Suggestions for Golfers Elbow recovery

[PatM]

I'm at the end of my season here in cold New England and suffering from golfers elbow. I had Tennis elbow last year and changed to a bent handle and it went away. Now its just the opposite with the inside. Anyone do PT for golfers elbow and have suggestions as to recover from it? Also I don't want to stop skiing or working out to stay in some sort of shape, is this advisable to continue with activities as such?

[OldboyII]

Link

This kind of support helped me a lot with tennis elbow.

[skiep]

Ok- I will tell you about what happend to me. I had golfers elbow BAD in both arms. Went to bent handle and larger dia. with little help. One day a friend was watching me (after a year of pain) ski and said I was bending my arms in the pull. I said no way I dont bend my arms but video didn't lie. I corrected that and with in a week the pain started going away oh an I siked better too. Hope this helps.

[MISkier]

@skiep is right about pulling in and bent elbows. I noticed that I have less tendinitis when I am doing a better job of keeping my arms straight. My major issue is pulling through the gate. That is where I am most likely to pull in. When I am in a better stack with straight arms, it doesn't flare up. And, as noted, I also ski better when I fix the poor position.

[PatM]

@skiep and @MISkier That could very well be the cause. I will pay more attention to that next time. Also I'm wondering if it is taking hits at 38 on my offside. Try not to but I'm not the smoothest skier.

[MISkier]

@"Pat M", the slack hits don't help either. I was taking those on my onside, especially at one ball. After a rough day of that, my arm was screaming. Two things helped reduce that: not pulling in through the gate (fixing that created more space/width from better outbound direction) and more counter-rotation on all onside turns. I'm earlier and finish the turn much, much better when I remember those.

[thager]

An anti-roll handle will help.

[ToddL]

Hits are what gets mine going. Unfortunately, the best solution that truly heals it is simply rest (stop skiing for a few weeks). Of course, none of us buoy addicts will ever do that.

 

The next best thing is to do the following:

Stretch before skiing.

Stretch after skiing.

Ice after ski sets. Ice in the evening after skiing that day.

Massage - deep tissue the muscles associated with the inflamed tendon.

Exercise with very light resistance the muscles associated with the inflamed tendons.

 

Exercises and deep tissue work:

 

Another:

 

Another:

 

 

Stretch - pic:

 

FlexBar-elbow-Reverse-twist

http://www.thera-bandacademy.com/elements/clients/images/FlexBar-reverse-twist__201010DD_104147.jpg

Instructions:

A. Grasp FlexBar® exerciser with the injured side, bending your elbow and holding the bar parallel to the ground.

B. Lift the elbow of your un-injured side upward and rotate your forearm so your palm faces away from you.

C. Grasp the other end of the FlexBar with the un-injured hand facing away from you and pointing downward

D. Twist the FlexBar with the hand on the un-injured side as you stabilize with the injured-side hand

E. Hold both wrists steady as you extend both elbows in front of you. The wrist on your injured side should be flexed toward you and the other wrist extended.

F. Slowly release the FlexBar with your injured side while maintaining tension with the uninjured side

Repeat 10-15 times up to 3 times a day. Begin with the red FlexBar and progress to the next color when you can easily perform 3 sets of 15. Use ice or Biofreeze for any soreness.

[A_B]

@ToddL is right on with the stretching. I have a flex bar, green and blue, and that helped along with other stuff I did. I thought it would go away, and it just kept getting worse. In the interim, get a Bandit strap and use that when skiing. It is the only strap that doesn't cut circulation off so bad that your hand wants to blow up. It helps keep the tendons from moving around. I stopped skiing thinking it would clear up, but it didn't, and depending on severity, this is one where you need to aggressively treat it if you want to get better.

 

Two links to checkout:

Link1

 

Link2

 

Link3

[lkb]

maybe try this https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A2QQaVfeI4U

[lkb]

test post

[skialex]

A new rope will help too!

[Chef23]

You have to get the swelling and pain out then the flex bar and stretching are key.

[PatM]

@skialex I get a new rope every year. I'm just getting old.

[ozski]

Tried almost eveything last summer. In the end I found that doing dips worked for me, lots of dips.

[PatM]

@ozski Can you elaborate on how you did your dips? i.e. two chairs with feet on another?

[Than_Bogan]

Depending on the details, aggressive massage could be really helpful. I used to have a lot of tendonitis problems thanks to typing for a living. Then years ago I really hosed up my back and eventually landed on the table of Larry the Massage Guy :). As part of his usual routine, he noticed my arms were totally effed up and he put a beating on various muscles in the area. (Btw, OW!) I do that perhaps once every 2 months (along with the larger muscles, of course), and -- KNOCK ON WOOD! -- the tendonitis has never returned.

[ozski]

I have a purpose built dip rack. I cant explain why it worked but after missing a lot of last season dips had me back on the water in about a week... Maybe increased the blood flow to the area...

[Deep11]

Symptomatic treatment is good. In all seriousness have had both problems for a couple of years (couldn't do pull ups or arm curls) and fixed them this year by concentrating on skiing with straight arms and not taking hits or only taking hits with my legs - straight arns and stacked properly, everything moving across course. The correct stack as everyone here knows is REALLY hard to do correctly (and I still have work to do) but it will go a long way to sort the problem.

Now I just need to work out the patellar tendonitis!

[MarkM]

Prednisone all the way. Fixed mine and I had slalom elbow so bad I couldn't wash my face.

[The_MS]

Someone will say that the radius handles will help but dont waste your cash. (unless you need a new handle anyway)

[PatM]

@MS I have a radius (bent) handle, new this year, which did help with my tennis elbow. Makes me think I should go back to a straight handle to correct this problem.

