tendonitis/tennis elbow help

Keahikekai. Could be as simple as a swollen tendon, from too much exercise, pressing against a nerve causing the pain. Trying taking 200mg of B-6 every day for 5 weeks and see if the swelling goes down and with it the pain. Worked great for me and many other paddlers and golfers! If pain persists could be other causes I haven't a clue about. May need to see a doctor and have an X-Ray. I had a bone spur in my elbow once jabbing into a nerve, and once removed through micro-surgery pain was instantly gone. Good luck--elbow pain sucks.

#1 Mon, 03/12/2012 - 12:58pm

Not sure how severe your problem is, but google "tennis elbow super 7"... stretch, exercise, stretch again, massage... worked great for me. By "massage" I mean really digging into the forearm - the muscle that gets rock hard when you paddle hard/wrong, which is (for me at least) the cause of the elbow pain. Good luck!

#2 Mon, 03/12/2012 - 2:35pm

I expect you may have lateral epicondylitis (inflammation of the tendon on the outside of the elbow), commonly known as tennis elbow (medial epicondylitis is inflammation of the tendon on the inside of the elbow, know as Golfers elbow). I have the same thing right now in my left arm. Apparently, the Thera-Band FlexBar is research-proven to be very effective, but havent taken the time to order one yet. I want to get one as soon as I can.

I recommend to check this out and consider buying and using one of these:

Novel Thera-Band® FlexBar® Exercise Effective for Tennis Elbow

If you get one, let me know your progress and if it is effective for you.

#3 Mon, 03/12/2012 - 6:10pm

Thank you all for the very helpful feedback... The pain is on the outside of the elbow. The pain is so severe, I have a hard time holding a cup. Just curious if anyone else has these symptoms.

#4 Mon, 03/12/2012 - 8:02pm

If it's that bad, then you better rest it for a week or so, for it takes a long time to heal. Then go out and buy a bunch of tennis or golfer elbow straps and see which one works the best for you as you paddle. Make sure when you paddle again, that you've warmed up enough, so that there's lots of blood serving those tissues before you hit it hard. Also, no shame in using a smaller paddle (8'' to 8 3/4" wide) until the pain diminishes. For exercise, you cannot beat wrist curls: rolling a tube with string attached to light weight in front of you.

#5 Mon, 03/12/2012 - 11:53pm

It may be the cartilage that sits in the joint slips out. This usually happens with motion that is constantly repeated with your arm in an unnatural or misaligned position. If this is the case (which more than likely it is, it is really easy to fix. It can also happen from an sudden jolt or accident.
Extend your arm in front of you parallel to the ground palm faced down. Your elbow is locked slightly so that the elbow joint is closed. Open the elbow joint SLIGHTLY by moving your right palm to the left or your left palm to the right (whichever is appropriate). With the opposite hand use you middle or index finger to find the opening in the joint. You will find some semi soft material and as you hold this cartilage with your finger move your palm to the outside to close the joint while holding the cartilage in place. Do this several times to help get the cartilage seated back where it's suppose to be.
This cartilage can easily come out again if you continue the misaligned movements that caused it to in the first place. So you have to figure that movement or bad habit out and correct it. Hope that helps. Lmk

#6 Tue, 03/13/2012 - 6:57am

I have had very good luck with acupuncture for tennis elbow/tendonitis.

#7 Tue, 03/13/2012 - 10:22pm

Stop playing tennis?

#8 Wed, 03/14/2012 - 2:00pm

Had it, it sucks. I think Sports authority or a tennis shop(duh) should have a device called a Band It. It's 2 pieces of plastic with an elastic band that puts pressure on the affected area. It works pretty good. Ice after workout, and Acupuncture and/or massage helps. Do your research.

