Hello, My elbow (sometimes) gives me a bit of grief. I generally just wear a support for training. It appears I have "golfers elbow' (which I don"t play). Bag work isn"t too bad but focus pads aggreviate more. I know rest is the best thing, but I rest for all of my niggles I would never train again! I was thinking perhaps cold compress a couple of times a day. Does anybody have experience/advice? A bit of background. I am 50 and have mainly trained kickboxing recently, although have done TKD and like kung fu. Obviously the clubs are closed at the moment. During lockdown I have started online caporeira as it is easier on the joints. Perhaps I should try tai chi too. Thanks all Bish
I had “tennis elbow” a couple years back that lasted a fair bit of time. Didn’t seem to want to get better from rest alone, nor things like icing it. What finally helped was when I began doing very light strengthening exercises. Light weights, like with 5 pound dumbbells or kettlebells or even a soup can to begin with. I did wrist curls in three directions: Palm up, Palm down, and thumb up. And wrist rotations, grip a kettlebell with Palm up, forearm horizontal and the body of the kettlebell dangling downward. Grip the handle and rotate the Palm to down with the body of the kettlebell above the hand. then let the body of the kettlebell swing down, with your Palm facing the ground. Now rotate in other direction. Back-and-Forth. I also used my archery gear in my rehab, easing into drawing the bow to strengthen the grip and forearm. Light arm curls as well. Go gently and gradually and give it time. Lots of stretching the wrists and forearms. For the record, I will be 50 this April so I’m your age, this injury was about 2-3 years ago.
I had this a few years back as well, in my 50s.. For me it was rest, and a Brace specifically for tennis elbow, and no training that could over extend the joint
I had the same also, it was a weight lifting followed by bag work that exacerbated it. A good dose of rest, to start helped me, followed by rehab; strengthening bicep in particular (curls pull-ups) In addition to this I worked on my hook technique, I realised that my elbow was often not in line with my fist on impact. It is worth recording yourself doing bag with you refine any technique that starts to go off, especially if you train without a teacher available which is common at the moment.
Get yourself one of those Thera-Guns/massage guns. The ones that looks like a drill but with a big vibrating ball at the end instead. Theyre great for aches and pains. Range anywhere between £40 - 100
Looks like a drill, or something else They are good, seems to be a lot around, the price usually dictates how long the battery lasts and noise. I know a few athletes who used it and it seems to be a quick way to get some therapy.
I have had both tennis and golfers elbow in my time. I to dont play either. SEE A QUALIFIED MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL - THEY WILL GIVE YOU EXCERSIESES TO HELP. My unqualified understanding - based on having had it and having done the exercises. is that they both come from an imbalance in the muscles in the fore arm. that aggravates the attachment points at the elbow. Massage may help with the pain or as they are as they are close to the surface - arnica cream, ibrpohen cream, hot or cold water bottle (filled from the hot/cold tap) can also help with the pain. But as far as fixing the problem you have to do the correct exercises as recommend by a qualified medical professional. I do not know if in surgery would be helpful or necessary in severe cases. but a Qualified medical professional would know. the good news is that re balancing the muscles in your fore arms helps a lot of other stuff like grip strength! a note on talking with physios, it is important to established a mutual pain scale when talking about an injury, Martial artists have a tendency to down play pain when talking about it, and to ignore pain when exercising. In rebab it is important to be able to communicate the difference between the pain necessary to re-hab injured muscles and the pain of overwork that harms recovery.
Good points, and the exercises I was doing and describe above were mostly based on what was given to me by my doctor after being evaluated. I got a little creative with things like the archery, but was definitely not simply making these things up. In my case, I believe the condition was brought about by a couple of things. First, I had a lapse in my training for a couple years and had gotten out of shape. Second, I began training again and was using heavy swords that I was able to use in the past, but didn’t account for being out of conditioning for it. Third, I had to change a flat tire, and one of the lug nuts was rusted on. I was able to remove it, but only with Herculean effort. It was shortly after that, that the pain set in.
was not suggesting that you were making things up. but your post does highlight an important point about physio exercises. one should never do somebody else's exercises. in the same way that one should never take somebody else's medicine. The initial question was about golfers elbow, where as, you state that you had tennis elbow. one is a persistent problem with the tendons on the inside of the elbow the other a persistent problem with the tendons on the outside of the elbow. some of the exercises for tennis elbow make golfers elbow worse and vice versa. hence the need to consult a qualified professional.
Interesting. I was operating under the assumption that Tennis Elbow and Golfers Elbow are the same condition under different names. I never suspected they are actually two distinct conditions. And I certainly did not get mine from playing tennis. Rather, it was overworking it during training, followed by a wrestling match with a lug nut. But I do agree, it is important to get properly diagnosed and a treatment plan that is appropriate for the condition
