[T_B]

Any ideas on treatment? I have had this for about 7 weeks now in my left arm. It came on after a month of campus board training (which I was doing cos I had town the tendon in my hamstring!)

It hasn't really got any worse, but pinching and undercuts are cause it to be inflamed.  It also seems to be pressing on a nerve as I get some nervy shooting pains as well. Hanging on for a long time pumped (found this out this weekend tradding for the first time in months) also hurts it.

Any tips on exercises to sort it out. I've not really been able to push it for a while now and it's starting to get a bit frustrating!

[Twiglett]

wrist curls (normal and reverse) aswell as press ups helped me out with elbow issues. give 'em a go unless anyone who knows more about this than me says otherwise!

[T_B]

Yes, I have heard about wrist curls. Will give em a try.

[nai]

McLeod's been suffering and blogging about his treatment. 

http://onlineclimbingcoach.blogspot.com/2009/12/rehab-for-golfers-elbow-for-climbers.html

[JamesD]

Any ideas on treatment? I have had this for about 7 weeks now in my left arm. It came on after a month of campus board training (which I was doing cos I had town the tendon in my hamstring!)

It hasn't really got any worse, but pinching and undercuts are cause it to be inflamed.  It also seems to be pressing on a nerve as I get some nervy shooting pains as well. Hanging on for a long time pumped (found this out this weekend tradding for the first time in months) also hurts it.

Any tips on exercises to sort it out. I've not really been able to push it for a while now and it's starting to get a bit frustrating!

Ok, i've had it for years, had to have injections when I was younger when it got really bad once, doesn't flair up much these days, unless I do something stupid but had a nasty twinge a couple of months ago that took a week or so to get rid of, here's what I have found works for me:

For the first week or so after it flairs up, take it really easy, do not do anything at all that makes it hurt.
Ice it every day at least once, try Saunas hot/cold treatment they seem to help a lot.
Gentle stretching, all the time, as often as possible.
Self massage deep into the tricep muscle, all areas of it, a lot of pressure, knead the muscle a lot, when this gets tight, or is not stretched enough, I find it does nothing but make it worse.
Light forearm curls in both directions, sets of 10-15 reps, 2-3 times a week.
I tend to avoid anti-inflammatory drugs, as I find they delay healing and just mask pain a little too well, making your recovery harder to gauge.
Avoid pronated tricep movements like the plague, until it is healed, this includes undercuts etc.
Then when it is healed/calmed down, build back up to pronated movements slowly, they seem to cause flair ups real easy for me if i'm not careful.

Hope that lot is helpful

[The Sausage]

Hi Tom,
Is it definitely tennis elbow (i.e. inflammation of the insertion of the finger/wrist extensors at their point of insertion)?

What are your symptoms exactly? Do you have a definite point of tenderness on the bony knobble above the elbow, or more of a diffuse pain around the lateral elbow/upper arm?

See you, Joe

[highrepute]

http://www.athlon.com.au/articles/r&i_dodgyelbow.pdf

this is a very useful article, that I was pointed to by my phsyio. It's important that you follow the advice carfeully. If you do have tennis elbow, then the exercise for lateral epicondylosis are the ones you want to do.

I would prod around a bit on your elbow and try and find the spots where you are most tender. Tennis elbow will hurt on the lateral epicondyle, see diagram at top of the pdf, the outside of your elbow. and Golfers is the medial epicondyle, near the nobbley bone on the inside of your elbow. I had a bit of tennis recently and found the exercises really helped relieve the symptoms, there is hope!

If you describe your symptoms exactly then I expect someone will be able to point more exactly to the problem and thus the solution!

[T_B]

Hi Tom,
Is it definitely tennis elbow (i.e. inflammation of the insertion of the finger/wrist extensors at their point of insertion)?

Hmm. Maybe not. Just looked at a few images on the Net. The pain is in a very specific area. If you straighten your arm and push the wrist back, it's at the top (nearest the wrist) of the 'dip' that is created on the back of the Brachioradialis http://www.physioweb.org/IMAGES/brachi_fcu.jpg

I.E. the top of that musle on the outside of the forearm.

