Tennis Elbow Surgery

[matthewsiv]

I have just had tennis elbow surgery.

 

They took out part of the tendon.

 

How long will it be before I can play again?

 

How long did it take for you to straighten your arm?

 

Any idea's to quicken the rehab process?

 

Thanks for answering.

[dmart41]

That stinks...I just got two injections, mine has been killing me. I have a buddy who had surgery and it's been 4 months and he still can't hit a ball.....

[luciddream]

Sorry to hear that!

To get the worst news out of the way...Its recommended you restrain from activities that could re-injure the tendon for 4-6 months.

Make sure you go to rehabilitation and strictly follow the plan they give you. Eat healthy and let yourself heal. Golf will be waiting for you

[oldcarl]

I hate to read tales from folks who are suffering wrist and elbo tendonitis. I went through a really serious bout of it about 25 years ago. At that time I had beeen hitting the old Black Band Dynamic
shaft. Got to where I couldnt practice at all, and could hardly make it through 18 holes. Went to tour weight graphites. Helped some, but no consistency in the shafts. One day I happened to be playing with a gentleman who turned out to be a Sports Doc. involved in rehab. work with tennis pros. To make a long story short. He gave me a set of stretching excercises, which can now be found on the web, look up tendonitis elbow. since then, by dilligently doing the stretching suggested, I haven't had any problems. since. It took about 6 weeks to alleviate my pain and infamation. I'm now 74,
hit 6-800 balls a week during the season, along with playing at least 4 days a week. and have NO elbow or wrist problems of any kind. I have know way of knowing if this will help anyone else, but it damn sure worked for me. This injury almost drove me out of the game, and I really hate it. Good luck to all suffering with it .

[matthewsiv]

I have been out for 5 months before operation.

Stretching did not help but hopefully it will now.

[wrmiller]

[quote name='oldcarl' timestamp='1301284369' post='3095070']
I hate to read tales from folks who are suffering wrist and elbo tendonitis. I went through a really serious bout of it about 25 years ago. At that time I had beeen hitting the old Black Band Dynamic
shaft. Got to where I couldnt practice at all, and could hardly make it through 18 holes. Went to tour weight graphites. Helped some, but no consistency in the shafts. One day I happened to be playing with a gentleman who turned out to be a Sports Doc. involved in rehab. work with tennis pros. To make a long story short. He gave me a set of stretching excercises, which can now be found on the web, look up tendonitis elbow. since then, by dilligently doing the stretching suggested, I haven't had any problems. since. It took about 6 weeks to alleviate my pain and infamation. I'm now 74,
hit 6-800 balls a week during the season, along with playing at least 4 days a week. and have NO elbow or wrist problems of any kind. I have know way of knowing if this will help anyone else, but it damn sure worked for me. This injury almost drove me out of the game, and I really hate it. Good luck to all suffering with it .
[/quote]

I to was afflicted with this aliment, and was ready to quit. One day, while trying to make my left elbow hurt less, I started twisting and stretching my hand/wrist, and the pain started to ebb. Continued for a few weeks, and I could actually grip a club again! Been doing the stretching/twisting exercises on both arms, and have been pain free for about two years now. Back to playing every weekend!

[scifisicko]

left wrist and right elbow, played for nearly a year with pain, index went out 3 shots, got a home vibragym (vibrating plate) do 10 minutes of stretching on it each day, injuries are still there but pain is way less and completely tolerable. No impairment and have got 4 shots back.

[luciddream]

[quote name='scifisicko' timestamp='1301365323' post='3098043']
left wrist and right elbow, played for nearly a year with pain, index went out 3 shots, got a home vibragym (vibrating plate) do 10 minutes of stretching on it each day, injuries are still there but pain is way less and completely tolerable. No impairment and have got 4 shots back.
[/quote]


That sounds like something Id like to learn mroe about. What model do you use? What stretches would you recommend? Thanks in advance!

