Elbow Pain

Discussion in 'Injuries and Prevention' started by SWC Sifu Ben, Nov 13, 2015.

  1. SWC Sifu Ben

    SWC Sifu Ben I am the law

    Well I've been having this issue for a while now. May as well share.

    Initially I was having a little pain in my elbow which then became a bigger pain. One of the smaller muscles (the anconeus) had engorged itself to the point that it was pressing on a nerve and causing issues with grip so I stopped going to the gym for a while to see if it would heal up. Three months later it hadn't felt any better and seemed like it was getting worse so I bit the bullet and went to the doctor. Disappearing x-rays which never surfaced and three months of physio later I was finally able to get back to the gym. The problem resurfaced again in about a month.
    I've been out of the gym for another month and a half as it is and it's affecting my lifting and my chi sao.

    After chatting with Late for Dinner for a bit he thinks it's instability in the elbow and gave what is probably the most detailed and thorough explanation I've ever heard from a physio about probable causes and what might be functionally occurring with the joint. He also recommended I go try some lifter's elbow wraps to test that theory which I shall do with haste.

    So long story short I'm off to buy some elbow wraps at L4D's suggestion and thankful there are physios in the world smarter than those who seem to work in my area :D
     
  2. icefield

    icefield Valued Member

  3. SWC Sifu Ben

    SWC Sifu Ben I am the law

    Thanks icefield!

    LFD had actually suggested something similar to knee wraps. I'm guessing because the wrapping would give a bit better compression and therefore stabilization to the joint. I'll have a look at those too though. At this point I'm pretty much down for anything which will resolve this.
     
  4. Late for dinner

    Late for dinner Valued Member

    Actually what I suggested was anything similar to what Paul Carter uses with his bench... Icefield's sleeves (similar to Paul's) would be great as would an appropriate wrap if you could find one available.

    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upAAE2nCBN4[/ame]

    Probably a communication error on my part.. you know what it's like speaking a foreign language (British ;' )

    LFD
     
  5. Late for dinner

    Late for dinner Valued Member

    We used to use Conco bandages (which were stretchy in one direction but not stretchy in the perpendicular direction) years ago but I haven't see this sort of bandage since I came to the UK. You might find something in a sports medicine shop in T.O. .

    I looked at what Paul wears and it looked like Inzers (multiple velcro adjustments for better fit)

    http://www.inzernet.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=SLEEVES_ELBOW_XT

    I will keep my eye open for other versions. We could always send Paul a note and ask him which brand he uses..

    LFD
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2015
  6. SWC Sifu Ben

    SWC Sifu Ben I am the law

    Then away with the sleeves I shall go! My only other thought was buying knee wraps and chopping them down to size.
     
  7. Rebel Wado

    Rebel Wado Valued Member

    I've hurt one of my elbows and when I gripped with the hand, I felt pain and loss of strength between my elbow and hand (along the forearm). I believe this is similar to the symptoms of lateral elbow tendinosis.

    Sometimes the pain would be there and other times not, so it was a specific area that was injured. By changing the angle at the wrist, I could tell where I was strong and where I was weaker.

    The changing of the angle at the wrist as well as some exercises that helped me are found in this article (with video): http://trainingforclimbing.com/effective-forearm-antagonist-training-for-climbers/

    Maybe this will help you.
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2015
  8. Theidiot

    Theidiot New Member

    I'm glad I saw this thread. Just today my latest injury was diagnosed as a trapped ulnar nerve at the elbow. Doc reckons I've sprained a ligament there, and the resulting inflammation is pressing on the nerve.

    Would these wraps work in my case do we think?
     
  9. Latikos

    Latikos Valued Member

    Why not ask your doctor?
    He might have some alternatives as well.
     
