Training & Nutrition - Tendonitis (tennis elbow)

It would appear that one of my jobs has given me a gift .... tendonitis in my right elbow. :mad:


If you've had tendonitis (tennis elbow), how long did it take to heal? Was there something in particular that seemed to help the healing process? I'm in a brace ... I'm using ibuprofen ... I'm trying to rest it ...

Try to change the motions or movement you perform repetitive tasks with.

DO NOT mess with it. Wear your brace, stay off the hand... If you let it get aggravated, you may be stuck with it for years. I was stupid and kept working; now it comes back every few weeks, and nothing seems to help anymore :(

Don't let it happen to you! LOTS of rest, then PT to build strength. As far as the pain goes, the only thing that works for me is an ointment called Topricin CTS.

Trouble is that my job involves a lot of repetitive heavy lifting. It's been great for developing my shoulder muscles over the past year and a half, but about 2-3 weeks ago I began to feel a twinge in my elbow, and now it has developed into an agonizing pain. I worked on Friday and just about went through the roof with the pain even though I'd taken quite a few pain killers before the shift. The whole arm has been almost useless all weekend.

Alternate warmth and cold. Getan electric heating pad and set it on medium heat and wrap your arm with it for 20 mins, then an ice pack for 10 mins (bags of frozen veges work great) and alternate back and forth 2 or 3 times each, a couple times a day. This helps increase the circulation which speeds recovery and reduces inflammation.

I don't know how funding and reimbursement works in Canada, but if and (hopefully) when you go to a physical therapist, do exactlywhat they tell you.

Rest, ice, and a lot of patience. Tendinitis of any tendon takes a long time to heal (just as it generally takes a long time to develop). I'll second the physical therapy if that's an option. They may do additional stuff like massage, ultrasound, and electro-stim, as well as work with you on practicing neutral hand/wrist positions. But rest is generally the best, including time off the bike and away from the computer keyboard and anything else that involves gripping the hand.

Good luck, it sucks.

And my other job involves sitting in front of a computer all day. Good combination!!

Well, the good news is that I can ride my trainer and that my elbow pain is forcing me to bend my elbows a bit while I ride. I did an hour on the trainer, and it was OK.

I'm a bit limited with the weightlifting though. Full bicep curls are out, but for some reason working my triceps was fine.

certain specific stretches tend to make it disappear to the point I forget about...until the next ride. I stretch before, during, and after the ride to lessen the painful twinges.

NFields

I have tennis elbow now as well. I was hoping my doc would give me a steroid shot but he says that is the last resort, just before surgery. He says, to wear my brace as often as I can, not while sleeping though, and stop using the arm for lifting, if possible. Still OK for doing push ups but no pulling motions. He also said to take 600 mg of ibuprofen 2X/day. It might take weeks or even months to heal but never completely.

At this point, I refuse to have the steroid shot. From what I've been told, it is extremely painful and almost useless.

Instead I've been doing the ibuprofen and brace thing ... sometimes my arm feels tolerable ... sometimes not.

ART is active release technique. Two to five sessions should help. Checkout http://www.activerelease.com for someone in your area. You can overstretch tennis elbow. Some chiro office will practice ART and should be covered with your insurance. Good luck.

Turns out I do not have tennis elbow, but I do have tendonitis. Tennis elbow involves the muscles of the forearm where they connect into the elbow .... my tendonitis involves the muscles of the upper arm (specifically the triceps) where they connect into the elbow.

My Dr. recommended physiotherapy.

But one thing I've noticed ... I've been doing some triceps exercises in the gym, and when I do them, the next day my elbow feels some better, so I'm wondering if that's basically what a physiotherapist would do anyway.

I had terrible tendinitis in my forearms a few years ago - too much programming. I also found that exercise helped, which seems more than a little counter-intuitive. My favorite thing was a sort of horizontal broomstick thingie with a cord that wound around it and a weight on the end of the cord. One winds the weight up and down by twisting the horizontal broomstick rod. Not exactly your problem, but it helped to work the involved tendon through a greater range of motion than the motion which caused the injury. I think that's what you are noticing, also. 1800-2400mg of ibuprofen/day, right?

Good luck! Hope you feel better very soon.

Hi,
you simply have to cut back. Kill the weightlifting for now. Ice it down immediately before bed. That way it can rest and heal for a few hours without
being badly inflamed.

Get some Omega-3 oil caps. They are a natural anti-inflammatory.
You really should call in sick for a week or so from your lifting job.

Anything in your diet that is inflammatory that you can stand to give up for a while will help.

I know what you are thinking, and no, you already know. Caffeine, refined sugar or any low glycemic food. Large quantities of food that isn't green....

Hi,
you simply have to cut back. Kill the weightlifting for now. Ice it down immediately before bed. That way it can rest and heal for a few hours without
being badly inflamed.

Get some Omega-3 oil caps. They are a natural anti-inflammatory.
You really should call in sick for a week or so from your lifting job.

