Tendonitis stories/ advice.

[swat_op506]

Hi guys/ gals-
last time I was in the health/fitness section it was over a biceps rupture in my right arm. I ended up with a tendon replacement. Really sucked.
Now I'm back to ask anyone who suffers from tendonitis, AKA, Tennis Elbow. I have it in my left arm. I am taking Alieve and keeping a brace on it, which helps, but after two months, it is not getting much better (I still actively use the arm, however).
I've been told a cortisone shot will help, but the way I see it, that just kills the pain, and may cause me to tear it up even more.

Advice or experiences requested!

[Amigo1342]

If it is that bad/persistent I would go see an orthopedic or sports medicine doctor. There's nothing you can really do besides not using the arm (unrealistic) or using ice and pain meds like you are.

Also I have had a cortisone shot in my knee and it definitely took a lot of the pain away. You have to be careful though because if you frequently get the shot, it can actually weaken the joint. With the shot and PT I was able to strengthen it back up to normal.

[NORCOCOP]

Cortisone is not a good idea for active healthy individuals under normal circumstances. I know a few guys who have worked with high end sports medicine specialists who used it in combination with a very specific physical therapy routine and as a last resort, to good effect. I think if you use google fu you will quickly agree it should be a last resort.

In May of last year I broke a bone in the palm of my hand, slamming it into a barbell after a deadlift. I damaged some of the nerves as well for good measure. It was my fault as I had developed a habit of over aggresively following the bar down after a big lift.

All of this is to give a back story for how I developed a killer case of "golfers elbow" last year. I have never played tennis or golf by the way... I continued a pretty heavy lifting regimine as soon as the hand was healed. I even used wrist wraps to hold my hand on the bar so I could squat when the initial break had healed but the nerves were still way to tender to mess with.

I eventually healed up enough to bench and do military pressing with an adjusted thumbless grip. As the bar was resting over a slightly different portion of the hand. It was now well after 8 weeks since the initial injury.

Well fast forward to about 3 /4 months later and I was back to benching to around my normal 300-315 range but I had this paralyzing pain appear in my elbow of the formerly broken hand once I reached my heavier lifts again. It only took a few weeks before I was limited to well below a 250 max bench due to the pain brought on by benching, and anything that involved use of the elbow. Pullups, curls, anything triceps related...You get the point.

I starting looking into various options and found several helpful avenues that have allowed me to get back to 90-95 pain free with no presciption meds, pain relievers, or surgery. I benched 325 raw less than 2 weeks ago at under 180 lbs. My12 year old 80 pound daughter did help with the lift off.

I did all of the following to get back to normal, in varing degrees:

I got a book called, Touch Point Therapy, and utilized various self myofacial release (SMR)methods to loosed up the muscles that were causing the over tightened and inflammed tendon. This is a highly dumbed down explantion but a check on youtube and smr for tennis or golfers elbow will do wonders.

I bought a compression band to go over the forearm during lifting, not a sleeve. A really tight cuff that can only be left on during sets. It has really has been a lifesaver during bench, press, and squats.

I bought a flossing band and used it as described by Kelley Starrett. I may be misspelling his name. A check of his name will explain everything. He is a great resource for getting and staying healthy enough to do the things a warrior or athlete needs to be able to do. If you can't move with ease and in a quality fashion, you are an accident or statistic waiting to happen.


I started doing various streches ( holding a bar or object in front of me or hanging straight down and working against the tension in the tendon to loosen it up) and icing several times a week in the begining and middle phase especially.

I supplement with Bromeline. Check the reviews on amazon for the Now brand and do general search. It is widely used by atheletes to aid in after injury and post surgery recovery. I only heard about it a few months ago when Brandon Lilly had a catostrophic accident while sqatting over 800 and had his whole leg rebuilt. (well not quiet but it was pretty epic extensiveness).

I have noticed a vast improvement in the past 3-4 months but with all the different things I have done. It is hard to attibute my succes to any one thing.


I was able to keep doing everything I always enjoyed the entire time, alibiet in a more limited fashiomn in the begining. I now only have a "flare up" here and there after a really taxing day and they are gone with in days.

I would look into the book Trigger Point Therapy for anyone who is active and not interested in going under the knife or being injected with dangerous and often unneeded and less than helpful drugs.

[SHU]

Acupuncture. It cured achilles tendonitis in one of my legs but whatever you do don't use cortisone shots. They will weaken the tendon. Also give Curamin a try. This stuff really works for pain and inflammation. Its not cheap but it really helped me.

http://www.amazon.com/EuroPharma-Nat...AQNXQKWZ3MHK7G