Lifting a chair up from behind, by grasping the top of the back of the chair is the best way to make it hurt the most!

[SA Chris]

read high repute's article, is very good in targeting problem.

[Falling Down]

Hi Tom,

I've recently got over 6 months of Tennis Elbow and additional compression/inflamation of the radial and ulnar nerves in my shoulder and back which complicated things somewhat. Having been through six months of treatment and therapy I'm an advocate of Sausages view that pain and trouble in the elbow area can be more complex than simple golfers/tennis elbow so a good look at the back and shoulders as well as the elbow is very worthwhile.

[The Sausage]

Hi Tom,
It certainly sounds like there is some inflammation around that area, however it is usually much more complex than simple tendonitis/tendonosis. The radial nerve runs through the area where you describe the pain is most acute. Certainly, the action you describe of lifting the chair would point to some wrist extensor problem (i.e. tennis elbow). Inflammation caused by this can be enough to set the radial nerve off - it is very prone to compression in the area you describe (the radial tunnel).

My feeling is that the usual tennis elbow stretches and strengthening exercises aren't enough by themselves for climbers, as whatever was causing the original problem will likely continue to be present. In other words, I think the tennis elbow can be a symptom of weakness and lack of control in different parts of the chain - i.e. arm/shoulder/spine.

An example: Try standing in a relaxed posture - do your thumbs face towards you, forwards or away from you slightly? If they face towards you (common in climbers - if yours don't, try standing like this to see how position of the shoulders can affect the elbow) you will see that your elbow is slightly bent. Now, if this is your resting posture, the wrist/finger extensors (on the back of the forearm) will be in a slightly shortened position. They will adapt to this. Imagine you are now campus-ing. You catch a rung at full stretch. You put a massive force (i.e. tension) through the extensors anyway (they need to work to stabilize the wrist). On top of this, the muscles are being stretched because the elbow is straighter than it is in its resting position. This on its own will put tension through the muscle. So you have 2 things putting tension through the muscle/tendon/insertion.

Now stand with your thumb facing slightly outwards - your elbow should automatically straighten. Standing like this will preserve the length of the extensors and therefore decrease the amount of tension going through the muscle when it is loaded at full stretch. Et voila, less chance of exceeding the strength of the muscle/tendon and causing inflammation and pain.

You can feel the difference in tension in the forearm muscles as you bend and straighten your elbow.

I bang on about it a lot, but shoulder instability (I think) plays a major factor in causing problems further down the arm. Another example: if the shoulder stabilisers are weak, the triceps will work to stabilise the shoulder. These muscles also produce a force to straighten the elbow. The wrist/finger flexors and extensors both also produce force to bend the elbow. So, if the triceps are working to stabilise the shoulder, the wrist/finger muscles must work to counter this force. Therefore, more tension at their insertions.

And this doesn't even touch on impingement at the shoulder through decreased stability, which can cause pain further down the arm.

Blimey. time for a drink...

[T_B]

Read that through twice, thanks Joe.

I've had this before and it's calmed down when I've eased off, but not this time.

3rd problem in 3 months to visit the physio for! All related no doubt. Suspected snapped ligament in left ankle (MRI scan in a couple of weeks), 20 year old left knee injury. Torn tendon in left hamstring. Tightness in left side of back and neck. Now this. In my left arm. Hmmm....

 

[Omar15]

From time to time I've found I get twinges on the outside of my elbow and I've found that doing a buttload of pressups really helps. One armed press ups feel good too, although I've found they do make the elbows a bit more tender for an hour or so afterwards before they feel better the next day.

Hope you get it sorted!

[account_inactive]

Sausage is spot on as usual.  I've had 2 elbow problems, both of which originated in my shoulder or back.  Coincidence I think not

[Mi|es]

My feeling is that the usual tennis elbow stretches and strengthening exercises aren't enough by themselves for climbers, as whatever was causing the original problem will likely continue to be present.

You suggest that people suffering from these sort of injuries need to do more than just the usual tennis elbow stretches/exercise but don't go into any more detail (unless I missed something).

