Tendonitis

[Caleb's Tree]

Tendonitis Median Side of Elbow

I developed a bit of tendonitis in my right elbow along the inside of my arm.

I think it was a strain or slight pull when I had to move a grading blade for my tractor.

I've been babying this thing for a couple of weeks, icing it ocassionally, doing light workouts. I probably should have totally laid off it for about two weeks, but I don't want to miss my workouts. It's the ulnar collateral ligament (I think) that was strained. It bothers me most when I do cable crossovers / flies. Not sure if that't the right term for the exercise. Designed to work the pecs, biceps and forearms.

What should I do? Should I just keep icing it till it clears up? Should I just forget working my upper body, and just do legs till it clears up? Should I just eliminate any exercises that aggravate it?

Any tips from you guys would be helpful.

I just got back into weight lifting again this year and actually am making some nice progress. Been lifting since January with little or few incidents. I am an old SOB 44 with some injuries from playing football, but I've been able to work around those, even eliminate some of them through weight training.

Is it best to just give my elbow a rest. The pain or discomfort is slight, but I can still feel it. I just don't want to make it worse or turn it into a bigger problem. This might be one time where if I was on AAS or something that it might heal up quicker...don't know.

 

[skacorica]

Tendinitis has been my main enemy since I started weight lifting. When I was younger I overdid it on my arm (pitching in Baseball + QB in football) and to this day, 10 years later I struggle with it. If you go to the doc they will tell you the same thing "Take 4 ibuprofen 4 times a day and drink a lot of water." Do that, ice it, and don't lift anything with your arms for a week or two then take it easy and do lighter reps for the next couple weeks. If you need to, do more reps to still get a good workout in.

Its the kind of thing you DONT want to turn into a chronic problem, trust me on that one

 

[zxe003]

When I was at the peak of my lifting 4 years ago, I developed tendonitis in the same area. Made it real difficult on heavy bench and tricep work. I saw my doctor about it and he explained that once you devleop it, it's something you'll always have to deal with on some level if you continue to stay active. He advised to ice it and give it rest for a couple of weeks, but that if I insisted on continuing to work it (which he said would not be damaging if I kept it moderate) he would prescribe me some Ibuprofen to take through those workouts. I rested for about a week and then got back to my workouts (sligthly toned down) with about 500mg of Ibuprofen and I was good to go! No pain during workouts and in a couple of weeks the pain subsided on it's own. Rest is always the best medicine for an injury, but my stubborn ass found a work around for the inflamation and it worked out. Don't know how severe yours is so you may want to consult your own Doc though.

 

[Caleb's Tree]

When I was at the peak of my lifting 4 years ago, I developed tendonitis in the same area. Made it real difficult on heavy bench and tricep work. I saw my doctor about it and he explained that once you devleop it, it's something you'll always have to deal with on some level if you continue to stay active. He advised to ice it and give it rest for a couple of weeks, but that if I insisted on continuing to work it (which he said would not be damaging if I kept it moderate) he would prescribe me some Ibuprofen to take through those workouts. I rested for about a week and then got back to my workouts (sligthly toned down) with about 500mg of Ibuprofen and I was good to go! No pain during workouts and in a couple of weeks the pain subsided on it's own. Rest is always the best medicine for an injury, but my stubborn ass found a work around for the inflamation and it worked out. Don't know how severe yours is so you may want to consult your own Doc though.

It's really not that severe. It was brought on by a strain. It's still sore in one spot. I can feel it a bit. Seems to be a small knot where the injury ocurred. I just don't want to do any damage. Maybe I need to do leg workouts, and keep icing it till it goes away. What about using Aleve? It's an anti-inflammatory?

 

[zxe003]

It's really not that severe. It was brought on by a strain. It's still sore in one spot. I can feel it a bit. Seems to be a small knot where the injury ocurred. I just don't want to do any damage. Maybe I need to do leg workouts, and keep icing it till it goes away. What about using Aleve? It's an anti-inflammatory?