[Horton]

@MrJones sent me this https://www.absolutept.com/shooters-elbow/

[Marco]

My wife had tennis elbow this summer, which kept her from skiing a good chunk of the summer. On a whim, she tried kinesiology tape, and amazingly enough, it took the pain away. I am a skeptic, so I tried it on my neck which was killing me all summer from nerve pain. I was astounded that my pain was gone the next day, and hasn't returned. As I said, I am a skeptic when it comes to miracle remedies, but there is really something to this KT tape.

[davemac]

I've got a bad case of tennis elbow (outer pain) on my right side (usually its the left). Have been using the flexbar.

At @Marco suggestion, I put a strip of my daughter's pink KT tape on it last night. Hmmm, significant relief. Not sure how or why this stuff works. I'm all for placebos...if they work. I'll be picking up some more of this stuff...just not in pink.

Thanks Marco.

 

[texski]

I use a 45 lb barbell to roll out my entire arm and it is has been very successful in getting rid of my golfer's elbow. Lay down on the floor with the barbell beside you and roll the end over your arm concentrating on the areas that have the most pain. I work the top of my arm from shoulder to wrist and roll my arm over and work as much as I can get. I'm not consistent in doing this, but it has significantly reduced the pain. You can also use a lighter weight bar and have some one roll it on your arm while adding some additional pressure.

[Marco]

@davemac - Glad it worked for you. Here is the method suggested for taping elbows. Last weekend I taped up everything that was hurting on me and I looked like a mummy!

 

[ToddL]

This year I had horrible tendinitis all season. I finally took a few weeks off and sought deep tissue massage and Graston (http://www.grastontechnique.com/) + ART (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Release_Technique) work via a skilled chiropractor. He determined that my golfer's elbow was more due to a tight triceps than forearm tightness. I've had two sessions of Graston+ART. Left with significant bruising (this is pretty invasive tissue work). However, when I skied the other day, I was pain-free!!!

[BrianC]

Try hanging from a chin-up bar 3 x 30 seconds every other day. Later on start doing chin-ups to strengthen the area (must be without pain though) Worked for me after about a month.

[Sledgehammer]

I have been dealing with tennis&golf elbow for quite some time. Biggest effect for me was viscosupplementation (might be right just for my case) last December, and great PT that uses Graston technique. Was able to ski pain free for the whole season with occasional ice. Good massage therapist can also do miracles.

[Than_Bogan]

Graston technique can sometimes work wonders for tendon issues. As noted (maybe in a different thead), it can also lead to some significant -- but temporary -- bruising. Also can be very uncomfortable while being applied, ranging from burning pain to "wow, that just feels wrong." But it works!

 

Do a lot of PTs do Graston now? Personally, I've only ever seen it from my Sports Chiropractor.

[PatM]

This is all great info. Funny thing is my golfers elbow is calming down while my tennis elbow on my other arm is starting to rage. Good timing for the new post on this older discussion.

 

[ToddL]

@Than_Bogan - I think the Graston technique folks are working the chiropractor circuit as a target audience of practitioners.

 

I mentioned the bruising. For that I use Arnicare Arnica gel.

 

Yes. It hurts. A lot. No wusses.

 

My chiro uses the 1/2/3 levels of pain communication method:

1) Yeah, that hurts but kind of feels good - means chiro needs to push a lot harder

2) Damn, that hurts and I'm not sure how much more I can take - means chiro is doing it right

3) I'm about to pass out or sucker punch you if you don't stop now - means chiro is just over the limit.

 

My guy says he is shooting for a 2.8 on that scale. I think he hit 2.99 a couple of times. But pain is gone after only 2 sessions. BTW, a session is less than 15 minutes of work, including both Graston + ART stretching.

[PatM]

@ToddL Are you back to skiing/working out on a regular basis?

[ToddL]

@"Pat M" - I wish! Time and Weather and Parenting have taken priority now that we are in our winter months. But, if you are asking if I feel closer to 100% able to do the same activities like before the tendinitis started? Yes.

[Rich]

Bikram Yoga is great for water skiers , and this posture in particular for your elbows. I have zero pain in my elbows, my back, shoulders ect... It works!

[Stevie Boy]

Well here one for you guys to try ,it got rid of my elbow problem "POWER BALL" basically it like a gyro that you hold in your hand, it spins up you keep it going with your wrist but loads you arm up big time.

http://powerballs.com/?

 

You can find them on Amazon also.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=powerballs+gyroscope

 

[6balls]

@razorskier1 reminded me yesterday about some who are using nitroglycerine patches. He's trying it now and I saw a talk about a year ago from an upper extremity orthopedist that included some information on it. Sounded promising in his practice.

[lpskier]

I've have golfer's elbow. I use a radius handle and I like it, but it didn't fix the elbow. A wider diameter handle helps, but I find it hard to hold on to. PT helped a lot, as does a fresh rope. PRP therapy cured it, but it came back. Early this year, I got a new ski and changed my ZO setting from B3 to B1. I got golfers elbow pretty bad over the summer, and noticed an annoying delay between when I was "ready to go" and when I actually got the gas. About a month ago, I switched to C2 and both problems seem to be solved, or at least both are better.

[Razorskier1]

will get the patches tonight. Also, I have had both a doctor and a PT suggest to me that eccentric exercises (the "negative" movement) are very good for tendons, whereas contracting the muscle tends to irritate them. Both said to do eccentric-only movements with enough resistance to cause modest pain (2-3 on a 10pt scale) for sets of 15 reps 3 times a day. This strategy has worked well for my knee and it is what I am doing for my partially torn triceps tendon now that the PRP injection is 3 weeks old.