[mukster]

This is well worth the read:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/phys-ed-an-easy-fix-for-tennis-elbow/

The Flexbar is available through Amazon

[hitsalittle]

Wow - the surgery is a pretty radical step, actually - my ortho guy said it basically only had a 60% chance of fixing it, so I went with intensive PT - which worked wonders. Basically, they get the inflammation down (takes a while), then get you stronger. The surgeon I talked to (one of the best - works with the pro sports teams in Chicago) said it wasn't a very good option, actually, for anyone.

Looks like you'll be inactive for a while - my sympathies. My advice would be to rehap exactly as they prescribe and not try to push it until they say you can. Best of luck.

[Redsoxfan]

Tried playing with the pain and had 3 shots over several months. I was to the point that I could not pick up a cup of coffee. I went to a ortho surgeon and when they opened up my elbow the tendon was hardly attached to the bone. It took around 8 months before I started to hit balls again,but it has been fine.

[markg603]

I played only 9 holes in 2010 because of tennis elbow in the left arm. I had 2 locations affected and it was a b*tch. I had golfers elbow (inner) in the right arm 5 years ago and was able to heal with self-treatment (heat, stretching and icing 3-5X/day). For my left elbow, I learned all I could about trigger points and approached it that way with self massage, but I hooked up with my massage therapist who, indecently, has many clients with similar issues (painters, plumbers, etc). I was 95% healed in about 5 visits, unfortunately it was also late-October and the season was lost. Then I turned 50, LOL.

Sympathy to all who suffer this.... please search out all possible non-surgical treatment first.

Mark

[matthewsiv]

I am now in rehab and have found that I now have golfers elbow as well.

Apparently the two are connected?

Anyway,heat treatment,cold laser,ultrasound and massage for me for the next month.

[markg603]

[quote name='matthewsiv' timestamp='1302316639' post='3134710']
I am now in rehab and have found that I now have golfers elbow as well.

Apparently the two are connected?

Anyway,heat treatment,cold laser,ultrasound and massage for me for the next month.
[/quote]

Yup. That sounds like typical rehab for tendons and ligaments. I'm in week 4 of this for my ankle (don't ask). All I can say is it won't cost me the golf season as tennis elbow did in 2010. Hang in there, work the rehab process to the letter. Best of luck!

[matthewsiv]

OK

I am back playing golf and have just played 7 days out of 8.

Arm still hurts until I did something that I had never thought of!

I changed my grip from the overlap to a baseball grip.

The arm does not hurt at all.

Try a different grip and see if it helps your elbow!

[timliddy]

No question that stretching is the answer. I get relief almost immediately, plus it is easy to do while on the treadmill.

[timliddy]

I also think that taking any cholesterol medicine can aggravate elbow ligaments. I know when started taking statins (Lipitor, Crestor, Zocor, etc.) I started to have tendon issues. I am curious if any other golfers have noticed this ligament ache when taking these cholesterol drugs.

[dlygrisse]

[quote name='timliddy' timestamp='1309709809' post='3361295']
I also think that taking any c[i][size="2"]holesterol medicine can aggravate elbow ligaments. I know when I take any type of statins, like (Lipitor, Crestor, Zocor, etc.) I am curious if any other golfers have noticed this ligament ache when taking these cholesterol drugs.[/size][/i]
[/quote]

I would like to know the answer to this as well

[tomg1969]

Hmmm......it's possible. Never thought of the association before.
I take Lipitor and have had serious tennis elbow issues this year

[starrman77]

[quote name='matthewsiv' timestamp='1301243966' post='3092949']
I have just had tennis elbow surgery.

They took out part of the tendon.

How long will it be before I can play again?

How long did it take for you to straighten your arm?

Any idea's to quicken the rehab process?

