HOW i recovered from my bicep/forearm tendonitis.

[Smells_Familiar]

Big ups to the OP!

I too am dealing with a bicep/upper forearm issue. Either my lower bicep tendon (elbow area) or one of my forearm tendons pops over something as I am extending my arm and it's almost completely extended, especially when I do palm in or palm down lifts like chins or hammer curls. It normally only pops when resistance is applied. I'm a big fan of the HST program, and even though I always get the popping, it doesn't start to bother me until I'm on the second, third, and fourth week of 5's. Then during the beloved 2 week break between cycles all of the pain usually goes away...but the popping doesn't. The popping does get much less severe, but it never goes away.

I guess I'm wondering if anyone else experiences this popping when you arm is almost totally extended. It happens on the inside of my elbow, what I call my "elbowpit", on the side closer to my body. So if the circumference of my elbow was a clock, and my main bicep tendon was the 12, the popping happens at about 1:00.

again, thanks for a great thread.

[GAMMA RAY]

Big ups to the OP!

I too am dealing with a bicep/upper forearm issue. Either my lower bicep tendon (elbow area) or one of my forearm tendons pops over something as I am extending my arm and it's almost completely extended, especially when I do palm in or palm down lifts like chins or hammer curls. It normally only pops when resistance is applied. I'm a big fan of the HST program, and even though I always get the popping, it doesn't start to bother me until I'm on the second, third, and fourth week of 5's. Then during the beloved 2 week break between cycles all of the pain usually goes away...but the popping doesn't. The popping does get much less severe, but it never goes away.

I guess I'm wondering if anyone else experiences this popping when you arm is almost totally extended. It happens on the inside of my elbow, what I call my "elbowpit", on the side closer to my body. So if the circumference of my elbow was a clock, and my main bicep tendon was the 12, the popping happens at about 1:00.

again, thanks for a great thread.

First of all I like to say thanks to all the posters on BB.Com, I'm a lurker but yall guys helped me so much in my journey of getting in shape and building my temple so to all of you guys and gals THANKS A MILLION. In July I was 264 and Now I'm 224 with Lean Mass (still got bf to lose) thanks to this site and the posters. I still got a long way to go but the road is hard and long, a very spritual journey. But now i am face with this same problem, I notice a couple of weeks ago my elbows was popping alot, the 2 outer bones and it hurted when i extend it. I didnt want to quit or stop - I came to far. I pushed my body hard since July working out 5 days a week cardio 7 days, and doing Bi's and Chest 2 x's a week (moobs is a mutha****a), so i got a elbow brace for tennis elbow, but something i didnt trip off of was that there was a sharp pain at my lower bi and i just kept going through it. Telling myself it's just sore. elbow joints still pop and sore when i extend it with the lower bi pain. So im going to a sports doctor and i know i have to stop bi's and back for aleast 2 weeks.

But you have to know when you lost a battle and the body won. This is going to be hard. Just cardio, Situps, Pushups, Legs and shoulders and light chest. Or SHOULD I JUST REST MY BODY FOR 2 WEEKS AND DO CARDIO AND DIET EVEN HARDER.

SHOULD I CUT OUT MY CREATINE INTAKE since i wont be lifting ass heavy and cut down my protein shakes from 4 to 2. I dont know what to do, it's my first injury.

[dupre428]

getting back in the gym after 5 year layoff was making great gains in strength and mass when bam stinging pain in elbows after bent over rows.like others wrote was told to stop all gripping exercises for 4 to 6 weeks! what a set back!guess its time to get those wheels and abs in shape.taking fish oil and icing down when i sit still long enough.man i got up to 235 at 5"9 with abs showing!

[heidt410]

Hey Mosh, my pain has subsided in normal activitiy. I can still feel something wrong in there when I flex hard...

Do you recomend lifting other muscle groups now?...I dont want to reinjure.

[ve2]

Are the "twinges" a sign of tendonitis onset? Or slight pinching when going to extend or reach for something? I never knew that about hammer curls..I do them all the time...thanks. This has been helpful. I have been feeling on the verge of tendonitis...some pain some tingles but nothing too bad. How do you know if your muscles are growing faster than your tendons? Are there exercises to help with that??