  10. Theidiot

    Theidiot New Member

    Unfortunately it's not that simple. The NHS is basically bureaucracy. The GP has made the diagnosis. Now I have to phone the physio department. They will arrange a telephone appointment whereby a treage physio will listen to me describe what's wrong. They'll refer that to another physio who will then send out some printed sheets of exercises. I'll have to do these for 3 months and then go through the same carry on again. Probably sometime in the second half of this century, they'll invite me to a random hospital for a scan of some kind. The letter will get lost in the post and so they'll discharge me from their care. I'll then contact the GP again who will reinitiate the whole process. At some point in will die. Then I will no longer need there services, and as I don't need them anymore, I must be cured, so it can go in their statistics as a successful outcome.

    Sometimes it's quicker just to ask people who've been through the same thing.
     
    Skiptowncat likes this.
  11. Latikos

    Latikos Valued Member

    But maybe not in a one year old thread ;)

    Besides: Your health system is weird :wow:

    I have pain, I go to my doc, might get send to another one - and that will take care of things.
    If one of these things is physio (I have an abo there ;) ), I make some appointments and get treated.

    PS.: Inflammation sounds as if you should give your arm some rest, so the inflammation can go back.
    I'm not a doctor or anything though! So that's not a professional advise!
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2016
  12. Dead_pool

    Dead_pool Spes mea in nihil Deus MAP 2017 Moi Award

    The NHS is essentially underfunded and understaffed, youve got a diagnosis and will get some physio input, id do that before asking random strangers off the internet.
     
  13. SWC Sifu Ben

    SWC Sifu Ben I am the law

    Hey I still kick around here :D

    If it's anything like mine wraps won't help. At this point I've just learned to manage it and learned what it responds well to and badly through experimentation.

    It seems to respond well to:
    -palm up triceps extensions, but not neutral or palm down
    -weight over volume
    -massaging out the tricpes

    Visit a physio, get their opinion (I got three), try what they tell you, and then if and when you're cleared to exercise experiment carefully.
     
  14. Mushroom

    Mushroom De-powered to come back better than before.

    I've ripped my knee (twice), broke my hand and have had a multitude of contusions and "its really bruised but not broken" kind of injuries. All under the NHS and I turned out relatively ok.

    Back on topic. My left elbow clicks a lot when I bench. Why? There has been a few times as well when I stand up put my hands on my waist (cos I'm dainty like that) and my left elbow is slightly out of place and clicks back in.

    I don't feel anything but it is annoying to hear.
     
  15. Latikos

    Latikos Valued Member

    I know that of course :p

    But... well... uhm... the thread is still old.
    So!
    Now you have it right there!
    :p
    ;)
     
  16. SWC Sifu Ben

    SWC Sifu Ben I am the law

    Well I figured I may as well update this.

    After 3 years, 6 doctors, 3 physios, and about $2000 out of pocket, and even having Late for Dinner trying to help via Skype......nothing was working. I'd almost given up. Even without exercising my elbow was bothering me about 3 or 4 times a week.......and then I ended up fixing it myself.

    A combination of hanging from a bar (which I had started after reading it was good for the shoulders) and splinting the elbow while sleeping seems to be doing the trick. The annoying thing is the splinting clearly helps, it's also one of the treatment approaches for cubital tunnel syndrome which I suggested as a possibility to every doctor I saw and all of them dismissed out of hand. Not sure why the hanging helps but it does so almost immediately if I have any pain in the elbow. My elbow hasn't popped while benching or overhead pressing in the two months I've been back to lifting.

    At this point I'm happy to have found something which works but also dismayed at how hard I had to push for any help whatsoever in the medical system here only to burn a bunch of cash and end up fixing it on my own.
     
    Mushroom, Knee Rider and axelb like this.
  17. inthespirit

    inthespirit ignant

    Did you ever give trigger point therapy a go? Might be worth a shot, have sorted numerous problems, my own and other people's elbows as well, including a chap who had chronic bursitis, tennis elbow issues as a result of strong man type training. Clair Davies book is very good.
     
    Late for dinner likes this.
  18. Jacke

    Jacke New Member

    I had bad an elbow for a long time, the fluid in my joint was collected. Were pumped, treated for the recovery.
     

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