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View Full Version : Possible tennis elbow or muscle fracture


andreasy
05-18-2009, 03:56 PM
I am 35 and I had tennis elbow on my right arm last summer caused by overstress due to weight lifting. It was very stubborn and NSAIDs and physiotherapy + rest wouldn't help for months. I had cortisone injection and after a few days it was ok.

I started training gradually and finally I got into shape again. I was training for several months without any problem. One specific day, I stressed my arms very hard, after doing several supersets on back and biceps. After that, both my arms, inside and outside of elbow were very sore. I stopped exercise for a few days and let them relax. Then I started again with light weights but I avoided exercises that stress the elbow (i.e. flyes). After a while, I noticed that the problem grew bigger although I had stopped.

This time, it wasn't so much painful. I was feeling disconfort when lifting items with straight arms. The problem is that after 3 months, I had no improvement. The pain on forearm is much better but I still cannot flex my fingers and lift items without pain.

I went to doctor 2ce and he insists that it is not tennis elbow but it is a forearm muscle fracture. He gave me cortisone injection in the muscle but it didn't help.

My concern now is that I believe that it is tennis elbow. He says it is not because I wasn't feeling sharp pain on the elbow bone when he pressed it. However, some times, like now, I feel some pain there when I press it with my thumb.

I also purchased several physiotherapy equipment (ultrasound, TENS, light therapy, electric pulse therapy) and I do them all daily for almost 3 months.

Please give me your advice if it is reasonable for this problem to persist after 3 months of total rest. I was expecting more progress at the point of lifting items.

andreasy
05-25-2009, 02:11 PM
1 week and no answer.

Anyone knows a good alternative forum to get some expert answers?

Heidi
05-28-2009, 10:08 AM
Hi

I can't say that I agree with you using these treatments yourself. They should really only be used by a trained professional.

If it is tennis elbow, the pain will be on the outer point of the elbow, just below the bone. There will be pain on wrist extension and middle finger extension.

Your Doctor appears to not know much about it as muscles don't 'fracture' they tear, and a cortisone injection should be a last resort, not a first treatment.

All I can advise is that you go to visit a PROFESSIONAL who deals with sports injuries. And REST it! You can't expect something to heal completely without sufficient rest.