I've suffered a few elbow problems recently and would be interested to hear what else I could do to help my elbows heal/prevent further damage.  How can I increase my shoulder stability?  What sort of stuff do you recommend?

[Falling Down]

I think it's helpful to think in terms of therapy (in the case of an injury) and then preventative exercise.  Also bear in mind that we are all unique in our strengths and weaknesses so an individual diagnosis always helps.

I've recently been through several weeks/months which started with manipulations, ultrasound and stretches of the affected area as I did have scar tissue and 'tough' bits around the elbow and forearm that needed sorting out.

But, my main problem was/is stiffness and inflamation in the 1st and 2nd vertebrae and into the shoulder compressing the nerves from being a desk jockey, lots of travel on planes and trains and general stress/tension.  So again some manipulation to loosen up the shoulder really helped along with the tricep insertion points and some acupuncture.  Now onto preventative measures..

Pressups - 2 sets of 15 to 20 fairly wide pressups every day.
Spine/Back stretches - lying on my back with two tennis/rubber balls aligned under my spine and then raising arms up and down over my head.
Overall weights/body conditioning - Burpees, Kettlebells, Core Stuff... it all helps to keep things strong and balanced.

[RichK]

 I think the tennis elbow can be a symptom of weakness and lack of control in different parts of the chain - i.e. arm/shoulder/spine.


I bang on about it a lot, but shoulder instability (I think) plays a major factor in causing problems further down the arm.

From my experience of tennis elbow I'd agree with Joe's comments above.

I had it bad in both elbows, so bad that I could no longer climb easy stuff I took 5 months off climbing then started slowly & supplemented with lots of free weights. Weights generally entail pushing stuff  - shoulder presses, flat bench, inclined bench all with dumbells rather than bars with the intention of increasing stability as well as strength. I've maintained the weights to a minimum of once a week, often 2-3 times a week in the winter when I've no trips looming. I've not had a problem since, not even a twinge. Prior to the original injury i.e. 20 years of climbing, I frequently experienced elbow discomfort.

My shoulder/s are another story....1 confirmed SLAP, 1 suspected. However, despite diagnosis of the SLAP 2 years ago I remain reluctant to have surgery and continue to climb relatively pain free. Despite having F'd shoulders the weights not only deals with elbows but seems to make  my shoulders more stable & strong, less likely to dislocate & keep me off the operating table for the forseeble

Tom, I think it was you who mentioned cold water plunges around the time of my elbow issues. I found these best when I began weights and climbing following lay off as there was pain in the first few weeks. By plunges, I mean as much of your arm as possible in cold water not just elbow. Great for closing the pain gate. 



 

[Rocksteady]

Hi Tom,
Is it definitely tennis elbow (i.e. inflammation of the insertion of the finger/wrist extensors at their point of insertion)?

What are your symptoms exactly? Do you have a definite point of tenderness on the bony knobble above the elbow, or more of a diffuse pain around the lateral elbow/upper arm?

See you, Joe

Thanks for all the info Joe. But this piqued my interest. I'm getting pain in my left elbow/forearm, but it's hard to exactly identify where. It's certainly on the inside (medial thingummy) side, but I can't find a 'definite point of tenderness'. It doesn't affect me too much climbing, I just get twinges throughout the day moving my arm about, and a bit every time I straighten my arm. It's not sever pain, but annoying. Sort of feels like I've overextended it and strained it or something but that's not SCIENCE. As it's been dragging on and I'm afraid of it getting worse I've booked to see doctor now, but I'd be interested to know the significance of the distinct point of pain as opposed to the diffuse area...

Cheers.