That's good, probably more annoying than painful. The Aleve may work, it's worth a shot. Nothing was strong enough for me except the Ibuprofen.

 

[Caleb's Tree]

That's good, probably more annoying than painful. The Aleve may work, it's worth a shot. Nothing was strong enough for me except the Ibuprofen.

Man, I hate taking off. I shouldn't lose too much if I take a second week off. I maybe have to scale back.

 

[skacorica]

just get OTC ibuprofen man, its as good as anything. You don't need a prescription for that

 

[fisttotheface]

It's really not that severe. It was brought on by a strain. It's still sore in one spot. I can feel it a bit. Seems to be a small knot where the injury ocurred. I just don't want to do any damage. Maybe I need to do leg workouts, and keep icing it till it goes away. What about using Aleve? It's an anti-inflammatory?

Aleve is the bomb! I have tendonitis in both elbows and it flares up when I bench heavy. Aleve+advil+ice = pain free

 

[musketeer]

Ibuprofen and avoiding the exercises that aggrivate it whilst still using the elbow joint for exercises that don't cause pain is the way forward. Stop doing those cable flyes completely too!!

 

[Scotsman]

Pressure icing helps mine a lot when it flairs up. Just freeze water in a dixie(5oz) cup then peel away the bottom of the cup leaving the sides to hold onto. Then in small circular motions massage the ice into the area for about 10-15 minutes. This along with some sort of anti-inflammatory (I like ibuprofen) greatly helps me out.

Cheers,
Scotsman

 

[skacorica]

Pressure icing helps mine a lot when it flairs up. Just freeze water in a dixie(5oz) cup then peel away the bottom of the cup leaving the sides to hold onto. Then in small circular motions massage the ice into the area for about 10-15 minutes. This along with some sort of anti-inflammatory (I like ibuprofen) greatly helps me out.

Cheers,
Scotsman

Great advice, I left that part out. The dixie cups work great for that.

 

[b fold the truth]

Several Things can help:

Get an elbow sleeve from APT. Email them directly and ask for Debbie or Alan and tell them that Clint Darden sent you for advice. They sell some great ones for tendonitis and their new ones are even greatly improved. Extra long without too much help.

At night and during the day, put a hot cream on it like Zostrix HP (Wal-Mart), something with the hot pepper Capiscan (sp?) in it. Wrap it lightly, especially when just around the house or sleeping.

Use a hot cream before training, I like the Generic Form of Ben Gay, or Icy Hot.

Stretch your forearms, biceps, triceps, shoulders, and add in some rotator work for a few weeks. The pain could be coming from somewhere else honestly.

Widen your grip out on squats a little, or go a little light (better yet do fronts) for a few weeks too.

 

[Caleb's Tree]

Several Things can help:

Get an elbow sleeve from APT. Email them directly and ask for Debbie or Alan and tell them that Clint Darden sent you for advice. They sell some great ones for tendonitis and their new ones are even greatly improved. Extra long without too much help.

At night and during the day, put a hot cream on it like Zostrix HP (Wal-Mart), something with the hot pepper Capiscan (sp?) in it. Wrap it lightly, especially when just around the house or sleeping.

Use a hot cream before training, I like the Generic Form of Ben Gay, or Icy Hot.

Stretch your forearms, biceps, triceps, shoulders, and add in some rotator work for a few weeks. The pain could be coming from somewhere else honestly.

Widen your grip out on squats a little, or go a little light (better yet do fronts) for a few weeks too.

Just an update here. I have been icing it, and taking alleve. I also used some accupressure in the area and tried to work the knot out a bit.

Actually yesterday it felt good enough to work out, but I did leg work instead. I'm going to ice again today a few times, and some more alleve. I think by Wed, I'll probably be able to do my upper body workout. I'm going to tone it down a bit so I don't reaggravate it. After that, I think I'll be fine.

Thanks for the good advice. I like the styrofoam cup idea, btw.

