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Tennis Elbow?


clp34vmp

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I have been suffering from a bad case of tennis elbow for about a month now. I really don't know how I got it; I just noticed one day that it was sore and figured it was one of the typical everyday aches and pains that we in the 50-and-over bracket have to get used to. I hadn't played much golf at all over the winter (and no tennis), so I was pretty stumped as to what the initial cause was. My only thought was that I had been doing a bit more lifting and less cardio on my trips to the gym. I was sure that if I let it be for a few days it would go away.

Instead, if anything it's gotten worse. I've tried icing it frequently and got a tennis elbow brace but no luck so far. I have played one round since the onset of the issue. I used the brace and the pain was manageable through about 13 or 14, and then the last few holes were brutal. I have not gone back out on the course since. The weather is starting to get a little nicer and the season will soon be here - I hate the thought of not being able to play. Are there any other golfers who have dealt with tennis elbow, and if so, how did you get it to go away? I've had golfer's elbow before, and the cure for that was pretty simple - just stop hitting off of mats. I'm hoping I can find a way to get rid of the tennis elbow in time to enjoy the season.

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I've got the Theraband flexbar from my previous battle with golfer's elbow. I'll look into specific exercises for it for tennis elbow. Going to see an orthopedist on Thursday; another friend mentioned to me that he had gotten some relief with a prescription NSAID cream, so maybe I can try that as well.

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I've been working through some tennis elbow, actually laptop elbow, recently. Mine comes from using the touch pad on my laptop with my arm in a bad position.

Other than minimizing my right hand mousing, I've also got some silly putty type stuff that I squeeze which seems to help. One of those foam stress balls might also help.

It's worth noting that in my case I am still going to the simulator twice a week, i.e. hitting off matts, and the elbow is getting better. It was definitely not the matts that caused it in my case.

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It is best try exercises, bands, equipment changes, and strength training first. Lighter weight shafts may help. However in my case, I have had tendonitis in my elbow for around 15 years. The only thing that has really helped is cortisone shots. Had one 10 years ago, and one just a few months ago. Back to playing again the last few months, but still feel a little pain. Really slowing on hitting a ton of balls at the range and just try to play instead. Tendonitis is a bummer, and has definitely hurt my game.

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Good advice. Fold the tennis elbow arm across your chest. Now use the hand of the other arm to feel a crease between the bones of your tennis elbow. Now use your fingers to rub that crease pretty hard for a few minutes several times a day. The tennis elbow should disappear in a couple of 3 days.

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor so before doing this you should seek the advice of a medical professional.

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Hahahaha. I got mine building my workbench and screwing in a bunch of little screws instead of using my screw gun (custom built racking).

I agree about time being the key. I did the theraband and wore the tennis elbow strap. The key to the strap is you have to wear it all the time.

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There are all sorts of reasons for getting tennis elbow and all manner of getting rid of it. A guy I worked with had it bad. Nothing worked. Went to a massage specialist and she did something with his upper arm. Made him cry, but it was gone that day. Often the origin of the pain is because of something else is messed up and you are compensating.

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Good luck my friend. I’ve been dealing with it now going on 3 months. It was instigated by me playing heavier clubs that were also a half inch longer than I am used to playing. All the fatigue I was putting on the ligaments right at that area basically caused it. I can see lifting as an adding cause but more importantly it is mainly due to over use of that area. Not sure if you are doing a lot of forearm work outs or things like cleans and pulls were that portion of your arm is holding a lot of the stress. Now on to your solution. There is no quick fix. Main thing is stopping the motion that is causing the strain. Believe me I took a solid 3 weeks off and I thought I rested it enough and 1 or two swings in and the strain and pain was back ever so quick. When you feel as if you are healed up, make sure you support that area with athletic tape. Some people use the tennis elbow strap and I’ve tried it and for me it was too pin point on the ligaments that it was more painful to use then the benefits. The athletic tape allowed me to spread the support to the whole area which seemed to help. I’ve read about switching to graphite which I do use myself and does help moving forward. The Recoils are great but if you are looking for full on graphite’s, make sure you get some sort of fitting. After each round ice the fore arm down and take some Ibuprofen just to reduce the inflammation you just put on again. It takes a really long time to heal and believe me, I still don’t feel 100% and not sure if I ever will. Good luck on your recovery.

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  • 3 months later...

I've been suffering from tennis elbow for the last 4 months. All that I've really done is rest, no golf at all, but it doesn't seem to be much better at all. Now I'm starting to worry...

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I had a bad case of tennis elbow last year. It was onset by hitting off mats for me. It was painful.

I saw a doctor and a PT. Went to several PT sessions, and none of it seemed to help. They were very focused on loosening my shoulders and wrists (basically everything but the elbow). I tried wrist braces, elbow braces, everything.

I saw on here that someone used a theraband. I bought the green one, did the recommended exercises religiously for about a month (plus a couple of the exercises my PT gave me) and tennis elbow has been gone since.

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I had golfer's (not tennis) elbow that was nagging me for quite a while. It got so bad last May that my elbow was warm to the touch and it hurt to wash my face. I stopped playing from May until about April of this year. It was so bad that putting around for 15 minutes would leave my elbow ringing for a whole day.