[bring_the_mosh]

Are the "twinges" a sign of tendonitis onset? Or slight pinching when going to extend or reach for something? I never knew that about hammer curls..I do them all the time...thanks. This has been helpful. I have been feeling on the verge of tendonitis...some pain some tingles but nothing too bad. How do you know if your muscles are growing faster than your tendons? Are there exercises to help with that??

well, im not sure about twinges, but you should be able to tell the difference between a muscle being strained and worked hard versus feeling like the motion just isnt right. listen to your body. there is really nothing we can do to MAKE our tendons catch up to our muscles. tendons are 99% dead cells, so they are strengthening 1% at a time, where our muscles are much higher percent of living cells so they change/grow/repair much faster. you (we) just have to realize that we need to maybe not add on weight as fast as our muscles are telling us we can. its like my analogy of the old beat up VW bug with the Ferrari engine put in it.. even though the engine is capable of breaking records, the surrounding components that support the engine will not hold up to what the engine is capable of. our muscles are the Ferrari engine, but we need to make sure everything supporting them is keeping up in strength and solidarity. the good news for you is, tendonitis doesnt happen overnight.. you can keep working out the way you do until you start feeling pain. the keyword there is START. dont wait until it has been hurting for a long time. bodybuilding is more art than science, if a exercise feels weird, pick a different one. there are a million exercises to build your muscles.

[orsum]

Guy I will share my experience, about 2 years ago I started weight lifting and dropping weight then Sept 1st this year the dreaded right arm pain hit me Tennis elbow/tendonitis, I did not know what it was at the time and like many other before me I dialled up and searched the net for answers, been to the doctors 3 times for advice and I have tried almost everything so far except injections and an operation, I have not found the answer to my prayers but everything helped, some things more than other, I agree with others that say its a combination of everything that helps it is, for me it was mostly rest, rest and you guessed it rest that had the biggest impact. I am at the stage now were my forearm is sore like a light dull pain always there and stress/sudden quick movements can cause a sharp pain which in a way is good as its a reminder of what not to do.

About 2/3 weeks ago I started using the weights again even though I could still feel some soreness in my forearm. I do high reps low weights for my arms but as for the rest of my body I have started to increase the weight again.

If anybody wishes to start training again before being completely healed take care I was almost 3 months off the weights before I decided enough was enough and the pain was almost gone, I felt I was ready to start again. When my tendonitis was at its worst I could not hold anything at arms length now I can hold about 11kg at arms length without causing me any concern.

This is what I am doing now, I have started using wrist straps to reduce the grip required when doing anything were my right arm comes in to play and completely removed any exercises that caused any abnormal reactions hammers etc.

I have also started massaging my forearms before I start training it seems to relax the muscle. Last night I did my personal best 115kgx12 reps Romanian dead lifts, during the dead lifts the pain that remains almost disappears it does come back about 3 to 4 hours later but no worse than it was 2/3 weeks ago, since starting to train again the rate of my recovery has increased, so I am saying for me it seems like the approach I have taken is working at present, if I consider what has happened over the last 3 months I would estimate a recovery period of 6 months for myself at my present rate of progress.

Without using wrist straps I could not do any train, my right forearm hurts if I rely solely on my grip now. When using wrist straps basically the bar hangs from my wrists and the straps reduce the amount of grip required, if I feel that shooting type of pain during any of my training I stop straight away. (I will stop using the straps when I can)

Presently looking into heat lamps and the effect of infra red on tendon repair if I find anything I will post it.

orsum

[timmytimm3]

Bumping this thread to add my thoughts:

I've had the same symptoms that many of you described earlier from years of IT work. I went to the doctor and he recommended anti-inflamatories, ice, and wrist splints. I also changed to an ergonomic keyboard and touchpad. I used all of them and it seemed to help me temporarily. Then the pain started to return and more intense. I decided to get a second opinion. A friend recommended that I try accupuncture so I figured what the hell.