[highrepute]

I've suffered a few elbow problems recently and would be interested to hear what else I could do to help my elbows heal/prevent further damage.  How can I increase my shoulder stability?  What sort of stuff do you recommend?

http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,10847.0.html

This is probably the holy grail of injury prevention threads. Part of the problem is there are so many different exercises that are recommended that it's very hard to know which ones to do. Trial and error combined with common sense and good luck are the best ways to go. I would say if a particular exercise make it hurt don't do it. i.e. if climbing makes your elbows hurt you should probably ease off for a bit. Denial is another big problem, you often here people saying it's fine I just need a few days rest (i think I may have said that many times), when what they really need is some proper physio etc etc

[tomtom]

Sausage (Joe?)
Thats an excellent description and I'm really intrigued by your ideas that much of this stems from shoulder instability. I know little about this, but I've had a good discussion with a bloke at the cliff who was describing how my lack of oomph (last move on DWR..) was probably due to shoulder imbalance rather than lack of forearm strength.
So if much of this is down to getting shoulder balance what are the best ways/exercises to do this? Push ups spring to mind - but surely they are quite simplistic (only train one area..)... traversing? I guess this tends to work the shuolders rather than the elbows (depending on the trav of course!)? Any other simple (e.g. no/not much equipment required) exercises to work those shoulders?
T

[T_B]

For anyone who is interested in the whole tennis elbow thing, here's an update.

I finally went to see Rick at the Clinic in Sheffield. He confirmed that it's Tennis elbow, but the root cause was really my back muscle (not sure of name) beneath my shoulder blade which is super tight. This has been identified previously by a different physio as causing me back/neck problems, and to climb (i.e. pull) in a certain way.

First session he worked (acupuncture and massage) on the area just below my shoulder blade, second session on that,  plus the sore bit on the outside of the elbow, plus loosening up the elbow joint as well. Various theraband excercises to get that crucial muscle in the back firing again, as well as now doing the classic dumbell wrist curl for the tennis elbow and also other stretches for the shoulders.

It's getting better at last 

Not trying to get too excited yet, but it does seem to be on the mend and isn't restricting my climbing that much (though I'm still keeping off the steep stuff for now...)

So yes, yet another tennis elbow caused by shoulder/back instability/problems...

[Fultonius]

...but the root cause was really my back muscle (not sure of name) beneath my shoulder blade which is super tight....
 
First session he worked (acupuncture and massage) on the area just below my shoulder blade, second session on that,  plus the sore bit on the outside of the elbow, plus loosening up the elbow joint as well. Various theraband exercises to get that crucial muscle in the back firing again, as well as now doing the classic dumbell wrist curl for the tennis elbow and also other stretches for the shoulders.

Interesting.    I got a "shoulder strength conditioning for climbers" download a few years back and it was saying the same thing, i.e. climbing overdevelops the internal rotators (subscapularis, pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi, teres major, anterior deltoid) and doesn't train the scapular retractors or the scapular depressors, which knocks the shoulder out of ideal position and leads to tondonitis and shoulder impingement. (I don't have the .pdf on this computer to check the exact wording) but the bottom line was you need to work hard on the scapular retractors and depressors.
 
I just did a quick  and found a very similar article here: http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_repair/heal_that_hunchback

Read it; follow it. 
 
The other important thing to remember is, climbing works those internal rotators very hard so you do actually need to build up to the point where you are working the retractors and depressors quite hard - thera-bands are a good place to start but they just won't cut the mustard. Things like Ben's Kettleball swings or doing the "power snatch" are great at really working those retractors hard.

[gruffalo]

I am stuck with tennis elbow.... layed off the climbing for a bit and doing hot and cold treatment wondered if running will help? my thinking is that it will help circulate blood to the tendon faster?

[slackline]

As long as your not doing pull-ups whilst running...

[gruffalo]

Wow didn't know that was possible can you run me through that one?

[slackline]

Ask a stupid question....

To do the leg work for you as you seem to be unable to use  here are a couple of articles that Scholar returns on the topic of lateral epicondylitis blood flow....

Oskarsson et al (2006) Decreased intramuscular blood flow in patients with lateral epicondylitis. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports 17:211-215

This seems to start addressing the question as its a prospective study that looked at blood-flow to the region, and it is indeed reduced.

Seveier & Wilson (1999)Treating Lateral Epicondylitis  Sports Medicine 28:375-380

General review of common treatments and how effective they are.


