My Elbows are Junk - long term the US Gear handle may have helped

[Horton]

Mostly from sitting at a computer 10+ hours a day but also from skiing I have a lot of elbow and hand issues. I have mostly used a 12" US Gear handle this year and have a lot less issues. Did the handle make all the difference? I do not know but I am taking a lot less drugs to be able to ski this year.

 

[Horton]

Photo by @Dirt

[andjules]

nice shot!

[Steven_Haines]

That is a great shot!

[gregy]

Because of @horton s review I got a 13" US gear bent radius handle. 1" OD with upgraded grip. My elbows were really hurting early in the summer. Within a few weeks of getting the handle my pain was gone. Wish I had gone to a bent handle sooner. After about 3 passes I was used to it.

 

The other cool things about the handle:

1) Even if I don't grab the handle quit right it doesn't kill my pass.

2) No more blisters in the side of my fingers. I used to have to use tape to prevent it and still didn't work all the time.

[Texas6]

@Horton. I have the same problem and the bent handle completely changed my season this year. Very little pain and literally no ibuprofen (excluding hangovers). Can you refresh my memory on which US Gear rope is the one to buy with the slide out loops? Seems the many options listed on their website aren't self explanatory.

[Waternut]

Agreed. My elbow pain with a straight handle was usually short lived and would go away that night or the next. When I needed a new handle I went to a curved handle and haven't noticed any elbow pain since. Thumbs up for the radius handles!

[crashman]

@Horton can you tell me more about your wrist issues and the effect of the bent handle. I use a computer about 8-10 hrs a day and I'm having issues on my right/palm up wrist- not sure how much is from skiing and how much is from the computer but I'm thinking about going with a center bend and seeing if that helps.

[Razorskier1]

My right elbow has been bugging me this year. I think it is due to an old hyperextension injury from Tae Kwon Do. If I get any kind of slack out of 1,3,5 at a short line it acts up. Not sure the handle would help, but might give it a try next spring just to see.

[jhughes]

Although I have a non-bent US Gear handle, it's still a radius handle and I think it's an excellent product. I highly recommend any of the radius handles. So comfortable, so easy to grab, very high quality, no pinky side blisters. Killer product.

[Razorskier1]

@Horton -- after looking at that picture I am renaming you "Wall of Spray"

[DooSPX]

I am in the IT profession, and sit at a computer all day too... I have been considering a bent radius handle, now I think I might try one.

[Horton]

For a number of years I have had all sorts of tendinitis issues. I would guess that it is more work than skiing related but can’t be sure. Both elbows, forearms and hands ache at times. When it was really bad it was mostly in my elbows. Tennis elbow on one side and golfers on the other. Funny since I do not do either.

 

I am using the US Gear Pro V. I am RFF and Left Palm up. I tend to keep my left hand to the end of the handle where there is more curve. This is not on purpose but I suspect the extra curve has made a difference.

 

I have also used the Radar Extend this year. It is crazy grippy and the curve is really nice but it is just a little too long for my tastes. I sort of feel lost with a longer handle.

 

I have also used the Masterline curved handles. If you are looking for something less radical I think Masterline is a good choice.

 

[Chef23]

I have been having elbow problems that stem from a lot of golf (in the past), hockey, gym workouts and water skiing. I tried a curved handle in the middle of the year and didn't like it. I might have to start next season with one and just get used to it.

[Horton]

It takes a few rides

[mopowpow]

OK, do any of you guys lift weights during the off season? I am a personal trainer, you neeed to try Fat Gripz. They claim to help build grip & forearm strength, also help with tendonitis. I used them last winter & really noticed a difference in my grip & forearms. I use them about 1 time per week for lat pulls, seated rows, upright rows, & deadlifts. Now on the day you used these, you will initially need to drop your weight & possibly reps. They can make the exercises very hard! http://www.fatgripz.com/

[Chef23]

@mopowpow do you find the Fat Gripz prevented the tendinitis or that strengthening the muscles in the forearms prevent it. I tend to get problems more from doing pullups than anything else right now and then skiing exacerbates it.

[6balls]

@mopowpow I lifted competitively for a number of years. Medial epicondylitis has been a booger for 3 years affecting my lifting and making strap style gloves a requirement and wraps necessary for lifting. Certain lifts I simply cannot do. It's my left elbow and I'm left palm up.

I have not done a curved handle b/c most who ski w/me do not use one, and if I travel to ski w/friends they rarely have one hooked up. I have two curved handles in the trunk of my car. Maybe I should suck it up and carry one w/me all of the time and change it everywhere I go to ski w/friends. So far have not just to keep things simple. Thoughts from the ballers?

[gregy]

@6balls I ski with different friends as well and used to just use same handle but changing to the bent handle has made such a huge difference that now I only use my handle. I take a rope with me just in case some doesn't want to change handles on their rope. Honestly I'm still suprised at the difference it made as far as pain relief in my elbows. Both were hurting, my left, Palm down was the worst.

