forgers elbow

J

james7729

Joined
Apr 9, 2008
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I recieved some of Aldo's excellent L-6 at about .28 or so and had to jump up from my 4lb sledge to a 6 pounder. after a couple months of the 6 a week ago I heard and felt a pop in my elbow and then I could'nt even lift a two pounder. Like tennis elbow not a lot to do but rest. Anyone else had this? Any remedies or tips? How long were you out of action? This is the best forging weather in Indiana, I hate missing it.
Wounded in action James.
 
Stand close to the anvil and try not to extend your arm much. Keep your elbow tucked into your side (ribs) as much as possible. If it is a problem with technique, then it will probably only get worse until you fix it.
 
I use a 6 and an 8 lb hammer pretty frequently. Tai's right about technique, it can make a big difference in the health of your arm. I try to always do any heavy forging over the most solid part of the anvil, i.e. the part with the foot under it. I feel drawing out over the horn is a waste of time, that's heavy work and part of your effort should not be wasted by less than optimum rebound. Get a drawing hammer, maybe a nice straight peen. Try to move most of your steel with the peen, it's more efficient- then forge with the flat face when nearing finished dimensions.

With a heavy hammer, don't try to snatch it up quickly. Picking the hammer up is what puts most of the strain on your arm. If your anvil has decent rebound, and you use the right area of the face, the anvil should do a significant portion of your lifting by rebounding the hammer. Realize that with the added power of the heavier hammer comes the caveat of having to slow down a bit. Forge deliberately.

I've had tennis elbow before, the only thing to do was let it heal. IIRC 2-3 weeks or so until medium-heavy work was OK. I kept an ace bandage on it for a while, it helps.
 
Don't forge for a good while. When you start up again in a couple of MONTHS, buy one of the elbow braces that has the little gel pad that goes over the afflicted area. I did the same thing a few years back trying to hammer out a 1 inch bar of O1 drill rod on a dancing anvil.:eek:
 
I have the same problem in both my elbows,it started in my left elbow so then I started using my right arm to compensate,now I'm in this predicament.
Mine was caused by the horticultural work I do.
Over the past 2 weeks I have been seeing a Chinese doctor and I have a 1hr. session that involves deep massage then acupuncture.
It has helped but the only thing that will help it totally is rest,for me spring is the busy time of the year, so not much rest for me at the moment.
I wish you all the best for a quick recovery.
 
I had to quit handgun competition because of tennis elbow. After 5 years of enjoying it, one night in a bar a chiropractor notice me holding a beer in my left hand and asked me what was the trouble? I told him about my tennis elbow, he said he could fix it, took a hold of my arm and told me to let him have it, I relaxed and he proceed to hyper extend my arm downward. I about hit the floor, but in a few hours tennis elbow was gone!

It has never came back seriously, when it does I just throw my hand downward hand toward the floor and my elbow is healed again.
 
If you have not seen a doctor, it might be worth a visit. The "pop" might be a bad thing. It's possible to break a tendon partially or fully free of the bone and sometimes surgery is needed to put it back. Physical therapy can be a big help in building strength back up if its just a sprain or strain. I had an elbow sprain last spring and after a couple weeks for healing, did 6 PT visits in 2 weeks and got back to about 90% of the strength I had before the injury.
 
Not sure on the pop. As suggested, it might be worth your while to get it looked at if the severe weakness lingers. In addition to tearing a tendon, you can actually pull off a piece of the bone where the tendon attaches to the arm (avulsion fracture). If it's a simple tendonitis, that's an easier can of worms. As a PT I can give you a biased recommendation to see a PT if this lingers as well. My specialization is in other areas, but I've treated a good bit of tendonitis through the years. As for yourself, you can do ice massage to the most painful areas for 4-8 minutes until it goes numb several times a day for a week or so, and you could also probably learn to do a cross friction massage to the tendon as well. After things start feeling less tender, you can start doing some gentle stretching. One of the best ways to help it heal and avoid it coming back is to strengthen the muscle eccentrically. Again, a PT could give you some specific exercises in addition to other modalities to help it along.

Joe's tip of using a brace is right on as well. They're typically called tennis elbow straps or epicondylitis straps. The reason you start having trouble, whether it is on the outside or inside of the elbow, is that a number of muscles have their origins right on or around the little bony point on either side of the elbow. That small area takes a lot of force and stress and can become irritated with repetitive over-use or trauma. The straps/braces help support the muscle, providing a more broad area of pull and taking some of the stress off of the epicondyle.

