Skiing Related Mystery Elbow Injury

[Horton]

So I have not said much but I have been hurt for a month.

 

I took a slack hit and my elbow hurt like SHIT! So I rested it. By the time I got an appointment to see an Orthopedic it did not hurt any more so he told me to go ski. I tricked yesterday and just doing Wake O and SLB inflamed it so I do not see how I could try to run 35s or 38s.

 

Were it hurts is marked with a silver Sharpie. That spot is tender to touch. The pain also runs down my forearm towards my hand.

 

Anybody ever heard of this before? Anybody had this injury?

 

 

@MrJones ideas?

 

[Horton]

@Gloersen

 

I do have a big old bone spur but the x-ray did not show any fractures or chips.

 

Tell me more. If you are an actual Doc and want to explain off line please PM me.

[skimtb]

I got nothing, my right bicep is messed up. I didn’t even stay at a holiday inn express, due to Covid.

But, does this mean you need someone to run the ‘21 Prostar for you?

[DavidN]

I have EXACTLY the same I’m battling right now. Only on my right arm. (I’m a LFF skier.) Developed over a couple weeks when changing from a radius handle to a regular one earlier this season.

Had some sessions with a chiropractor, went back to a bent/radius handle, took weeks off skiing, wore an elbow compression brace, nothing really helped.

Now I do a lot of stretching and foam rolling of the forearm and use Voltaren gel around that area before I go to bed. Pain doesn’t go away, but I can at least keep it at bay and can ski.

[MDB1056]

I had a severe pain in the exact same place 2 yrs ago, right elbow though, but not from a hit. I'm LFF and had a bad habit of rotating my right arm more open on offside turns when extending (almost palm up). Got so painful I couldn't ski much. Now this will sound completely strange but it's the honest truth. I reversed my grip, and instantly I had zero pain. Was skiing immediately, pain free. I've never changed back, and never had any further issues. Learned to love the reverse grip. FWIW

[Zman]

+1 Voltaren

[brettmainer]

I had the same thing last year. Golfer’s elbow. It took the fun out of skiing. It went away over the winter. Until then it was pain tolerance. If intolerable, you could switch your grip for the rest of the season. Awkward at first, but the bouy count will be the same after a couple of sets. Kristi Overton and others skied very well with the “wrong” hand up.

[Skichiro]

Looks like medial epicondylitis. Had it also and had PRP injection which healed to heal the tendinosis. Highly recommend from a Regenexx.com provider.

[Alberto Soares]

I was diagnosed with medial epicondylitis (golfer's elbow) about 6 months ago through an image exam, the doctor told me to stop immediately what was causing the problem at the risk of a total rupture. I stopped skiing completely for about 2 months and the pandemic has also decreased the frequency of skiing in the last few months. I have done a lot of physiotherapy at home, there are many exercises and stretches available on the internet, just look for golfer's elbow. I still feel a little bit of pain, I estimate 2/10 but physiotherapy really helped me a lot. By the way, my problem is with my left elbow, I'm an RFF.

[LOTW]

I developed golfers elbow after 4 days in Orlando at the end of a long Canadian winter, obviously I over did it. I tried acupuncture, chiro, the bands, gels etc. but nothing helped. It eventually went away on its own but it hurt like hell and had me pretty freaked out! Hopefully it'll just go away, be patient.

[bbruzzese]

I get the same thing. Used to start about 1/2 way through our already short VT season. I would treat like many others above then hope it would heal over the winter. As winter activities have increased it would just ache all the time . Just recently discovered "muscle flossing" which seems to be effective for me..I won't try to explain but a quick YouTube search of muscle flossing for elbow pain will tell you everything. I now "floss" elbows and Achilles with great results. Might be worth a try.

[DW]

Another same thing post, mine is right at the outer point of the elbow bone on the inside. RFF, left hand up, radius handle, left elbow worse, slight on right elbow.

 

Thx to all for posting productive info for the rest of us to ponder and research.

[Horton]

Ok so I saw the Ortho AGAIN yesterday. He is ordering me a CT scan.

 

He examined & thinks is not nerve, tendon or ligament. He thinks it is arthritis maybe?

 

This thing is super frustrating.

[thager]

This new elbow injury needs a name. Can we call it a "Rosie Palmer"?

[Horton]

and to be clear this is NOT some form of Tendonitis ( golfers or tennis elbow )

[Bruce_Butterfield]

My elbow problems are a little different, but may offer you some things to try.

 

I had a radial head fracture on my left elbow 30 years ago that has caused issues ever since. I had 2 surgeries (2001 and 2019) that each provided about an 80% improvement. Prior to each I was on the verge of not skiing anymore. Both surgeries were orthoscopic and basically used a mini dremel tool to clean out the joint. In 2001, it was cutting edge surgery, with basically 1 doc in the Dallas area that was proficient. Now its much more common and easier to find an orthopod capable of doing it.

 

I'm pretty sure "arthritis" is what they call it when they don't know specifically what is wrong or how to fix it.

 

For skiing, if I hold the handle normally (RFF, left hand on top), I can handle about 2 sets a week and both will be painful. If I hold the handle backwards, my elbow pain is just a minor irritant - essentially a non-issue. I also get up with an overhand grip and switch as soon as I'm up. That changes the stress on the elbows a surprising amount. I also use a radius handle that helps alot.

 

For PT, its critical to have strong, flexible forearms. Do wrist curls in all 4 directions. But by far the best exercise is wrist rotations: hold your elbow at your side, forearm straight in front and use either a heavy hammer or weight on the end of a bar and rotate the weight in both directions until fatigued.

 

Good luck.

[Slalom.Steve]

I have no idea if this will help in your case, but the Armaid is an amazing self-massage tool for forearm issues. I bought one years ago due to repetitive stress tightness in my forearms from drumming and typing. I also use it on my legs and it's really powerful without much effort needed.

 

https://armaid.com/

[vtmecheng]

When's the CT?

[UWSkier]

edit: nevermind. Found the videos on the armaid site.

[Dirt]

I was in the boat when Horton’s injury occurred. He hung onto 30 feet of slack at 2 ball at 39 1/2.

I said, “why did you hang onto that? I let go anytime there is slack and I never worry about making the gates in practice.”

He replied, “I hang onto everything.”

I still feel a little bit sorry for him.

[Horton]

@dirt I forgot it was your fault. As you may recall I didn't even want to shorten the rope to 39.

[Than_Bogan]

@Horton If you can learn to NOT hold onto everything, then you can shorten to -39 a lot more often! Live to fight another day -- and specifically to take another crack at -39!

[Horton]

Not that smart.

[sunnydaysmn]

I have a pain on right elbow just a little further inward from where yours is..

Almost on that bone that is Prevalent.. but I Ski RFF & right palm up so probably opposite how we are supposed to.

I even skied with both palms down to help alleviate the pain..

But up north here we are getting to the end of the season so we’ll see for next year..