McCarroll (2005)Overuse injuries of the upper extremity in golf Clinics in Sports Medicine 20:469-479

Includes a relevant section on prevention.


It will also be worth keeping an eye on the Cochrane Review of Physiotherapy and physiotherapeutical modalities for lateral epicondylitis its only at the protocol stage at the moment and unfortunately no indication of when the full systematic review will be complete but it will be comprehensive when complete.


Tons of information out there, if you can be bothered to go and find it.

EDIT : The trouble with asking on a forum is that you get anecdotal evidence.  You might get three or four people who say "Yeah, after I started running my sore elbows got better" and then some who have always run who get it anyway, and then loads of people who don't bother responding.  This fails to account for all of the other factors that may be influencing the progression of the affliction in each individual.  Go to the primary literature and find out what has been done in terms of research and form a consensus on that rather than a stranger on the internet.

This is not meant to disparage the excellent knowledge of some posters in this forum, but really, there is a lot of information available on t'net, and I find it exasperating when people don't use it.

[gruffalo]

thanks dude there was some interesting information you sorced there

[Johnny Brown]

Yeah, he's a wizard on google.

[tomtom]

Could do with some help - I get a gentle pain here (where the cross is) above (as in nearer the shoulder) the groove on the inside edge of my outer elbow (if that makes sense). Not IN the grove itself, but about 2 cm up arm from it.. Its generally only after I do pull ups of problems that involve me trying to lock off on the left arm (e.g. Underhand at the Cliff..).. its not bad - and generally just feels a wee bit sore - like an achy muscle - after its been worked hard.
I've looked on the diagrams - and documents posted on this thread and cant really make out what the issue is or where indeed it is!
I manage it by not doing pull ups or things that tweak/hurt it - but I would like to know if there are any exercises that can help it - like some of those on the pdf's here...
Thanks, T

[SA Chris]

Are you Popeye?

[tomtom]

ug ug ug ug...

sadly not  - and mrsT does not look like Olive Oil..

[lagerstarfish]

Is that the Chinese symbol for "soft" tattooed on your arm, Tomtom?

[tomtom]

Is that the Chinese symbol for "soft" tattooed on your arm, Tomtom?

  I'm busted... Its a Hull gang tattoo..  It actually means I am a puppy lover who watches soft romantic vampire films CRUSH in a strange inuit/mayan combo hyroglyphic.

I find it hard to understand what bits of elbows/muscles/tendons that people are talking about here (is it my ehcobrachiousarus? or my interiatyranosaurus ligament?) so figured a good old X marks the spot would work. Its actually quite hard to write on your elbow... I'll shut up now. I can see I am digging deeper and deeper...

[Fultonius]

That hard lump just by the cross (i.e. on the inside of your elbow) is your medial epicondyle. It's where a lot of the forearm tendons join the bone.

So, if the pain is near there it could be medial epicondylitits/epicondylosis (golfer's elbow). Unfortunately for you (but fortunately for me) I've never had it so can't offer much help for rehab. (except the classic one - avoid doing things that hurt it!)

Athlon springs to the rescue again: http://www.athlon.com.au/articles/r&i_dodgyelbow.pdf


[usual disclaimer - I actually know nothing, see a specialist]

[tomtom]

That hard lump just by the cross (i.e. on the inside of your elbow) is your medial epicondyle. It's where a lot of the forearm tendons join the bone.

So, if the pain is near there it could be medial epicondylitits/epicondylosis (golfer's elbow). Unfortunately for you (but fortunately for me) I've never had it so can't offer much help for rehab. (except the classic one - avoid doing things that hurt it!)

[usual disclaimer - I actually know nothing, see a specialist]

Thanks Fultonius, my difficulty in identifying things is that its not on the hard knobbly lump its 2-3 cm further up the arm - past the gap between the two knobbly lumps (if that makes sense!)...

[Fultonius]

Ah, most likely not Medial Epicondylitis then. The Ulnar nerve seems to run through that groove. As far as I'm aware, there aren't any muscles on the upper arm that join the medial epicondyle.

