Compression sleeves for tendinitis?

Hey guys, I'm experiencing some tendinitis on my right arm, right where the forearm muscles insert into the elbow. Think of it this way, it's in that spot where they draw blood. It's only really sore when my arm lifts with the wrist turned, like if one were to do hammer curls. So I don't do those movements, LOL. But when lifting dumbbells up for presses, etc. the pain is sometimes so bad it restricts the weight I can use.

Soooooo, wondering if those compression type sleeves would help out at all?

Thanks

I had similar pain although on the other side where the tricep attaches to the elbow. Took it easy for a couple weeks and iced it some along with ben gay and now the pain has finally started to go away

[QUOTE=Hemogoblin;1030383133]Hey guys, I'm experiencing some tendinitis on my right arm, right where the forearm muscles insert into the elbow. Think of it this way, it's in that spot where they draw blood. It's only really sore when my arm lifts with the wrist turned, like if one were to do hammer curls. So I don't do those movements, LOL. But when lifting dumbbells up for presses, etc. the pain is sometimes so bad it restricts the weight I can use.

Soooooo, wondering if those compression type sleeves would help out at all?

Thanks[/QUOTE]

if it IS tendinitis only cure is RICE, (rest, ice, compression, elevation). The pain is from swelling and inflammation around the tendon. Using the tendon more is just going to increase the duration of symptoms and pain. More over, you are more likely to more severely injure an already hurt tendon.

Try to avoid anything that causes pain, ice after workouts and rest it as much as possible. Heat will usually worsen the symptoms as it will increase inflammation.

If it is actually tendinitis or a muscle sprain, best bet is to just rest and ice and come back to lifting slowly while trying to avoid re-injuring it.

[QUOTE=Hemogoblin;1030383133]Hey guys, I'm experiencing some tendinitis on my right arm, right where the forearm muscles insert into the elbow. Think of it this way, it's in that spot where they draw blood. It's only really sore when my arm lifts with the wrist turned, like if one were to do hammer curls. So I don't do those movements, LOL. But when lifting dumbbells up for presses, etc. the pain is sometimes so bad it restricts the weight I can use.

Soooooo, wondering if those compression type sleeves would help out at all?

Thanks[/QUOTE]

I have developed exactly the same tendonitis a few times. Same area, and same symptoms (mainly felt it in hammer curl and pullups). I worked through the minor pain for months until it became major pain. The first time it happened I couldnt do back or bicep work for a month, the second time I had it I was out for a full year. Lesson: you have to take the pain seriously, it will not get better by working it.


[QUOTE=LimitStrength;1030500553]if it IS tendinitis only cure is RICE, (rest, ice, compression, elevation). The pain is from swelling and inflammation around the tendon. Using the tendon more is just going to increase the duration of symptoms and pain. More over, you are more likely to more severely injure an already hurt tendon.[/quote]

Truth^

[quote]Try to avoid anything that causes pain, ice after workouts and rest it as much as possible. Heat will usually worsen the symptoms as it will increase inflammation.[quote]

I've always been a great believer in heat as a healer, but for tendonitis (or any inflamation) you absolutly need cold. I was using hot water bottles on my arm for hours in the evening until I realised it was making my symptoms even worse.

[quote]If it is actually tendinitis or a muscle sprain, best bet is to just rest and ice and come back to lifting slowly while trying to avoid re-injuring it.[/QUOTE]

This^.

[QUOTE=Hemogoblin;1030383133]Hey guys, I'm experiencing some tendinitis on my right arm, right where the forearm muscles insert into the elbow. Think of it this way, it's in that spot where they draw blood. It's only really sore when my arm lifts with the wrist turned, like if one were to do hammer curls. So I don't do those movements, LOL. But when lifting dumbbells up for presses, etc. the pain is sometimes so bad it restricts the weight I can use.

Soooooo, wondering if those compression type sleeves would help out at all?

Thanks[/QUOTE]

For instant but temporary relief, I've found that the Rogue Voodoo bands work mysteriously well.

Thanks guys for all your help. I'm actually a framing carpenter so I use my right arm to swing my hammer, carry a nailing gun, etc. 9-10 hours a day, so that is obviously aggravating things. This idea of rest is going to be a problem :(

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that rest alone may not be the best course of action and in some cases isn't feasible. Rest and anti-inflammatory medication will usually reduce the swelling and discomfort, but once you resume whatever activities caused it in the first place, the injury will often flare up. Since tendonitis is usually the result of a repetitive stress injury, two of the most common causes are exercise or activities done during work. Since you're a carpenter, it was probably a combination of the two, and while you can stop exercises that aggravate it, you can't just stop going to work.