#9 Thu, 03/15/2012 - 7:21am

Often when I see a golfer wearing one of those bands on their elbow I suggest they try supplementing their diet with vitamin B-6. A lot of these golfers come back to me at the driving range on hands and knees and kiss my feet. It's kinda embarassing. I learned this little trick from Tom at "Tom's Golf Shop" at Schofield Barracks about 7 years ago when I went in and told him I wanted to buy some irons with graphite shafts because the vibration from the steel shafts was killing my elbow. He said, "I'd be glad to sell you the new set of irons, but probably all you need is 200mg of B-6 added to your daily diet." Boom in 2 weeks the pain went away and every time I've felt a little tinge in my elbow I pull out the B-6 and gone. Even recently when I started developing pain in my right hand from over-paddling, trying to keep up with Fred Santos and Walter Hamasaki in the 50's division, I broke out the B-6 and the swelling and pain went away. Bring it on Freddy and Wally and look out Sammy! Don't know why B-6 would reduce tendon or ligament swelling, but it does for me! Its not a placebo.

#10 Thu, 03/15/2012 - 11:03am

I have recently learned the value of taking MSM the short story it creates the flexible bond between protien in our cells. It is very water soluble so while we should get it from food we do not. because of the. I have been taking it in large amounts and it is helping. Youtube Bill rich has a lot of info and there are some creams that will go right to the area.
As for therapy Kstar here is the link
http://www.mobilitywod.com/

#11 Thu, 03/15/2012 - 12:22pm

I have had one bad elbow for a number of years now...also on the lower outside. I found that the part of the stroke cycle that causes the inflammation is when that elbow is in the upper arm position. The force from pressing down on the water exerts quite a bit on that joint. What I find works for me is one of those water proof neoprene and nylon elbow supports available at any local drug store. I usually apply some salon pas at the tender area. It helps support the elbow and and takes up a lot of the force. I have never experienced any discomfort from the support even during a long distance race.
Probably no complete cure... just management....good luck.

#12 Sat, 03/17/2012 - 1:25pm

Did not have time to hunt down my story in my notes to post 'till now but 2nd Cliff on the B-6 ...

I probably pitched one too many times when I was a little boy, then too much racquetball left hand / tennis right hand as a teen, then too much hammer swinging afta' dat.

Now both of my elbows 'rattle' ... You can actually hear them clicking when I make a fist and shake it up and down.

So now I do thousands of file and sand strokes year after year. In the middle of last summer it got to the point that I could not really lift a can of soda up to my mouth ... Pardoxically, I could still work fine .. sheesh :0. On to say, it was getting worse and not better so right when I was gonna start to 'take it easy' I came across a suggestion on the Surfski forum about talking B-6 ...

" O.K. " EZ ... just take a pill .. LOL

So I started with 50, then 100, then as I felt something ( 2.5 days later ) with zero other side effects so I upped it to 150 and WOW!

This was right in the middle of the busy season and I did not slow down one bit as I took the B-6 just to really test what would happen. Slowly but surely, I got 'ahead' of the pain ( not really "pain" but pain in the butt pain of having sore elbow all the time ) and it gradually went away over the course of about three weeks with ZERO help from me. Amazing .. The hotspot was right on the inner bump of my elbow. Sometimes called "Golfer's Elbow" I believe.

I know my elbows are worn and the real problem was more connective tissue vs. skeletal as a knee would be but I also have a bad knee. Fell off rock wall into bushes, knee cranked SIDEWAYS ! cushing anterior tibia plateau and breaking off the top of the interior ( leg bent sideways ) ... Got it pretty good now but I don't play any racket sports anymore or run so its not really too bad day to day right now .. but even this felt like I got 'injected' with some kind of superlube. Hard to describe .. Not like the ' juicy joint feeling you get when taking glucose amin but it still worked pretty good. Now I don't take for fear that it will not work so good the next time ...

Back in the present: WARNING ... I never looked it up 'till I started talking it up to others, but apparently 150mg per day should be max for 'trained atheletes'. Over that causes "reversible" nerve damage. I have gone way over this and probably hurt something else ... But my elbows are good so will deal with whatever else comes along later : 0 !

aloha,
pog, the B-6 Evangelist

#13 Mon, 03/19/2012 - 10:22am

Does anyone know if this can also apply to a sore shoulder... Swollen AC Tendon? Or have any advice?
Mahalo.

#14 Mon, 03/19/2012 - 1:04pm