Maybe, as Sausage often suggests, it's referred from the shoulder?  Is it sore to the touch? Swolen? Red?



Or, maybe you're some kind of freak-show with a four-headed triceps brachii  http://www.springerlink.com/content/rj762hv8x80hl034/

[TobyD]

EDIT : The trouble with asking on a forum is that you get anecdotal evidence...
Go to the primary literature and find out what has been done in terms of research and form a consensus on that rather than a stranger on the internet.
This is not meant to disparage the excellent knowledge of some posters in this forum, but really, there is a lot of information available on t'net, and I find it exasperating when people don't use it.

point taken and i agree about the somewhat pointless nature of the subjective 'evidence' of injury recovery on internet forums. However I would question the value of your average climber reading through RCTs / systematic reviews / papers and trying to form a consdiered opinion on injury prevention or treatment. Having said that some people may be excellent at this, but i feel that the opinion of a qualified professional musculoskeletal physio with an obsessive interest in climbing is probabyl worth quite a lot more. 

[slackline]

EDIT : The trouble with asking on a forum is that you get anecdotal evidence...
Go to the primary literature and find out what has been done in terms of research and form a consensus on that rather than a stranger on the internet.
This is not meant to disparage the excellent knowledge of some posters in this forum, but really, there is a lot of information available on t'net, and I find it exasperating when people don't use it.

point taken and i agree about the somewhat pointless nature of the subjective 'evidence' of injury recovery on internet forums. However I would question the value of your average climber reading through RCTs / systematic reviews / papers and trying to form a consdiered opinion on injury prevention or treatment. Having said that some people may be excellent at this, but i feel that the opinion of a qualified professional musculoskeletal physio with an obsessive interest in climbing is probabyl worth quite a lot more.

With the exception of Cochrane Reviews most people won't have access to journal articles unless they pay for them or have institutional access through work so I was perhaps a bit over zealous with regards to the primary literature (although a lot of the older information will be freely available, more recent stuff tends to have restricted access).

But my other point was that there is a lot of information out there on the net and it could be searched through first before posting questions.  When posting saying what you have found out and what you don't understand/aren't clear on and even linking to what you found would be very useful for anyone then trying to answer.

And people posting on forums do so for free and may not have the time inclination to write even if they do have some useful insight, so you may well have to do the searching bit anyway.

[highrepute]

I'v got no expertise in this subject which seems to qualify me perfectly to wade in with some pretty much made up advice.

I got pain around there when I was suffering with golfers elbow. Are you sure you're not suffering with this? give the area round that nobbly bone and good hard prod with you thumb is there any tenderness on the nob or around it going down the forearm? I believe fult is right about the ulnar nerve being in that area, perhaps some inflammation in the area from golfers is irritating it? if so the althon article has the answer.

or another... maybe it's a tightness in the neck/shoulder the ulnar nerve starts somewhere around there. Do you have tightness in the neck/shoulder? some stretching around here might help. Try the stretch where hold your arm behind you on a door frame and twist hips to stretch chest. Or here's another. hold arm out at side at right angles to your body and with hand pointing down and palm away from you, inside of elbow should point up. now tilt your head away (still looking forward) from the arm you're holding out (feel stretch in neck and forearm). when I'm particularly tight I can really feel these stretches working the area you've described.

but i've no idea if that's a good thing or not. seek out pro advice.

[Snoops]

I have never had any elbow probs, until the last year. Over the past year I've had a nagging lateral epi niggle , soley on my left elbow that has slowly got worse. It has affected my climbing.

I sadly spend a lot of time using my Iphone, I'm always reading the paper on it, or using www on the bus, checking emails etc. It occured to me that constantly holding my phone out in front of me with my elbow at 90 degrees for a couple of hours a day, could be causing this tendonitis.
Since I have stopped/cut down my iphone addiction, the pain has gone.

I googled it and it seems lateral epicondyilitis and iphones is a well associated link.

