How bad can tennis elbow be

[plmb1]

Originally Posted by ardsranger

My left arm has "tennis elbow" best i can tell.
It started about a month ago. but continues to get more painful everyday.

Its to the point it hurts to drive the car. My new dr. will not do the steriod shot in it. I have had several of those in my right arm, by my old dr.

Im hoping it is just tennis elbow and not a tear.

Pain in same place on my left arm as it was on my right when i had "tennis elbow" in.
But this time the pain goes up into my sholder and all the way down to my wrist when i use it. and is very bad on the top of my forearm by my elbow. I took a week of lifting and it is not getting any better.

Anyone else ever had to deal with this

Wrapping it does help alot.

It depends on the severity. I've known "alot" of guys/gals to have it. Most get over it in a few weeks....some even quicker. But, there are cases that take months and months even a year or so to get over. Ever now and then there will be someone that will "have" to have surgery or it "will not" go away. I've been nursing the same tennis elbow injury for 11 months now with very little relief.

My injury is getting better but its very slow. I'm trying my hardest to avoid surgery.....we shall see.....good luck.

[Hey-Iwas51]

Originally Posted by namtrag

You are right, Dan. But what's weird is pulling with neutral grip (like one arm db rows) produces zero pain. BB rows on the other hand, or regular pullups, damn they hurt!

What else ticks me off is, right now it is not hurting at all after this morning, where I couldn't even upright row a 20lb db, and that's making me very much tempted to do my arm workout tomorrow as planned. Aleve kicked in finally, 5 hours after I took it! lol

So did you have the arm workout today? Tendonitis is so screwy... Seems to flare up when you least expect it sometimes.

If it is classic tennis elbow, one thing a wise old body builder showed me, was how whether your palms are twisted in or out makes a big difference. Has to do with where the tendons ride on the outside of your arm over the elbow when you pull. Not sure if that affects your situation or not, but I do know that using an EZ bar for curls made all the difference in the world for me. Being able to hold my wrists in more of a hammer curl direction takes a lot of tendon stress away. Of course, I am sure that parts of the biceps are not getting worked the same way as with a straight bar.

Interestingly, since using the EZ bar, tendonitis has shown up more in my forearms and in the area in the inside of the elbow I mentioned above. Kind of like they are the new weakest link in the chain... I really think that before the EZ bar, the tendonitis was keeping me from utilizing the biceps completely. Now the forearm tendonitis is doing the same thing, but once in a while now days, I CAN make my biceps sore... (because I can lift more than I could without the EZ) With the flare ups, off and on, I may never be able to grow them a whole lot more, but I will keep trying!! Hoping the tendons will catch up eventually. I know it's better than it was!

dan

[crupiea]

I had this for a few months in my left elbow and it hurt my bicep as well. Like my forearm and bicep bith. it was killing my squat workouts of all things.

I got one of the tennis elbow things at the sporting goods store for about 20 bucks. I wore it around everywhere for about 2 weeks. Its a rubber thing you wrap around your forearm and velcro it down.

I did take about 1 week off from lifting but I had done that prior with no luck.

After that 1 week i would just cinch that thing down and go for it. It really helped.

Aftee the 2 weeks I just started wearing it when lifting, then just when going heavy.

It really helped. I liked it so much I bought one for my other arm too, just in case.

[aabang]

I'm dealing with it in my left elbow now. It started in March and it got so bad that my forearm was numb, I had no strength to grip anything, it hurt to sleep with my arm straight out, so I went to the ortho-doc and he gave me a brace to wear when working out and said come back if it doesn't get better. The numbness got worse so I had a EMG nerve test, he thought it was nerve damage, all the nerves were fine, so he said to not use it, so I did that for 5 weeks, no change. So I went back and he gave me a cortisone shot, hurt like hell it actually got worse for 2 days, then the pain went away!!!! So I still let it rest for about 4 more weeks, now I'm slowly lifting with lighter weights, trying to build my strength back up. But the bad thing for me is that not using the elbow has made my right elbow kind of flair up at time. It wants to get tendonitis in it, so I ease up off of it for a day or two and it's okay after that. They say a cortisone shot lasts for 4 to 6 months and I'm afraid when it wears off I'll be in pain again.....Very annoying to even think about it.

[beginnerbutold]

Can anyone summarize what steps need to be taken to get over this tennis elbow. I still have electric current (may be tingling nerve?) on my hand at times even when I am not driving. The pain is behind the shoulder, on my forearm, back of my triceps. Thank you.

[Old_Swole]

Originally Posted by beginnerbutold

Can anyone summarize what steps need to be taken to get over this tennis elbow. I still have electric current (may be tingling nerve?) on my hand at times even when I am not driving. The pain is behind the shoulder, on my forearm, back of my triceps. Thank you.

I'm no doc but it sounds like maybe you have something other than tennis elbow going on. but like I said I'm no doc

[JOHN GARGANI]

how about 8 years of bad!!!!

that's right, EIGHT YEARS.......from age 32 to 40, if I even gripped a weight bar for too long , it would return....disastrous injury in my lifetime......


fortunately: I wised up, boned up on my old anatomy books and really truly figured out how the human body works and since then , the last 18 years, it has not come back.......

learning how to truly LISTEN to your body, distinguish good pain from bad pain, what movements to go light on, heavy on, or avoid altogether.......

I have it down pat now, form and everything, but I paid the price......

[namtrag]

I had a miracle occur, I have no other way to explain it. My elbow has been hurting for almost a month now. On Thursday I did shoulders and tried to upright row my normal db's of 40lbs. My elbow hurt so bad I couldn't even do a 20 lb db upright row with that arm.

I gave up, did lots of laterals and shoulder presses. Went to the drug store and bought a tight elbow sleeve and some Icy Hot. Friday I rubbed the icy hot on, took aleve 1.5 hrs before training, and put on the sleeve. I did arms, heavy on the triceps, but did 3 types of curls at about 2/3 my normal weight. had a little discomfort, but it actually disappeared by the end of training. After training yesterday, all the way through now, I have had zero discomfort.

I have no idea what happened, but the tendinitis is pretty much gone.

[kmachate]

I had no idea we old farts all had the same ailments..

I've been suffering for about 3 months. I've tried OTC NSAID's, Tylenol, one of those arm straps with the plastic 'bubble' in it, ice, and some guy even swore by Pectin (the stuff they make Jelly with) but none of it seems to work.

The strap helps a little bit, as do the pills, but it looks as if the shot is my next step. Once I start working and get insurance again, that is...

[boathead]

i've been dealing with it for 4 years or so. wraps didn't help. megadoses of naproxin didn't fix it. cold/heat treatments, nada. took 11 months off from training altogether...and my first workout it was right back.

f it.

[hochspeyer]

This may be of some help:

http://www.webmd.com/osteoarthritis/guide/tennis-elbow