After two treatments of accupunture, my wrists and forearms are feeling much better. I stopped taking the pills, and have actually been using heat rather than ice which is working better for me. All I'm saying is to get a second opinion if the first isn't working. I think doctors see the same types of injuries all the time and automatically recommend xy and z. Take pills and ice.

Get a second opinion before considering surgury.

[bizzmeister]

Wow. I'm glad your back to normal man. I think I may have this problem. I just made a thread about it yesterday in this same section. I just started 4 months ago so I'm seriously scared to stop for a month straight. I feel like I'll lose everything lol.

[timmytimm3]

check out acupunture man! its amazing. She put a tiny needle near my muscle and made it spasm for a few seconds. Then for the next day it was really sore. A few days afterward, my tendon and muscle was completely relaxed. I'm going back in a few hours for my 3rd treatment. There's different styles of accupunture though. She does 3 different types. For the most part, it feels like a deep tissue massage.

[bizzmeister]

check out acupunture man! its amazing. She put a tiny needle near my muscle and made it spasm for a few seconds. Then for the next day it was really sore. A few days afterward, my tendon and muscle was completely relaxed. I'm going back in a few hours for my 3rd treatment. There's different styles of accupunture though. She does 3 different types. For the most part, it feels like a deep tissue massage.

Hmm, I'll definitely look into that. Believe it or not, I see a million acupunture clinics on the way to the gym. You have no idea how annoying it is to go to the gym, do one machine then have to call it quits.


Why ? Because your about to pass out from pain lol.

[timmytimm3]

Hmm, I'll definitely look into that. Believe it or not, I see a million acupunture clinics on the way to the gym. You have no idea how annoying it is to go to the gym, do one machine then have to call it quits.


Why ? Because your about to pass out from pain lol.

It's probably the same feeling as not being able to type and use a mouse all day at work. It's effin frustrating man. I use to do roofing but got out of it to save my body. Oh, the irony...

[bizzmeister]

It's probably the same feeling as not being able to type and use a mouse all day at work. It's effin frustrating man. I use to do roofing but got out of it to save my body. Oh, the irony...

Ya bro, I feel ya. Its wierd for me because RIGHT NOW, I feel no pain at all. It feels perfectly fine but once I do certain things at high weight, holy ****, forget about it!

[MarkRNY]

Feel like an idiot. I started a thread on this yesterday before I saw this one.

Thanks to everyone. I'm icing like a maniac! (Saves on air conditioning).

One question--Does keeping pressure on it, like with a forearm band, help with healing or just with the pain? Is keeping pressure on it a good idea at all??

[bring_the_mosh]

i never applied pressure when icing.. just let the pack basically balance itself on top of my arm.. an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure; if you think you may be starting to experience tendon issues, dont wait until your arm is throbbing to do anything.. start icing or start on glucosamine/chondroitin.. EVEN if youre jumping the gun and its just sore and not a tendon issue, what harm can icing cause you, its only frozen water.

[ryan93]

Hey man! I've just found this thread after google-ing about forearm tendonitis. I'm a bowler and 2 days ago, I damaged my right forearm due to bowling and its swelling like hell right now. At the moment, I can't even make a fist on my injured arm. I know one way to cure it is to ice it...but are there any alternatives besides that? And how long do you think I will take to recover? I know I'm no body-builder and I shouldn't be eavesdropping you guys(haha wth) but I'd appreciate any suggestions/tips from you guys! Please, I want my right arm back man haha!!

[gomac66]

I'm going through the same thing myself. It's been months since I last did any work on my biceps and I agree with you in that it's especially painful when performing hammer and reverse grip curls. I can't even do upright rows for the traps because my grip is hampered.

Just some questions though if you don't mind: What causes it? (If I knew what caused it, it would be as simple as avoiding that cause.) And is it because of a certain kind of movement? (I've been watching the way I do the curl--without any weights--to see if there is something wrong with my form, but I can't see where I would be messing up my forearm and bicep.)

I'd hate to think it's a malady of age, because, well, there's no cure for that.

