Nerve in elbow = pain (REPS)

[theparade]

So quite some time ago, when benching, doing pushups, my elbow always cracked when I reached the top position. Same with doing the tricep pushdown when I reach the bottom, everything that involves me pushing up. So I was doing the
'overhead tricep extension', and then I felt pain in a nerve in my elbow. (around 1 month+ ago)

So I went to the doctor, I told him about the cracking and pain, he said you probably just injured a nerve in the elbow. He just said, "Rest." So I rested around 2 weeks, and I continued.

The elbow continued to crack when I did benchpress etc, (no pain tho) and today it was my first day doing 'tricep specific' exercises. When doing the tricep pushdown, when I started exerting pressure to push the weight, I had a sort of sharp pain in my nerve. The cracking continued near the bottom of the exercise when I straighten out the rope. The pain is also the most severe in the nerve at that point. No pain doing everyday activities, no loss of motion. No inflammation.

What do I do? Is it the same thing that I had before?

[Greg1975]

So quite some time ago, when benching, doing pushups, my elbow always cracked when I reached the top position. Same with doing the tricep pushdown when I reach the bottom, everything that involves me pushing up. So I was doing the
'overhead tricep extension', and then I felt pain in a nerve in my elbow. (around 1 month+ ago)

So I went to the doctor, I told him about the cracking and pain, he said you probably just injured a nerve in the elbow. He just said, "Rest." So I rested around 2 weeks, and I continued.

The elbow continued to crack when I did benchpress etc, (no pain tho) and today it was my first day doing 'tricep specific' exercises. When doing the tricep pushdown, when I started exerting pressure to push the weight, I had a sort of sharp pain in my nerve. The cracking continued near the bottom of the exercise when I straighten out the rope. The pain is also the most severe in the nerve at that point. No pain doing everyday activities, no loss of motion.

What do I do? Is it the same thing that I had before?

lots of info in this thread:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=108528481

[theparade]

Bump.

[thrower85]

I have the same issue, I hurt my elbow in nov and took like a month off going through mris and stuff. Turned out to be a bone bruise on end of both bones. But I still get hella pain doing cleans sometime.

[MegGreenie]

The nerve you are talking about is the ulnar nerve and it is very superficial in the elbow region as it runs in a groove right in the bone... if you are locking your elbow and hyperextending you could be causing stress and irritation to it.... try to never go to full extension and stops just shy of locking your elbows and see if this lessens the occurrence of the pain... be very mindful of practicing good form!! the more you stress the nerve the more inflamed and irritated it will become and hence more pain... if you still have pain without going to full elbow extension I would take a one week break from using the elbow with weights and see how that goes... if it still doesn't remedy the situation follow-up with a doctor or physical therapist....

Meg
Doctor of Physical Therapy Student

[theparade]

Thanks MegGreenie, I've been told to not lock out too because it puts the weight on the bones, not the muscles. I'll give it a shot at the gym. I'm taking a week or so of from doing anything that makes it crack, and I'll report back.

If there is no inflammation in my case, would icing/heating the area make it any better?

[rmani]

the problem you're describing is very common. the best advice i can give you is to warm up thoroughly before lifting. this means doing some very light, high rep tricep pushing exercises and also doing some light warm up sets on the bench. trust me it will help a lot. also you're not really supposed to lock out keeping constant tension on your arms will help make the muscles grow faster anyway.

[theparade]

Thanks for all the replies. anyone else?

[MegGreenie]

In your case I don't believe applying heat would be helpful... just stick to an active warm up before you lift... even if there is no apparent and visible inflammation, icing may still prove beneficial to calm the area after it is stressed/aggrevated. When your elbows are locked do you have excessive hyperextension beyond 180?? It is very common (I have quite a bit of hyperextension myself) I am just curious as to why you may be susceptible to this.....

[theparade]

Nope, no hyperextension.

I'm going to warm up a lot with 15+ reps for warm-up, and then slowly work my way up to the main set. Keep the reps high, and I think I should be okay. I've found that I get the pain and cracking just when I get into 180 degrees, so none of that for me.

I'll ice it after too from now on.