[TylerR]

@horton second your comments.... my form still looks ugly.... ugly... ugly... but my elbows hurt less since i made the swich.

[mopowpow]

@chef23 & @6balls, sometimes it's good to back off on the amount of weight you lift and focus on strengthening the suporting tendons & muscles. You can do this by doing lighter weights in an unstable environment, or by also dropping the amt of weight & using the Fat Gripz for a while. The meatheads at my gym swear by the Fat Gripz, no more tendonitis from heavy lifting. I always had trouble with tendonitis prior to becoming a personal trainer, but now that I know what to do it does't bother me anymore.

[RB]

This is the first year this has bothered me so much that it's affecting my skiing.

I ski LFF, left palm up, and it's my right elbow that causes me trouble.

 

We do ski a lot, compared to most, every day at lunch except weekends.

However, we have a rather short season: We're done friday.

This necessitates short but intense skiing sessions.

 

For me I believe this is caused during the 'get up' part of skiing.

 

I don't like the bent handle so much for skiiing. But I have noticed the benefits when getting out of the water are unmistakeable.

So now, with the straight handle I just try and hold on past the end of the actual handle, so that the forearm/ wrist angle to the assembly is perpendicular.

 

This seems to benefited my late season.

[popof]

@RB, I don't intend to be a smart**ss or anything, but shouldn't your hands be the other way around? I'm guessing you've tried it and not liked it maybe? But just asking?

 

Now to everyone, when it comes to hands, wrists and elbows, well to the entire body actually, any minor change might make a huge difference.

 

From sitting 10 hrs / day at a my laptop I had developed some kind of "cold finger syndrom", you can look it up on google, one of your fingers starts aching, burning, and eventually feeling coooooold. Not just the feeling in the finger, but your finger actually IS cold, if you touch it with your other hand it will strike you.

 

I simply added a regularly-oriented keyboard and a bluetooth mouse (instead of the track pad) and VOILA, no more pain, no more cold finger..

 

So really Yes, any slight modification in your handle, your keyboard, even your mouse may help, it's just a matter of finding what works for each and everyone of us.

[Texas6]

@RB, make sure when the boat is pulling you up that your hands are positioned with both palms down. Then switch to your ski grip once you are out of the water. @6balls, if your elbows are giving you trouble, it's worth it to change handles in my opinion. This injury will nag for ever if you don't take action. The guys I ski with all change handles on every set due to various individual preferences and tendinitis. Takes two minutes and totally worth it long term! Good luck

 

[RB]

@popof edit: definitely left palm down

[behindpropellers]

@horton

 

Which ski are you skiing on there?

[Horton]

Jobe

[6balls]

Any issue w/the curvature and strap style gloves in terms of grip/release etc?

[Waternut]

@6balls and @Texas6 Switching handles is just part of skiing in my experience. If I go ski open water with friends, no one swaps handles but when I go to a course, it's common practice for the boat crew to change handles for you while you put your ski on. It takes 30 seconds and I would think the boat owner would appreciate it as his handle will last longer. Heck if they won't do it, swap handles while the current skier is getting out.

 

I'm sure every groups mentality is a little different but I'd rather take 1-2 minutes of nagging from my friends than go home with a nagging pain that lasts all night or longer. My buddy used to ski without his clincher gloves because he felt he was making the boat crew wait too long while he put his complicated gloves on.

[6balls]

I bring a tourney handle, just happens to be straight at present. I don't bring one to my ski buds boats cuz Razor1 uses same handle and other two guys use similar. May try going bent. A little late this season, but maybe next.

[RB]

Having some iphone edit issues....

[BruceEmery]

Had a PRP ( Platlet Rich Plasma) treatment in my left elbow two years ago and have been pain free ever since. Going for the right elbow sometime this fall. If the tendon is torn off the bone it's unlikely that PT and other remedies will fix it.

[Chef23]

@BruceEmery did your insurance cover PRP or did you have to pay for it yourself?

[Deke]

@Horton, Trigger points in the neck and upper back (often the scalenes) refer pain and cause some dysfunction in the elbows and forearms and hands. And, it just so happens that skiing can put a hurt on those same neck muscles. In the case of the scalenes, you won't really feel it until you put pressure on the trigger points and I guaranty you'll feel identical pain referred to the same places as you're having "tendonitis". Try finding a massage therapist that specializes in trigger point therapy or myofascial release, or someone who does structural integration.

[Killer]

I'm with @Deke I've had some similar issues & also sit at a computer most of the day. the scalenes are a tough muscle to work on and combined with the traps we overuse as skiers, you need to find a good therapy that helps calm them down and work the muscles more around those.

 

a good Atheltic/Massage therapist has helped me a ton, working on my radial nerve esspecially and my cervical spine area, as well as some ART from a chiropractor and practical stretches. I've also had the RMT provider her electro-accupuncter which is pretty cool (and a bit scary) highly recommend trying it.