Thanks for answering.
[/quote]

I had it done. It hurt like hell for the first couple of weeks. I was back playing with a brace in 7 weeks. My surgery turned out very well. It's been 8 years and I have been pain free since about 6 months after the surgery. I don't need the brace anymore either. Before the surgery, I had pain for several years. I had 3 or four injections and they would help for a month or two. One day I was pushing on something and felt something snap in the elbow. It was kind of like a rubber band breaking. My arm went numb for several minutes. I went to the Dr. and he said the tendon had torn away from the bone. He reattached it and the rest is history. Do what the Dr. tells you and don"t rush back too soon. Good Luck with your recovery.

[MB GOLF]

I've been sidelined for two years because of this in my right elbow. Went through nerve conductive tests, Vitamin B injections, Vitamin D prescriptions , Plasma Rich inject therapy, acupuncture, everything.... short of the knife. Then, 2 months ago after being tired of it, I did what wrmiller did. I said the hell with it and started a VERY aggressive stretch and rotation... felt like stuff was cracking in there, but it finally disappeared. Been great the past 2 months and I'm back playing (rusty, but playing). I DO NOT recommend this as it might have been the fact that I cut all sodas and all beer/mixed drinks out of my diet 3 months ago thinking it might be from the cokes... (never was a big drinker of beer or the hard stuff)... so, who knows what it was... but for two years, it sucked.

[Ricco]

I was having very painful elbow problems about 3 years ago until I realized I was sleeping with both elbows folded and sometimes even laying on my stomach elbows folded . I forced myself to keep them straighter. Problem went away in about a week. Maybe not for everyone but solved a very painful problem for me.

[CheckJV]

[quote name='dlygrisse' timestamp='1309728459' post='3361842']
[quote name='timliddy' timestamp='1309709809' post='3361295']
I also think that taking any c[i][size="2"]holesterol medicine can aggravate elbow ligaments. I know when I take any type of statins, like (Lipitor, Crestor, Zocor, etc.) I am curious if any other golfers have noticed this ligament ache when taking these cholesterol drugs.[/size][/i]
[/quote]

I would like to know the answer to this as well
[/quote]

[size="4"]I started taking Crestor in late 2007 and both elbows started to hurt about the same time. I never thought about it. My right shoulder started hurting in 2008 and by mid 2010 I stopped playing golf. Had a partially torn rotator which was repaired in Jan 2011. I am about 85% now but is still hurts. My left shoulder started to hurt in 2011. And by early 2012 both elbows are just horrible.

So I asked my docs and several docs I play golf with this very question. Every one of them said that statins give some people muscle problems but not tendon problems. And they say that the problems start right away. So no, it does not appear that there is any solid science behind tendon problems and statins.

But dang, I am starting to wonder. My shoulder and elbow tendons seem to be falling apart. Wrists, fingers, knees, ankles, etc. are all fine. And yes, I am still on Crestor.

Anybody else on statins have serious tendon problems?[/size]

[CheckJV]

Thread back from the dead. So in late January 2013 I go to my doctor for an annual exam. I complain about my chronic elbow tendinitis (again). He says that there have been some recent studies linking statins to tendon pain. And he says he has had some patients stop taking statins and their tendon pain has gone away.

So he tells me to stop taking Crestor for 3 weeks and see what happens. Three weeks later, the pain is not gone but has lessened substantially. After 2 months, hardly any pain. Three months now and only the occasional flare up. Mostly pain free.

If you have chronic tendon pain and are on statins, talk to your doctor. My blood is fat but my elbows don't hurt!

[nbg352]

[quote name='timliddy' timestamp='1309709809' post='3361295']
I also think that taking any cholesterol medicine can aggravate elbow ligaments. I know when started taking statins (Lipitor, Crestor, Zocor, etc.) I started to have tendon issues. I am curious if any other golfers have noticed this ligament ache when taking these cholesterol drugs.
[/quote]
Lipitor caused severe Plantar Fasciitus in both feet. I changed to Crestor and within a month my feet were normal. I've been on Crestor for a couple of years and have noticed mild pain in hands, elbows and shoulders. It's way better than the feet were, so I guess I can live with it.