Tendonitis thread

putahtech · 06-18-2008, 12:26 PM

Hi all,

After reading many posts about inner elbow pain and tendonitis in general I decided to start a log about my current bout with tendonitis with hope that it will help others who are going through the same thing or something similar.

About me, I've only been lifting weights for about two months and I developed pain in my right biceps tendon on the inner elbow. The pain also traveled into my forearm and lower head of my bicep. The pain began about a month after I had started working out and I initially tried to work through it but the pain was just getting worse. In case you are wondering... Yes, I brought this on by going too hard, too fast and too often. I know I'm an idiot but consider it a lesson learned.

Two weeks after the pain started I went to a physical therapist with a background in sports medicine. He confirmed that it was tendonitis and told me to rest, ice and gently stretch the arm. He also started ultrasound and molecular laser therapy. At first he said to stay away from any pull exercise at the gym for a week and if the tendon started to respond we could begin introducing light weights.

It's been about two weeks of therapy going about twice a week and I'm now curling light weight (8lbs LOL) and the pain has gone from an 8 to a 5 out of ten. They also started massage on the tendon which hurts like hell yet feels great at the same time.

I?ll keep you posted on my progress.

Rambo1989 · 06-19-2008, 10:30 AM

Damn dude, good luck. I tore my rotator cuff a few years back when I was playing baseball and rehab took about two or three months to get it back. To be honest I don't think it is as strong as it was before the injury.

putahtech · 06-19-2008, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rambo1989

Damn dude, good luck. I tore my rotator cuff a few years back when I was playing baseball and rehab took about two or three months to get it back. To be honest I don't think it is as strong as it was before the injury.

Thanks bro. Although I would think a little tendonitis in the bicep is not nearly as serious as a torn rotator cuff. I'ts just frustrating because the It's progressing so slowly. I haven't felt a pump in my bicep in over two weeks and it's driving me nuts. Oh well, back to PT tomorrow.

I assume you used to pitch? Three months of rehab and you still feel weakness in the shoulder years later? Boy that's tough. Thanks for the perspective.

zephed56 · 06-20-2008, 03:27 AM

what were the exercises in your program before/as you started to feel pain?

putahtech · 06-20-2008, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zephed56

what were the exercises in your program before/as you started to feel pain?

I don't think it was the exercises themselves that brought on the tendonitis as much as the freqency that I was doing them. I foolishly wanted to build up my biceps quickly so I trained them twice a week and sometimes twice a day. It makes me cringe to admit that....I really am smarter than that. LOL!
In hindsite I may have been over extending on my preacher curls.

putahtech · 06-20-2008, 12:39 PM

Just got back from PT. The ultrasound and massage therapy seem to work well but I think the laser is BS imo. It's been a slow moving process but I would say the pain is down to a 4.5 from a 5. I have resumed all lifting exercises at the gym except for any curls and some back exercises like rows. I can do some rehab lifting using weights between 3 and 10 pounds. It's been a very humbling experience curling the colored weights but it's more than I could do last week so I'll take it.

One thing I have definitely learned is that when you have tendonitis you stop. I mean stop everything. DO NOT try to work through it. Gauge the pain level and see if it subsides with rest, ice, and anti-inflammatories. Only then start making the baby steps back. Seems like common sense now but it didn't at the time.

Clark_Kent · 06-20-2008, 12:48 PM

I went through the same thing last year. I found the Ultrasound worked well. They used the laser treatment on me as well but I also felt it was ineffective. My elbow tendinitis only flairs up from throwing a baseball, which I do every weekend. I never did completely stop lifting, I went lighter though and got religious with my icing after a workout and it seems to have worked for the most part. Did they MRI your arm at all?

putahtech · 06-20-2008, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clark_Kent

I went through the same thing last year. I found the Ultrasound worked well. They used the laser treatment on me as well but I also felt it was ineffective. My elbow tendinitis only flairs up from throwing a baseball, which I do every weekend. I never did completely stop lifting, I went lighter though and got religious with my icing after a workout and it seems to have worked for the most part. Did they MRI your arm at all?

I tried to work through it and iced it afterward also and it just got worse for me. As a matter of fact my therapist called me a "typical meathead" for trying to push through it. I know him pretty well, LOL. Maybe thats the difference between someone in their 20's and someone in their 30's. (LOL, sucks getting old!) After doing some ROM tests the therapist didn't feel I needed an MRI. The fact that it's improving leads me to believe there was no tear.