I realise I am probaly in a minority of sad people  spending all my time on my iphone, but thought I'd share the info in case anyone else had unilateral pain!



http://www.wellsphere.com/massage-spa-article/iphone-elbow/1015005

[SA Chris]

Anyone got any experience of using an Epicondyle / Epocondylitis Clasp for tennis elbow? Was suggested by my GP, but not convinced it will make any difference. I've been doing eccentric curls and it seems to be slowly improving.

[Giles F]

I just spoke to a guy down at The Works who was wearing one, he says it's great, just uses it when he's bouldering.

[SA Chris]

I am the resurrection.

I've been using a foam roller to ease tension in my forearms, which has helped my tennis elbow a lot.

This was posted on the TC FB page recently which I found quite interesting.

http://theinspiredclimber.com/2014/03/04/a-rock-climbers-elbow-pain/

I'd never heard of trigger point therapy before (even though the label on the roller I'm using says TRIGGERPOINT PERFORMANCE in big letters on it!)

Googling revealed some interesting articles here

https://www.painscience.com/articles/spot-05-forearm-extensors.php

https://www.painscience.com/articles/tennis-elbow.php

http://www.easyvigour.net.nz/fitness/hOBP5_TriggerPoint_Tennis_Elbow.htm

anyway, hope this helps some other sufferers.

[TheTwig]

Nice to hear you are experiencing some improvement! Like you, a combination of working the knots out of my chronically tight forearms + eccentrics did the trick. One or the other alone wasn't enough

[SA Chris]

I'm just mildly annoyed that neither me, nor 3 of the different physios I went to figured this out earlier.

[dave]

With my elbow situation after a few sessions with Kim the osteo in Hathersage the key seems to be A. alleviating the tightness that's built up in forearm/shoulder/back or wherever it is (done by regular stretches, and physio/osteo sessions etc) and B. doing exercises like opposition stuff, rings, wrist curls etc to build up the support in the back and shoulders to prevent the buildup of that tightness in future. This is based on a climber like me who's been climbing for close to 20 years, 15 years of which have been mostly bouldering, and have never really done anything to build up opposition muscles or anything before. Basically in this situation you're almost guaranteed to have a flare up of this kind eventually, unless you never do any steep pulling.

And of course, almost nothing that's caused my elbow flare-up is actually to do with the elbow at all.

[lagerstarfish]

And of course, almost nothing that's caused my elbow flare-up is actually to do with the elbow at all.

exactly

and that's why we need tighter immigration controls and proportional representation

[TheTwig]

And of course, almost nothing that's caused my elbow flare-up is actually to do with the elbow at all.

exactly

and that's why we need tighter immigration controls and proportional representation

You forgot the robin hood tax 

[jeejeee]

i think  had pretty "good" results with magnesium oil sprayed to the forearm, of course i did also stretches,wrist curls,pronators,massage,etc... but it was like week from when i started to try the magnesium oil that the tennis elbow went away. don't know if it really had any help to it or it was just timing.

but there is lot of stuff about magnesium and tendons at google and i decided to try it because at least it cant get any worse by using it

[Oldmanmatt]

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/phys-ed-an-easy-fix-for-tennis-elbow/?_r=4

Looks interesting.


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[tomtom]

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/phys-ed-an-easy-fix-for-tennis-elbow/?_r=4

Looks interesting.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yes - it's from 2009 - wonder if there's been any follow up work since...

[TheTwig]

without wanting to sound like a douche, I thought the Tyler Twist stuff was common knowledge for TE? (It worked wonders for mine and I'm now 'cured')

[Oldmanmatt]

without wanting to sound like a douche, I thought the Tyler Twist stuff was common knowledge for TE? (It worked wonders for mine and I'm now 'cured')

Could be. I didn't look into it that much. It looked so much better than the treatment I'd been prescribed, or at least easier than the theraband stuff.


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[TheTwig]

I did the tyler twist exercises in combination with somewhat savage 'massage' with an armaid and it cleared my tennis elbow right up. It did take a good year of super slow progress, but it almost seemed like once my body realized there was something wrong the healing process sped right up. Get a green or red therabar from ebay for £20-30 or whatever it is and basically just do as many twists a day as you can manage. The current consensus is that it should hurt I believe