Thank you.

[Marco1973]

i have been lifting weights for almost 7 years now. this past couple of years is when i really got serious about it. everything was going great until this last year i got bad tendonitis at the bottom of my bicep into my forearm. it progressively got worse and worse to the point where it hurt like hell to simply lift a pile of clothes from the laundry room. i thought i had done permanent damage and would be stuck with this injury for life, it was very depressing.

after lots of reading and researching, i came to the conclusion that i got this injury from doing certain exercises (hammer curls, reverse-grip curls, etc) that would always hurt while i was doing them, but i thought i just had to push through the pain to get growth. i finally stopped all lifting of bicep and back exercises. it still did not get better, so i made some appointments with the doctor and completely stopped lifting weights all together until my appointment (one full month.)

at first, the doctor told me to take a bunch of anti-inflammatory medicine for a week straight (aleve, aspirin, etc). i tried it, it did not work. he also told me to get back into lifting, just take it slow on bicep/back exercises.

i started lifting again, and i stayed very light on bicep exercises (were talking, curling 10lb dumbbells). it still did not improve. i lifted light for about 5 weeks, the most i was ever curling was 20lb dumbbells. pain still was throbbing.

as of now, my tendonitis is completely healed. i feel absolutely no pain at all, no matter what lifts im doing or what daily activities im doing. i am back to lifting as heavy as i can on bicep and back exercises. i blast the hell out of my biceps until i can barely bend my arms, with no pain.

here is how i recovered 100%....

taking the month off of lifting was key to the healing. all of my muscles needed time to recover, especially my tendons (all of them). i started doing negative bicep exercises (if you dont know what negatives are, google it.) i stayed very light still on the weight of curls. i iced my tendonitis everyday, twice a day. this was the BIGGEST thing in recovery. tendonitis is inflammation, icing it calms the inflamed tendons. i started taking Glucosamine/Chondroitin twice a day. i started eating lots of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. getting nutrients from these foods was essential i believe. i took fish oil 3 times a day. i was patient. every time i was lifting bicep/back i wanted to push my limits and see if i could get my weight up faster but i had to resist this. i curled 15lb dumbbells in the gym for weeks (and it was very embarassing for a guy who shoulder presses 90lb dumbbells with ease). i stopped doing exercises that hurt. no more reverse-grip curls, no more hammer curls. my motto now is if an exercise hurts or doesnt feel quite right, i stop doing it immediately. no matter how much someone is yacking in your ear how its "THE BEST EXERCISE FOR MASS$@&*(!" its not worth injury.

i truly thought that i was stuck with this injury for the rest of my life and thought that it would impair my weightlifting forever. i spent a lot of time trying to find out how to recover from this injury, so i hope this can help people out there that are suffering from the same injury.

if i can answer any additional questions, feel free to reply to this thread.

Hi, i have been dealing with the same identical issue for several months now with no improvement. Some days are better but some days are worse. I can feel the pain just by simply lifting the clothes hamper when I do the laundry. I ice it at night time after I come home from the gym but not consistently. And I don't really like to take pain killers so...
My doctor said that it cannot be diagnosed with 100% certainty without an MRI but I have a huge deductible with my health insurance and I am not gonna pay 1K for that out of pocket. Now, my question for you is this - did you stop going to the gym all together for a whole month...or you just stopped doing exercises that involved "pulling" (biceps and back)? And how long did it take you to feel better enogh to start again with those exercises? And How long before you were healed 100%?
Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated. i am running out of options here. i am very frustrated. Thanks in advance.

[bring_the_mosh]

I don't really participate in this forum any longer but I didn't want to leave you hanging without an answer. I just started a blog that I wrote up a bit about my tendonitis experience today actually if you want to read it on there. I don't know if they allow linking in here, but the address is: workingmanfit dot wordpress dot com.

Thanks and good luck to you.