Anything in your diet that is inflammatory that you can stand to give up for a while will help.

I know what you are thinking, and no, you already know. Caffeine, refined sugar or any low glycemic food. Large quantities of food that isn't green....

The bulk of the weightlifting I do right now involves the legs ... I can't do much more than that because it is too painful. Although the tricep exercises feel really good.

I only work 2 days a week at the lifting job ... my arm starts to feel pretty good by Thursday, then I go in on Friday and Saturday, and I'm back to square one. But I will be taking a couple weeks off soon.

I do consume a lot of caffeine, but I've cut way back on refined sugar because of dental issues ... and I'm working on the caffeine too.

Would you consider Active Release Technique? I have been lifting for years. For tendonitis I found nothing else helps as fast. One or two treatments can help all but the worst tendonitis.

Check out:

http://www.activerelease.com/about.asp

usually requirses 6 weeks to totally go away, if it keeps coming back you can look into prolo.

Sorry to tell you this but the wife and I drove our two younger kids on a 10 day camping trip through New Brunswick and PEI in 2002, and I got tennis elbow from hoisting the gear in and out of the roof carrier of the van, and it took almost a year (!!!!) before I completely recovered, although I wasn't lmited in any way. It was just sore. You're younger than I was then, so probably you'll heal faster.

It would appear that one of my jobs has given me a gift .... tendonitis in my right elbow. :mad:


If you've had tendonitis (tennis elbow), how long did it take to heal? Was there something in particular that seemed to help the healing process? I'm in a brace ... I'm using ibuprofen ... I'm trying to rest it ...

stretch your arms straight out and pull back on the fingers with palms up, and then down. repeat 5 times per arm daily. It worked for me as the tendonitis is barely perceptible now. Also, do these stretches during your bike breaks or immediately thereafter.

NFields

Would you consider Active Release Technique? I have been lifting for years. For tendonitis I found nothing else helps as fast. One or two treatments can help all but the worst tendonitis.

Check out:

http://www.activerelease.com/about.asp

YES!! Definitely!! My chiropractor used to use that on me for my various cycling-related aches and pains. I believe that's what he was using when he helped me with my achilles tendon problems.


But I've moved to a new town, and I have no idea who uses that technique and who doesn't, and who is good and who isn't. I've been to one chiropractor here and was not impressed ... the whole thing was a bit show but very little action. I wish I could find a really good chiropractor here. I miss the one I had for 10+ years back in Winnipeg!!

Ice Ice Ice

YES!! Definitely!! My chiropractor used to use that on me for my various cycling-related aches and pains. I believe that's what he was using when he helped me with my achilles tendon problems.


But I've moved to a new town, and I have no idea who uses that technique and who doesn't, and who is good and who isn't. I've been to one chiropractor here and was not impressed ... the whole thing was a bit show but very little action. I wish I could find a really good chiropractor here. I miss the one I had for 10+ years back in Winnipeg!!


To find a provider in your area go to:

http://www.activerelease.com/providerSearch.asp

BTW: This is not chiropractic, although it may be performed by one.

The active release that's been suggested is excellent. Trigger point therapy would be another term to google.

I highly recommend you try to work out some of the tightness in your triceps and muscle tissue surrounding your elbow(s) by self-massage. For instance, sit on a regular chair. Lean over and put your tricep on your kneecap. Press down so that the tricep is digging down on to your kneecap. Use the kneecap as a massage tool to work out the tight muscle fibers. Whenever I have elbow tendinitis flare up for me, I do this technique multiple times a day (5x for 5 minutes) with a pain threshold of 8 out of 10. 1 obviously feels soft and 10 you're screaming in pain. If all you have is tendinitis, this will work. This, of course, in conjunction with ice, ibuprofen, and full range-of-motion stretching, ought to help. Try it. It's easy and free and helps me every time.

Sorry to bring this thread back from dead ! Me victim of elbow tendinitis, and seems to be affecting my bicycle commute ..

Machka, others, how long did it take for you guys to heal ?

I ended up having to quit that job because, shortly after my last post in this thread, I headed to Vancouver Island to ride Hell Week there ... and crashed on the first 200 km brevet separating my shoulder which subsequently resulted in a shoulder that is in a constant state of mild dislocation. I tried, but I just couldn't do the job anymore.

The tendonitis cleared right up once I stopped overworking the arm.

I ended up having to quit that job because, shortly after my last post in this thread, I headed to Vancouver Island to ride Hell Week there ... and crashed on the first 200 km brevet separating my shoulder which subsequently resulted in a shoulder that is in a constant state of mild dislocation. I tried, but I just couldn't do the job anymore.

The tendonitis cleared right up once I stopped overworking the arm.

Bummer .. That sucks big times .. Hope u heal soon ...

This thread showed up on my search for bicycling/elbow tendinitis !!! I m thinking of giving my mountain bike a shot .. Thumb shifters, more upright, braking in upright position so probably that should help .. I got a pretty long commute so I think it is putting pretty significant stress on my elbow.