for directions on useage.

Try taking advil (ibuprofin) will help with swelling created by the bursa on the tendon. The bursa is the sleeve your tendon rides in this is what gets damaged most of the time. Also the swelling tends to put pressure on the surrounding nerves which causes the pain.

Other than that just rest.

Cheers,
Scotsman

Thanks Scotts!

 

[UA_Iron]

where is the pain coming from? is it the tendon above the elbow?

 

[SoreArms]

where is the pain coming from? is it the tendon above the elbow?

it stretches from about 3 inches bellow the inside of my elbow to about 1/2 way up my bicept

 

[UA_Iron]

strange that it would be bicep related when it was aggravated by bench press. My roommate was having similar problems and his was aggravated by dumbbell flyes. He switched up his chest routine and included more machines and he has been doing better. But I would agree that not stressing that area for a couple weeks would be the best thing to do.

 

[SoreArms]

strange that it would be bicep related when it was aggravated by bench press. My roommate was having similar problems and his was aggravated by dumbbell flyes. He switched up his chest routine and included more machines and he has been doing better. But I would agree that not stressing that area for a couple weeks would be the best thing to do.

funny thing is that I had been doing all incline DB presses and cross over cables for about 4 weeks and this was my first tiime benching in a while.

 

[one man gang]

What you are starting to develope according to where the pain is is called "Golfers Elbow" you can find a ton of treatments for it on Google. The good thing about this, if there can be one, is that this is the same injury that I suffered, so I can give you more than a few tips. First, stay with the ice, heat is only after the injury becomes "cronic" and hopefully you won't get to that point. I wouldn't do the BenGay more than 3 times a day, as all that "massaging" can irritate the tendon too if you overdo it. There is a kind of elbow "pad/brace" (I've been gone from the States for so long that I can't remember the right name anymore, but I assume that you know what I'm talking about, LOL) that works quite good for this injury, and is fairly inexpensive. It's made from neoprene, and is longer than the normal ones. It should cover your elbow and the top half of your forearm. It also has a kind of "strap" that you can tighten once in place. Placement is very important here, you want the strap to sit just before the point on your arm where the pain is. If you place it directly over the sore tendon, when you tighten it, it will bother the tendon and do more harm than good. Also, put on the "brace" while warming up, but without tightening the strap. Then, only tighten the strap when doing the actual set, when resting in between sets, loosen the strap. Hope this helps, as I said, I suffered this injury for several years before finally overcoming it, so I'm more than happy to help you out on any other questions you might have. I can't, however, stress too much that you need to take care of it now while it's still "fresh" as once it gets "chronic" it's a real bitch to get rid of!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There's a hell of a difference in not being able to work out for two weeks, and not being able to work out for two years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Best of luck, O.M.G.

 

[SoreArms]

I've been icing it 2-3 times per day for over a week now and have been using bengay once a day.

Yesterday I did some work with 15lb DB's and it feels so far (I couldn't lift 8lb DB's when this first happened). I felt like I could have done more weight, but I don't want to rush it. I'll probably kick it up to 20 or 25 lbs next week.

BTW O.M.G.
Do you have a link to the brace that you are talking about?

I bought an elbow brace that is just the right size to cover the affected area. It just slips on, no straps.

 

[one man gang]

BTW O.M.G.
Do you have a link to the brace that you are talking about?

I bought an elbow brace that is just the right size to cover the affected area. It just slips on, no straps.

Wish I did dude, but I'm living in Spain now, so I don't know where to get it there. Try something like Big 5 or Oshmans, it's really a basic kind of brace, if I can find it here, I'm shure you can find it there. In the meantime, I'll see what I can find for ya on the net, at least that will give you an idea of what it looks like. Glad to hear that the tendon is doing better, just keep taking it slow dude, and don't let up on the ice till you find the arm "normal" again. Good luck O.M.G.

 

[big4life]

Here is a site that has all different kinds of braces. I'm sure that one will work.

http://supportsusa.com/arm/elbow/

 

[SoreArms]

I did some work with 20lb db's yesterday, on my last set of curls my arm started feeling stiff so I cut it a little short, otherwise it went fine. No pain or discomfort today. I think that I'm gonna go back to my regular split routine next week, except that I'll stay within 60-70% of my capacity at first and slowly work it back up in the following weeks. I hope thats it for tendon problems for a while if not forever. Thanks for all your help guys.

BTW
O.M.G (or anyone else)

do you wear the brace anytime you lift now? I've worn the brace I bought the last two times I lifted, should i keep using it?

The one I have is kind of like this one (no straps and about the same size/length), except black

 

[one man gang]

I always lift with the brace now, but that's because mine tendonitis got to be cronic, so it's always kind of there, even though I can go months on end without it hurting. Until you feel 100% back to normal, and able to lift like you did before the injury, go ahead a keep using the brace, it won't hurt a bit to keep it on. Then when you are 100% pain free, you can just put it away, and hopefully won't have to take it out ever again, good luck dude, O.M.G.