The medical community is still trying to figure out the best way to deal with tendonitis, but the ideal approach seems to be a combination of rest, stretching, and eccentric exercises. Initial rest allows the inflammation to die down, while stretching and eccentric exercises are intended to prevent the likelihood of it recurring. If rest isn't an option, doing stretching and eccentric rehab exercises still seem to do the trick, although it'll take a little longer to see any relief. That seems counter intuitive--if exercise caused the problem in the first place, doing more exercise seems like a terrible idea--but in many cases [i]specific[/i] types of rehab exercises do seem to work and are often recommended.

Although you probably won't be able avoid motions that aggravate it at work, you can (and should) skip anything that causes pain while working out.

Given your symptoms, it sounds like you have what's referred to as golfer's/climber's elbow. I had a bad case of tennis elbow last year (which is similar to golfer's elbow, but occurs on the outside of the arm instead of the inside), and a combination of rest and eccentric exercise more or less took care of the problem. Full disclosure: I wouldn't call it 100% healed as I'm still aware of it at times, but it's usually a non-issue and no longer restricts me in any way. I still do special rehab exercises a few times a week

Google "golfers elbow eccentrics" for more information. You'll find a ton of documents as well as a bunch of videos on YouTube. Here's [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HkjuR42vzk]one video[/url] in particular that covers a lot of the basic recommendations.

The reason why icing as much as possible is important is because it breaks the cycle of inflammation and pain. Try icing 1-2 times a day if you can, especially as soon after work as possible.

Also, you can try to do some self massage / SMR (self myofacial release) using something like a tennis ball or foam roller if you have it. Basically you just kind of wedge the tennis ball between yourself and the floor until you get it on a spot that hurts, stay there for about a minute until the pain dulls down, then find a new spot and repeat. Then finish the session off with some ice.

Ice + self massage and as much rest as you can manage during that time will hopefully put you on track for complete recovery.

Another possible option would be to invest in something like power hooks. These let you unrack dumbbells similar to a barbell, where you don't have to half curl the weight up to get it into position.

They're something I want to invest in eventually since they make doing heavy dumbbell presses so much less of a hassle.

[youtube]lpW4xSTpWp0[/youtube]

I'm with weisgarb. RICE is important as the first line of action but eccentrics should be in there for rehab. Also, lots of ibuprofen helps if you can take it.

I've had both Golfers AND Tennis elbow despite not playing either sport. I've followed the Tyler method and had some success with it. I have a Flexbar on my desk next to me now.

Tennis Elbow:

[url]http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/phys-ed-an-easy-fix-for-tennis-elbow/[/url]

Golfer's Elbow:

[url]http://info.thera-bandacademy.com/flexbarelbowmedial[/url]

Compression sleeves have a place, but they're preventative. You can still bust a tendon wearing a sleeve. Then it just gets worse until you stop doing it.

I'm just going to throw this out there (sans citation) but I've read there's some evidence that chronic recurring tendinitis has less to do with swelling (as the -itis implies) than thickened residual scar tissue on the tendon & joint friction. Eccentrics help reduce the build up/over-thickening of scar tissue this by stretching the tendon under load as it heals.

Thank you to everyone that has offered help here. You guys are awesome!

Those power hooks look pretty slick. I'm just worried that they may get caught up on the bar as the weight reaches its peak?

I'll definitely try RICE and those eccentric exercises. Anything that might help, would be a big improvement to where I am now.

The sad thing is watching my boss work, when he's got golfer's elbow in one arm, tennis in the other, and an obvious rotator cuff injury in one of his shoulders. He's only 45, does not work out, and is falling apart. That isn't going to be me.

Thanks again guys :)

[QUOTE=Hemogoblin;1032844633]Those power hooks look pretty slick. I'm just worried that they may get caught up on the bar as the weight reaches its peak?[/QUOTE]

Depends where you are when you unrack them, so if you set yourself up further down the bench, slightly more away from the bar, the unrack is very similar to unracking a barbell where you kind of pull it out of the rack over your face and into position.

Just take's some experimenting but I think they're worth the price if they can help keep you more pain free.