During the time off, I slowly built up strength by going from the weakest flex bar to the strongest. That's helped a lot. Also, I've become really cognizant of my posture and tightness in my neck and shoulders from surfing, and paying attention to all this has helped. I was scheduled to have the Tenex procedure about four weeks ago but I cancelled it because I'm clearly on the mend. I've been playing a ton lately with no pain. It will get better, but it may take a while and a lot of attention.

I'm almost certain that hitting off mats was a big culprit. I will never do that again.

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It's been a few months since I started with the tennis elbow issues and then launched this thread.

I ended up going to a specialist at the beginning of March who gave me a cortisone shot directly in the area of the elbow joint where it was really inflamed. I had had one previous bout of tennis elbow in my life about 15-20 years ago when I was playing a lot of tennis and had switched to a heavier racket. The pain that time really radiated down the outside of my forearm from the elbow joint. Once I switched to a lighter and more flexible racket the pain dissipated fairly quickly and never really returned.

This current bout of tennis elbow was quite different - I still have no idea what brought it on. It was definitely not golf; I had barely hit a ball in the weeks leading up to the initial onset. Anyway, I got the cortisone shot at the beginning of March, and after the soreness from the shot itself wore off a couple days later, the tennis elbow pain that had been bothering me was 95% gone. A week or two after the shot, I had a follow-up visit for PT. We went over various exercises using a dumbbell and a rubber band, but right after that COVID happened and that turned out to be my only PT visit.

Meanwhile, with the pain gone and Spring happening, I started to get back out on the course (as well as playing a little tennis with my daughter), and for a while it was totally fine. I basically thought i was passed it. After a couple of months being back at it, however, the pain started to creep back in, slowly at first but eventually a noticeable worsening. I was so bummed - I had visions of this season becoming a total wash as the pain made it hard to complete a round. I knew, though, that because of the initial success with the cortisone shot, I had basically neglected the PT. I immediately started using the Flex Bar (green) along with doing the rubber band and dumbbell exercises every day, and within a week I was starting to see a definite improvement. The other thing that has really helped, I believe, is that I ordered one of those little TENS units for applying electrical stimulation off of Amazon. It was like $30. Between that and getting back to the PT, the issue at least for now seems to be pretty much fully resolved. I'll keep up with the PT going forward and hope that that can keep me out on the course.

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The problem with these injuries (like golfer’s elbow) is the fact that they are TENDON injuries. Tendons have restricted blood flow and their scar tissue is weird. It heals like cobwebs instead of straight fibers, which makes the scar tissue weak and subject to breaking.

The first thing you do is cross fiber massage. This will allow the tendons to heal better while stimulating blood flow. Go right to the site of pain and work across the muscle fiber. That will be across instead of down your arm. Massage your thumb in that across pattern as hard as you can without too much discomfort. If it feels like it hurts worse as you go (after a minute or so), then you stop. It’s not ready yet, and ice/nsaid medication.

Rest is also a key.

Along with that cross-fiber massage (I would guarantee there is a YouTube video on it), those Theraband exercises are great.

Studies have shown that ECCENTRIC motion is ideal for tendon healing. Look up eccentric exercises for tennis elbow, and you’ll be set.

That is a pain in the ass injury that can linger, so good luck! You’ll get through it!

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It sounds like an elbow strap works for many to relieve tennis elbow pain. However, a quick search on Amazon yielded dozens of such straps. Can someone recommend a specific model that has worked well? Thanks!

In the Bag:

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  • TaylorMade M3 Driver with TENSEI Blue Stiff Shaft
  • TaylorMade V-Steel 15° 3-Wood
  • Titleist Spin Milled 56° and 60° Wedges
  • Scotty Cameron Newport Mil-Spec Putter
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I’ve had pretty bad tennis elbow for a few years now. Hitting thousands of balls of mats hasn’t helped. Anyway I’ve normally treated it with rest and ibuprofen.

Cut to lockdown 2020 and I’ve had a lot of time to study my swing on video where I’ve finally noticed some early extension in my swing. Since the courses reopened I’ve really been working hard on fixing it and I’m currently swinging better than I ever have in my life. Among the improvements not early extending has helped is my tennis elbow. It’s still there but not nearly as bad as used to be. I believe I had to torque my arms much more to catch up and time my contact. With less early extension the less I have to catch my arms up to my body the less I have to torque or flip to hit the ball. I feel like there’s a lot less strain on my outer left arm.

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I'm one of the lucky ones that cortisone injections were very successful in treating tendinitis of which tennis elbow is a form of. Mine was caused by a lot of computer keyboard work and as it was part of my job I couldn't stop though I did get some different keyboards, straps etc. I tried PT, chiropractic adjustments and eventually acupuncture with limited results. My RN wife talked me into the cortisone injection and I was pain-free for around 8 years. I eventually had another injection that lasted for 10 years and one final round after I retired and haven't had any symptoms since. They don't work on everyone but they sure did on me and I think they are worth asking your doctor about.

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