Hi, i have been dealing with the same identical issue for several months now with no improvement. Some days are better but some days are worse. I can feel the pain just by simply lifting the clothes hamper when I do the laundry. I ice it at night time after I come home from the gym but not consistently. And I don't really like to take pain killers so...
My doctor said that it cannot be diagnosed with 100% certainty without an MRI but I have a huge deductible with my health insurance and I am not gonna pay 1K for that out of pocket. Now, my question for you is this - did you stop going to the gym all together for a whole month...or you just stopped doing exercises that involved "pulling" (biceps and back)? And how long did it take you to feel better enogh to start again with those exercises? And How long before you were healed 100%?
Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated. i am running out of options here. i am very frustrated. Thanks in advance.

[Chris26237]

I don't really participate in this forum any longer but I didn't want to leave you hanging without an answer. I just started a blog that I wrote up a bit about my tendonitis experience today actually if you want to read it on there. I don't know if they allow linking in here, but the address is: workingmanfit dot wordpress dot com.

Thanks and good luck to you.

Perfect timing.....thanks Mosh!!

[MJmadness]

For me, it's in my forearm and i only feel it once i drop the weight, and it's only when im doing barbell curls, preacher curls, and cable curls with a bent bar. (i also use a bent bar for barbell curls aswell) I'll be lifting and my arms will be fine, then once i drop and let go of the weight, i feel the pain.

[Grailer]

I dunno if barbell curls are even worth doing for mass building . might grow more mass on arms from barbell rows and pull ups .

[Yekim76]

Thanks for the info! This is much needed and im glad you took the time to post your experience.

[DaedricLord]

Thank you for taking the time to share your ordeal and how you overcame it. It is people like yourself, who are selfless and take the time, who make the internet such a treasure cove of vital information. Thanks again!

[husker3in4]

If anyone is still reading this old but informative post, has anyone tried Voodoo Floss Bands for this injury? I have it where the OP did, the lower bicep where it connects to the upper forearm, right in the crease of my elbow and I have it in both elbows. Ive been fighting it for almost a year now. Ive tried alot of things like the icing, glucosamine/chon, fish oil, systemic enzymes and even some eccentric curls, all with minimal improvement. Im considering trying acupuncture at this point, but saw these Voodoo Floss Bands and the reviews are pretty good. At this point Im willing to try almost anything. Any of you tried these? Just google them and you should get a few links on them.

Also, Im going to try OP's method (with maybe the voodoo bands at the same time). My question is, I have taken 2 weeks off from doing pretty much anything but haven't been icing the whole time. do I need to start over with a months worth of idle time + ice or can I count these last 2 weeks? I was going to start tomorrow with leg workouts + pushups and maybe shoulder presses. the rest of the week will be mainly cardio + pushups. These safe to do or will they keep re-aggravating it?

[husker3in4]

..bump

anyone?

If anyone is still reading this old but informative post, has anyone tried Voodoo Floss Bands for this injury? I have it where the OP did, the lower bicep where it connects to the upper forearm, right in the crease of my elbow and I have it in both elbows. Ive been fighting it for almost a year now. Ive tried alot of things like the icing, glucosamine/chon, fish oil, systemic enzymes and even some eccentric curls, all with minimal improvement. Im considering trying acupuncture at this point, but saw these Voodoo Floss Bands and the reviews are pretty good. At this point Im willing to try almost anything. Any of you tried these? Just google them and you should get a few links on them.

Also, Im going to try OP's method (with maybe the voodoo bands at the same time). My question is, I have taken 2 weeks off from doing pretty much anything but haven't been icing the whole time. do I need to start over with a months worth of idle time + ice or can I count these last 2 weeks? I was going to start tomorrow with leg workouts + pushups and maybe shoulder presses. the rest of the week will be mainly cardio + pushups. These safe to do or will they keep re-aggravating it?

[EddyGordo]

I had all sorts of arm tendonitis, about a year ago i had wrist tendonitis on both of my arms, i couldnt do any of the exercises that would put tension on my wrist. On top of that I moved to Norway with my uncle for 3 monts to help him finish building his logg house in the mountains. So the job would require lifting heavy loggs and all kinds of activities that would put alot of stress on my wrists, i consulted with my uncle who is a wise individual in general and he told me to put few strings of 100% cotton on my wrists (like bracelets made of cotton strings), 100% cotton strings have these smaller strings poking out of them which basically stimulate your nerves and helps the inflamation go away. And i would notice the difference after 3-4 days, the pain went away completely in like 2 weeks.

