tendonitis, anyone?

[sherry kelly]

Does anyone have tendonitis in their elbow, and if so, what do you do about it? I started CR school last Jan. and have developed severe right elbow pain. This has gone on for a couple of months and is worsening by the day. The doctor says it's tendonitis caused by repetitive finger movement. He wants to do a cortisone shot, I want to not.

I have read several posts of people having wrist pain, but never elbow. HELP! It really hurts, but I don't want to quit!

Thanks, Sherry

[Judy Porter]

Acupuncture!! It works great. No downtime. No pills. No pain.

[Janet]

Hi Sherry,

I've had tendinitis in my elbow. I first got it playing tennis, but then had issues with it when working. One thing that helps when it's painful is wearing a support on my forearm just below the elbow.

I found that it's more wrist movement that brings it on than finger movement. Try to focus on keeping your wrists still when writing and just moving your fingers.

I have taken several NCRA seminars given by Julie Donnelly about repetitive strain injuries. Here's a link to her website:

http://www.julstro.com/

She pinpointed exactly where I was feeling pain & gave tips/exercises to do to alleviate the problem.

Janet

[sherry kelly]

Accupuncture! I hadn't thought of that. I'm going to look into that and physical therapy. What I don't want to do, that I need to do, is rest it. I can't stand to miss even a day of practice.

Janet, great website, thanks! You know, you're right, I seem to keep angling my right wrist to the right for some reason. I will have to watch that, maybe that's the problem.

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions. I'll keep you posted. Sherry

[Kyung]

I have tendonitis too. I did some acupuncture. I think it was helpful, but acupuncture can be just as painful, if not more than the elbow pain. I'm just saying.

Really, ice is helpful too. I also always try to use a chair with arms so I can rest my elbow/arm on the arm of the chair.

[Maria Ricci]

I have also been getting sharp pains in my elbows...this happened before I started CR school and when I was doing push ups....

[Marla Sharp]

I was at a pretty fast depo a couple weeks ago, and my elbow started hurting. It never went away. Reaching and holding my coffee mug hurts now. Sharp, shooting pains. I've never had elbow pain before.

So I went to the doc, and he diagnosed tendinitis. And he recommended lots of ibuprofen and wearing a tennis elbow band around my forearm, just below the elbow. I bought it at CVS Pharmacy for $11. Works like a charm. No pain! I'm superexcited and amazed. It hasn't cured me, but it's made it possible for me to keep working.

He also recommended physical therapy to learn how not to reinjure it, which I'm going to try to do at least a couple times. I'll share what I learn.

[Alice Clark]

If it's the wrist extensor tendon causing the pain (which I guess is where the pain in tennis elbow comes from), this was an interesting New York Times article by Gretchen Reynolds on tennis elbow demonstrating a simple physical therapy exercise that was helpful. I have had acupuncture that worked very well on a pain that ran from my wrist into my thumb, which is a whole different thing. Maybe you can just Google this article if the link doesn't work. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/phys-ed-an-easy-fix-for-te...

[Sue Baker]

I can also recommend the tennis elbow band around the forearm and aleve and a couple of months. Mine popped up when I changed software, believe it or not, and took around two months to disappear and I haven't had any trouble since then.

[Scott Sinclair]

I agree with your doctor. I had one steroid injection and took the week off and the tennis elbow was cured. Scott

[sherry kelly]

Wow, Scott, really? I'm just scared to death of that cortisone injection. Did it hurt REALLY bad? I know I sound like a big baby, I have had MANY procedures, surgeries, etc., but injections into joints just sounds horrible.

So now I'm going to physical therapy. They're putting a patch on my arm that has a small battery on it that electrically stimulates the anti-inflammatory directly into the tendon. I'm also doing exercises similar to the one Alice recommended and alternating heat and ice. I have the band for my forearm, it hasn't helped at all, but the PT seems to be helping.

This all started when I upgraded my machine. I bought a refurbished Protege and had it shimmed and I swear the action is harder than my 400. I am really having to "pound" and that's when the pain started. I am convinced that if I could only afford a LS, all my problems would be solved. Uh, except for the whole getting up to speed thing!

Thanks everyone for your help. Sherry

[LizBeth]

Sherry,
Good luck with everything. I'm a student and I've been fighting tennis elbow for a couple of years now. I woke up one morning and my fingers were the size of mini sausages and I couldn't move them. I couldn't get a doctor's appointment for a couple of days so proceeded to R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression, elevation) until I saw him. By the time of the appointment most of the swelling was down. He recommended I keep doing what I'm doing for a couple more weeks (yes, no writing on the machine). He also said I should do what a baseball pitcher does before and after pitching: use heat before whatever activity causes flare-ups and ice afterward (warm up and cool down). I know it's hard to take a heating pad to school or the office but if you get a sock and fill it with rice you can microwave it and it does the same thing. Just be sure that it goes the full length of your forearm.
Keep your doctor and PT informed with whatever you're doing, too. Have you taken your machine in to show him what your posture is and if there's anything that could use adjusting? That helped one of my friends.
By the way, my brother went in to see the same doc I did the day before, complaining of the same symptoms. He was given a cortisone injection. He has more flare-ups than I do. I think it's because he went for the "quick fix" and not diagnosing the reasons behind his pain, but that's just my opinion!
Hope all goes well for you in school, health, and everything in between!

[Karen Yoder]

Sherry,

I was off work for four months one time because of epicondylitis. Therapy, a forearm strap, and ice all helped. The most important is rest. Since then I have been going to a chiropractor that practices ART (active release therapy). I go about every two months for maintenance. If you Google Active Release Therapy, you can read how it works and find a therapist in your area. Good luck!