Good posts guys, I'm going to read up more about the eccentric work as tendonitis has caused me a lot of layoffs over the past few years.

Edit;
Just a thought OP, have you tried changing your hammer? Maybe a heavier or lighter one. Some people also seem to swear by those weight forward models. Maybe changing hands on the nail gun for a while may help too.

[QUOTE=ProtienandIron;1032899343]Good posts guys, I'm going to read up more about the eccentric work as tendonitis has caused me a lot of layoffs over the past few years.

Edit;
Just a thought OP, have you tried changing your hammer? Maybe a heavier or lighter one. Some people also seem to swear by those weight forward models. Maybe changing hands on the nail gun for a while may help too.[/QUOTE]

I have actually thought about that. The one I use now has a fibreglass shaft and I'm not sure of the weight but I have been thinking about getting the titanium ones out there (The Stiletto). They are very expensive, and not really worth the cash, but if they help, it would be. We have one lying around on sight that I could try and see how I go.

Gunning with my other hand is possible but a set up for disaster. I've already shot myself through the hand multiple times using my good hand. I can only imagine the horror of using my bad hand!

I've struggled with tendinitis of the elbow myself. It eventually got tot the point where I went to a chiro( a doctor will just give you pain meds) elbow tendinitis is a overuse injury if your constantly using heavy weights and not going through the full rom its gonna happen eventually.

Rest is your best option. And make sure if your doing moves like triceps dips you use he full rom otherwise your just gonna tear that tendon up

The one thing I can add to this thread is Ice Massage. Take a small paper Dixie cup like you use in the bathroom and fill it with water and freeze. Once frozen remove it from the freezer and tear the top half off the cup exposing the ice. Invert and start massaging the area with the ice. You will want to do this on a towel because the ice will melt. The nice thing about this is as you massage the area becomes more numb so you can go a little deeper and really work the knots and inflammation out.

I'll share my own experiences, which are also a bit outside the norm. My job requires me to do repetitive movements with my arms and hands pretty much every day. I've found that one of the few things that really helps is when I do consistent, careful static grip work, such as doing long holds with cannonballs, pinch blocks, etc. This is just something I've found in my own case.

[QUOTE=ichthis;1288301881]I'll share my own experiences, which are also a bit outside the norm. My job requires me to do repetitive movements with my arms and hands pretty much every day. I've found that one of the few things that really helps is when I do consistent, careful static grip work, such as doing long holds with cannonballs, pinch blocks, etc. This is just something I've found in my own case.[/QUOTE]

I've got bad tendonitis on both sides of both elbows and I've found working with gel squeeze balls helps some. It's no cure though. I'm messing around with different grips now. Squeezing the bar tight usually helps, and fatter bars are better.

Usually these types of elbow tendonitits that occur on the inside or out side of the elbow are a tennis or golfers elbow know as epicondylitis. The type of brace you want is called a counter-force brace, that you'd often find over the counter at a pharmacy. If that, and RICE, and avoiding the specific movements that bother you don't work, a cortisone shot often will, but the pain will frequently return if you don't avoid the activities that got this started, often weights or heavy labor.

[QUOTE=weisgarb;1032479923]I'm going to go against the grain here and say that rest alone may not be the best course of action and in some cases isn't feasible. Rest and anti-inflammatory medication will usually reduce the swelling and discomfort, but once you resume whatever activities caused it in the first place, the injury will often flare up. Since tendonitis is usually the result of a repetitive stress injury, two of the most common causes are exercise or activities done during work. Since you're a carpenter, it was probably a combination of the two, and while you can stop exercises that aggravate it, you can't just stop going to work.

The medical community is still trying to figure out the best way to deal with tendonitis, but the ideal approach seems to be a combination of rest, stretching, and eccentric exercises. Initial rest allows the inflammation to die down, while stretching and eccentric exercises are intended to prevent the likelihood of it recurring. If rest isn't an option, doing stretching and eccentric rehab exercises still seem to do the trick, although it'll take a little longer to see any relief. That seems counter intuitive--if exercise caused the problem in the first place, doing more exercise seems like a terrible idea--but in many cases [i]specific[/i] types of rehab exercises do seem to work and are often recommended.

Although you probably won't be able avoid motions that aggravate it at work, you can (and should) skip anything that causes pain while working out.