Then i had outer elbow tendons inflamed from benching too much weight, this pain would result in mainly chest exercises that require pushing. I managed to find few exercises that i could do on my chest and not get the pain, i did those exercises for a month and completely neglected all the other exercises that would make me feel the pain in my elbow, 1 month later the pain went away completely.

And then (3 months ago) i had bicep tendonitis in my left arm, at first i would feel stingy pain when i did bb curls or db curls and i tried to work through the pain because the pain was new to me, wasnt like any other tendon pain i had before, which was completely foolish of me because the pain was getting worse and worse. Although what was weird is that i would only get this pain when i did bicep exercises, and i wouldnt get it from any other exercises or feel the pain during the day. Also what ive noticed is that when i start my bicep workout and start to get the pain i could rest it for 20-30 minutes (do some abs or w/e), and then come back to biceps and would not feel the pain anymore.. Although i was scared to do them even then. I found that hammer curls and overhead cable curls didnt cause the pain, but after like a week or so i couldnt even do those... So i Iced the inner elbow for 15-20 munutes, once or twice a day. When i had my ARM day i would only do triceps and very light and slow bicep workout (without causing the pain) also stretching and holding the wrist up and down with an extended arm before every workout for atleast 5 minutes, also try to massage all around the inner/outer elbow and see if you can find a spot that would cause pain when you do so, and try to massage that spot few times a day. 1.5 months later i didnt feel the pain, but it still didnt feel 100%, so i took it slow and moved my weights up little by little and in the end i could do my full weight with no pain.

Hope this helps.

[tpeach]

bump. So I've been dealing with the same issue for the last couple of months and I've been trying to work through it by lifting stricter, lighter, slower, and also trying alternate exercises that didn't seem to aggravate it as much but the pain persists. From internet research I'm 90% sure my tendonitis is the tennis elbow variety. Thanks to the OP and all who contributed to this thread. I still have a couple of questions. Is it necessary to cease all upper body work during the rest period or can you simply avoid working the body parts (for me it's back and biceps) that annoy the problem the most? And does the rest period have to be a minimum of a month or can you resume your normal routine as soon as the pain is gone? I just got back in to bodybuilding consistently a couple of years ago and have made some decent gains. The thought of losing these gains during a month of rest really depresses me.

[Cruiser]

Good Advice! I went through the same thing 3-4 years ago; happened from doing close-grip upright rows. I did much of the same things you outlined in your post. The key is knowing when to stop lifting; it only gets worse. Mine actually moved from my elbow to forearm to hand. Sometimes you can work through it, but in the long run, you just have to stop and let it heal. I would suggest to anyone experiencing this, take the OPs advice; it works! Rep given.

Cruiser

[jonebone]

Funny this got bumped today... I think I have Golfer's elbow flaring up in my right arm (inner elbow). I battled with this for a couple of months about a year ago, now it's back after being pain free for quite awhile. Been making great strength gains in the gym so maybe the heavy weights are the cause.

My best suggestions:

1) Icing
2) Self-massaging the effective area. Depending on the severity of your injury, you'll find a spot in your forearm or lower tricep where you can press hard and feel it in the elbow. Bend your elbow at 90 degree and massage these areas firmly. Not strong enough to cause intense pain, but strong enough to "feel" it and cause a sensation.
3) The upper forearm band. Place it over your arm approximately 2" below the elbow when working out. It HELPS!
4) Fish oils / good multi

I started doing this again and I'm sure I'll get past it. I tried complete rest before with no luck. I think it has to do with tendonitis vs. tendonosis. Itis is inflammatory and Osis is degenerative. That means that Itis gets better from rest, Osis gets better from increases blood flow (massaging, or high reps of extremely light weight).

Good luck to anyone battling it, but you can definitely beat it with patience.