It still flares up huh? That sucks. I'm hoping I can rehab it and leave it behind me. Here's to wishfull thinking!

Gr8Ape · 06-20-2008, 02:21 PM

tendonitis killed my father and raped my mother

putahtech · 06-25-2008, 07:59 AM

Just got back from PT. Things are progressing nicely. I would say the pain is down to a 4 out of 10. I actually did some barbell curls (very slow and controlled with the 45lb bar) and the pain was minimal. I've been wearing a neoprene sleeve on the advice from my therapist and it acually seems to be helping. It would seem that 3 to 4 weeks of rest, ice, ultrasound, stretching, laser, Advil, massage, light exercise and a neoprene sleeve is all it takes to get rid of tendonitis. Who knew? I'll be glad when this is behind me.

RyanGrob · 06-25-2008, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by putahtech

I don't think it was the exercises themselves that brought on the tendonitis as much as the freqency that I was doing them. I foolishly wanted to build up my biceps quickly so I trained them twice a week and sometimes twice a day. It makes me cringe to admit that....I really am smarter than that. LOL!
In hindsite I may have been over extending on my preacher curls.

Twice a week shouldn't of really caused anything, unless you had high volume with little rest between those days. Twice a day might do it though

There is lots of people who run like 2/3 day splits and hit Bi's twice a week.

**PLANETGETLOW** · 06-25-2008, 08:48 AM

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=107831071

putahtech · 06-25-2008, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RyanGrob

Twice a week shouldn't of really caused anything, unless you had high volume with little rest between those days. Twice a day might do it though

There is lots of people who run like 2/3 day splits and hit Bi's twice a week.

I believe it was the twice a day that got me. I wanted to accellerate the bicep development. Not to mention I had only been lifting for about a month at the time. I know, I know....I'm a dumb ass.

putahtech · 06-25-2008, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PLANETGETLOW

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=107831071

nice thread. Did you make a full recovery? Any Flare ups?

Joker187 · 06-29-2008, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by putahtech

I don't think it was the exercises themselves that brought on the tendonitis as much as the freqency that I was doing them. I foolishly wanted to build up my biceps quickly so I trained them twice a week and sometimes twice a day. It makes me cringe to admit that....I really am smarter than that. LOL!
In hindsite I may have been over extending on my preacher curls.

You may want to examine some of the exercises. When I was around 15 or 16 I got very bad tendonitis on the inside of my elbow. It hurt just putting on a pair of socks. I found the two exercises that absolutely killed my elbows. The first was standing inside grip cambered barbell curls. It got to the point where I couldn't curl with that grip with no weight without terrible pain. The other was inside grip cambered bar skull crushers. I know I took some time off from biceps but I don't think it was long. I cut out both exercises for a long time. Over time I was able to do them again with little to no more pain than any other exercises give me. Supplementation with glucosamine/ chondrotin helped too. 2 years at college it got bad again and I added fish oils which really helped. Right now my elbows and left wrist are really bad from lifting heavy after a long lay off.

SizeonYESYESYES · 06-29-2008, 11:24 PM

Ibprofien Ftw>

putahtech · 06-30-2008, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joker187

You may want to examine some of the exercises. When I was around 15 or 16 I got very bad tendonitis on the inside of my elbow. It hurt just putting on a pair of socks. I found the two exercises that absolutely killed my elbows. The first was standing inside grip cambered barbell curls. It got to the point where I couldn't curl with that grip with no weight without terrible pain. The other was inside grip cambered bar skull crushers. I know I took some time off from biceps but I don't think it was long. I cut out both exercises for a long time. Over time I was able to do them again with little to no more pain than any other exercises give me. Supplementation with glucosamine/ chondrotin helped too. 2 years at college it got bad again and I added fish oils which really helped. Right now my elbows and left wrist are really bad from lifting heavy after a long lay off.

I know what you mean with the exercises. Right now hammer curls seem to aggravate it so I just don't do them. The good news is that after nearly 4 weeks of rest and PT the arm is almost better. Maybe it's just coincidence but after I started using a neoprene sleeve my arm really started getting better. I also just started taking Animal Flex to see if that helps. We'll see.