Given your symptoms, it sounds like you have what's referred to as golfer's/climber's elbow. I had a bad case of tennis elbow last year (which is similar to golfer's elbow, but occurs on the outside of the arm instead of the inside), and a combination of rest and eccentric exercise more or less took care of the problem. Full disclosure: I wouldn't call it 100% healed as I'm still aware of it at times, but it's usually a non-issue and no longer restricts me in any way. I still do special rehab exercises a few times a week

Google "golfers elbow eccentrics" for more information. You'll find a ton of documents as well as a bunch of videos on YouTube. Here's [remove video] in particular that covers a lot of the basic recommendations.[/QUOTE]

I registered just to reply to this (necro and all). Eccentric exercise is the way to go to rehab tendonitis. I read a compelling Swedish study that showed substantial tendon remodelling in achilles tendonitis patients who went through a pretty rigorous (progressive overload) eccentric training routine. The eccentric exercise group actually fared much better than the surgery group.

If any of you are struggling with tendonitis, the prescription is clear:

1. Take at least 1-2 weeks off from the activity causing pain. Take ibuprofen and ice regularly during this time, to hopefully remove the acute inflammation.

2. Once your pain is at least a little better, begin a program of eccentric training with progressive overload. Make sure to take adequate rest to allow the tendons to heal properly. There's good reason to suspect that such a program breaks down garbage tissue and encourages muscle fibers to be laid in the proper direction.

Be cautious when using ice for therapy. If you are using it for pain relief, cool, but ice will likely delay healing because it reduces blood flow and slows down your body's natural healing process. Ice is quickly becoming a thing of the past for rehab.

I've struggled with bouts of tendinitis on the back of my left forearm. Compression sleeves did help while I was working out. I applied kinesio tape for a few days at a time, which helped a lot. I didn't need to use ibuprofen a lot, but it did help when it was needed. Rest is obviously the biggest thing.

[QUOTE=Porphyry;1032714043]I'm with weisgarb. RICE is important as the first line of action but eccentrics should be in there for rehab. Also, lots of ibuprofen helps if you can take it.

I've had both Golfers AND Tennis elbow despite not playing either sport. I've followed the Tyler method and had some success with it. I have a Flexbar on my desk next to me now.

Tennis Elbow:

[url]http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/phys-ed-an-easy-fix-for-tennis-elbow/[/url]

Golfer's Elbow:

[url]http://info.thera-bandacademy.com/flexbarelbowmedial[/url]

Compression sleeves have a place, but they're preventative. You can still bust a tendon wearing a sleeve. Then it just gets worse until you stop doing it.

I'm just going to throw this out there (sans citation) but I've read there's some evidence that chronic recurring tendinitis has less to do with swelling (as the -itis implies) than thickened residual scar tissue on the tendon & joint friction. Eccentrics help reduce the build up/over-thickening of scar tissue this by stretching the tendon under load as it heals.[/QUOTE]

I'm bumping this, and also repping you... Just ordered the flexbar after reading this, as it sounds like exactly the solution to my problems.

Old post I know...but man is my tennis elbow kicking my ass...

Tried ice, tried, advil, tried compression elbow sleeve, tried rest, tried exercises, tried stretching. tried combos of all those...NOT GETTING BETTER!!! It has been 6 mths....I have less than confidence that my dr will or can do anything.... Ive shrunk because I havent lifted a weight in almost 8 mths.

if you don't trust your doctor, find a new one?

Allright, I'm continuing the ancient bump. I'm now imagining Power Hooks with heavy dumbbells on a barbell that is in monolift hooks. I need these now.....

you could get 2 power cages and bolt them together (i think Mech said he's waiting for someone to order that from him) and then build a 3rd cage on TOP of those two, then get a cambered bar, a monolift, power hooks, and heavy dumbbells.

you know...for standing overhead presses...

[QUOTE=matt42van;1355188411]Old post I know...but man is my tennis elbow kicking my ass...

Tried ice, tried, advil, tried compression elbow sleeve, tried rest, tried exercises, tried stretching. tried combos of all those...NOT GETTING BETTER!!! It has been 6 mths....I have less than confidence that my dr will or can do anything.... Ive shrunk because I havent lifted a weight in almost 8 mths.[/QUOTE]

Your going to need to find a sports medicine dr and get referred to a physical therapist who can help you with the problem. Might be time to take a field trip to the US where the medicine isn't free but it might actually do some good.