Golfers elbow .

[Desmond]

25 years ago in my teens I overdid "bicep curls" at the gym and hurt my elbow . I decided to 'be tough' and "work through the pain" which only caused more damage . Ever since I have felt a slight pain in a certain position but nothing too serious : until 6 weeks ago at a new job I was asked to hold the top half of a turbo while someone smacked the bottom section off with a large hammer which caught just the right position to wake up the old injury .
I went to the doctor a few days ago when I started worrying about how long it is taking to heal and he gave me anti-inflammatories which make me feel good again with only slight discomfort in the area . [ it hurts if I hold my hand out and do the "biceps curl" twisting motion .
I was also given a printout explaining the problem and suggesting an excercise : " Hold a rolled up towel at arms length and twist the wrists in either direction till it hurts and hold for 10 seconds , increasing to 60 seconds eventually ." . is this what people refer to when they say you need to excercise the surrounding muscles ? In other words not the main muscles next to the injured one but rather the muscle fibers surrounding the injury on the main muscle !? .
Is there any hope of a decent excercise program fixing a 25 year old problem ?

[Heidi]

Hello again!

That exercise is fine other than the bit about when it hurts....it's never a good idea to exercise into pain. perform the exercise up until just before the point of pain which should (provided you get other treatment too) improve.

For a long standing injury such as yours which comes and goes you will need more than anti-inflammatories and one exercise. But thats Doctors for you!

You will need several deep tissue or sports massages, to loosen off the tight muscle fibres and break down the scar tissue which is bound to be present. Ultrasound can also help with this.

Following that you need stretching exercises followed by wrist and elbow strengthening exercises to help prevent a ro-occurance. I have treated a couple of people with the same (although not so long-term) injury, and they have both had positive results using the methods I have mentioned.

Check out this page for some ideas:
http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/cybertherapist/front/elbow/medial_epiconylitis/strengthening.php


Good luck!

[Desmond]

Thanks very much for the reply . I am going to get some excercise gear and strengthen my muscles a bit . So I imagine putting some pressure on the offending tendon regularly will help remove the problem ?

[Heidi]

Before you start strengthening you need to make sure the muscles are in good condition. By this i mean massage and stretching to eliminate scar tissue and loosen the muscle fibres, ready to be strengthened.

You can also wear a brace or support such as this: http://www.return2fitness.co.uk/Supports_And_Braces/Elbow_Supports/lpelbow701

Although it says tennis elbow it is also suitable for golfers elbow. This provides support and pressure to the tendons which helps take the repetitive shock off the tendons, helping them to heal.

I hope this answers your question!

[Desmond]

ok , I have been applying pressure in the affected area until I find the sore spot .
I've been massaging it with my thumb and was wondering if it would be a good idea to use one of those two speed back massagers on a handle to work the area ?
Even though it ached for the first week it seemed to recover each weekend until monday morning back at work when I was sandblasting turbos in the sandblasting machine moving heavy things around with my arms stretched out .
The anti inflammatories really helped and the doctor prescribed "light duties" for two weeks . I have been using my left arm for all the heavy lifting and keep my right arm straight when carrying something heavy .
My arm is almost feeling "normal" now and I only feel about 2% of the pain I felt when twisting my hand in the biceps-curl movement .
As far as I can remember I eventually went back to bicep curls 25 years ago and I think I have only been noticing the sore spot occasionally as I have moved away from weight training over the years .