 

[GymAddiction]

ya dude i think i have the same thing its in the insaide part of my elbow
the phycisal therapist said i should be icing it 3 times a day for 15 minutes...she said its the best thing i can do is ice it!

is yours swollen?

 

[coolcolj]

some self massage and release work with a tennis ball can work wonders - it has for me. All the aches iand pains I have had everywhere have all dissapeared after a few weeks of this. Loosens up the Fasica and breaks up scar tissue and adhesions in the muscles. The puts your body back into proper alignment, like the way you were, back as a teen....especially for an old fart like you

copy and paste

Start from the bottom of the feet and work up.

background info
http://laurensfitness.com/2008/03/06/fascia-part-1-an-important-piece-of-the-pain-puzzle/


articles
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=475832
http://laurensfitness.com/2008/02/24/tennis-ball-part-1-a-tool-you-never-knew-you-had/


vids
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stEfs08PvIk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT7QMW6Qebs

--

the foam roller helps for the lower body, but if you read the articles, the tennis ball is even better for the upper body and bottom of the foot
Tennis ball against the wall is also awesome for the glutes and hips, TFL etc
All problems start from the foot, so start rolling out the foot arch with a tennis ball or golf ball, if the tennis ball isn't doing much. I also use a hard 21x3 inch cardboard roll, since the foam roller eventually doesn't do much when you get looser. A PVC pipe does the job too.

And I also use small Mini BBalls pumped up tight. I have one the size of a volleyball that works great on the VMO and adductor area. The small size works better there, foam rollers tend to get in the way. Applies enough pressure to bring tears to my eyes!

Anyway you will find trigger points all over your body. Once they go away, you will be so loose, it's not funny! And feel stronger too! The moderate weights at one stage started to feel scary heavy on my back, on squats. I think the CNS was shutting down the muscles because everything was so tight, scar tissue filled and jammed up. Now it feels good.

My upper body got a whole lot stronger and more stable after I started the tissue work. No surprise, because ART does the same kind of thing, but better, and people regain and improve strength

 

[Caleb's Tree]

some self massage and release work with a tennis ball can work wonders - it has for me. All the aches iand pains I have had everywhere have all dissapeared after a few weeks of this. Loosens up the Fasica and breaks up scar tissue and adhesions in the muscles. The puts your body back into proper alignment, like the way you were, back as a teen....especially for an old fart like you

copy and paste

Start from the bottom of the feet and work up.

background info
http://laurensfitness.com/2008/03/06/fascia-part-1-an-important-piece-of-the-pain-puzzle/


articles
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=475832
http://laurensfitness.com/2008/02/24/tennis-ball-part-1-a-tool-you-never-knew-you-had/


vids
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stEfs08PvIk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT7QMW6Qebs

--

the foam roller helps for the lower body, but if you read the articles, the tennis ball is even better for the upper body and bottom of the foot
Tennis ball against the wall is also awesome for the glutes and hips, TFL etc
All problems start from the foot, so start rolling out the foot arch with a tennis ball or golf ball, if the tennis ball isn't doing much. I also use a hard 21x3 inch cardboard roll, since the foam roller eventually doesn't do much when you get looser. A PVC pipe does the job too.

And I also use small Mini BBalls pumped up tight. I have one the size of a volleyball that works great on the VMO and adductor area. The small size works better there, foam rollers tend to get in the way. Applies enough pressure to bring tears to my eyes!

Anyway you will find trigger points all over your body. Once they go away, you will be so loose, it's not funny! And feel stronger too! The moderate weights at one stage started to feel scary heavy on my back, on squats. I think the CNS was shutting down the muscles because everything was so tight, scar tissue filled and jammed up. Now it feels good.

My upper body got a whole lot stronger and more stable after I started the tissue work. No surprise, because ART does the same kind of thing, but better, and people regain and improve strength

Thanks for these resources. Very informative.

 

[coolcolj]

you can use a lot of things to do the release work, I sometimes use the rounded corner of my kitchen benchtop

anything that can apply pressure will do the job