--nathan
 
My other solution to the problem was to buy a hydraulic press, but that is a bit more expensive than the strap.:D
 
Forget the doctor, but like Ed said, a visit to the chiropractor would be the absolutely first thing on my list.
Other than that, how heavy is your anvil? I like to consider that an anvil should be about 50 pounds for each pound of hammer. The anvil is designed to absorb and return the energy of the blow to the WORKPIECE! Otherwise, all of that energy goes somewhere else, and conceivably, that somewhere else could be your arm.
We want to let the hammer do the work, sort of like swinging a golf club, ya' know, we just get the club head moving and let IT! do the work.
Don't try to kill that piece of steel. Let the hammer do the work.
But, that hammer can only do its job if the anvil cooperates. They ARE a team.
 
What ever advise you take, do not let this elbow thing get out of hand. I have tennis elbow, but I got it from working on bicycles. Being pig headed I kept working through the pain and ignoring it. After close to a year i broke down and went to see a doctor, was prescribed some anti-inflammatoriess and physiotherapy while they helped, I continued to work as normal instead of backing off a bit to let things heal. That was 4 years ago now, I still have tennis elbow and it is bad, I have had one arthroscopic release, numerous cortisone shots, platelet rich plasma injections, and now it looks like a second open surgery is coming. If I had taken a few weeks of light work, and sought medical help right away instead of gritting my teeth I would still be able to swing a hammer, ride my bikes, and a host of other activities I like to do.

I still make knives, it just takes a lot longer because I have to stop every 30-40 minutes and ice my elbow for 20 minutes then rest it for an hour and I only do stock removal so think of how little i would get done if I was trying to forge:eek:
 
Both arms here, from firewood cuttin and forging. Takes a looooong time to heal and flairs up a little every so often.

The forearm strap mentioned is very helpful.

Best cure I found is a power hammer.
 
One thing I learned about my elbow, when I wear a glove on my right hand while forging (I am right handed) the old tennis elbow will start to act up again. Finally I realized I did not need a welding glove to work a hammer, quit the right glove and never another problem.
 
I have it in both elbows, but its the left, my dominate hand, that is the one that is debilitating. The right one just hurts, and occasionally flares up bad. On bad days you can see the swelling in both arms. I was really hoping that the last surgery would have taken care of it, but it didn't:( I use the Aircast Pneumatic Armband, it works well if you put it on before the elbow gets bad. Yesterday the physiotherapist taped my elbow instead and it did wonders even though my elbow was already shooting red hot streaks of pain, to bad the tape job only lasted about 3 hours. One of these days I will find a tape or band aid that will stick to my skin
 
I agree with most that's been advised thus far.

If you pursue accupuncture/eastern medicine request some dit daw jow from the practitioner. It is a salve/balm that helps with many injuries.

Also, examine your grip. Do not keep a death grip (this goes with Ed's glove observation- if you use a glove you have to grip harder to retain/control the hammer). Also, do not put your thumb on top of the handle: although it affords easier precision it increases the shock to your wrist and elbow.

Hope you heal up quickly and fully.
 
I've never had formal lessons in forging but I do a lot of it. What helped me was a technique I learned from being a steady gigging drummer. In the drum world it is known as the Moeller Technique and it saves wrists, elbows and shoulders. Essentially, when I swing a hammer it is a whipping type motion following the stroke and rebound of the hammer... I am just there to amplify what the hammer is already doing. The motion looks as if I just stuck my hand in something undesireable and am trying to shake it off in a downward whipping motion. There is a bit of elbow flapping but it is very loose.

Thanks for the link on the Hofi DVD.... I just ordered it!

Take care of that elbow. My only other piece of advice is that Doctors seem to focus on the symptoms rather than the cause. Don't fall into the trap of pain relievers and cortizone shots or you will soon be permanently damaged goods.

Rick
 
unky_gumbi said:
. One of these days I will find a tape or band aid that will stick to my skin
Click to expand...

Go to the Veterinary- large animal type, if you're a city dweller. I get all kinds of stuff from the vet. They have stuff that actually works, just like you think it should, and it's like half price. A roll of stretchy tape, either with or without (horse wrap) the sticky stuff will last you a long damn time, because the stuff is made to stick properly- as in "until you cut it off".
 
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