Tennis (Elbow) Anyone????

B

B.V.

Joined
Dec 27, 2007
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194
Anyone else dealing with "Tennis Elbow".....

Looking for possible solutions.....it's my hammer arm too.,,:mad:

Brad
 
Unfortunately, the solution is to stop hammering for a while and do some "rehab" exercises and when it gets better, buy one of the velcroed tennis elbow braces with the little gel pad that goes over the injured area and NEVER hammer without wearing it again.
 
Many years ago when I still worked on cars for extra cash, I developed "tennis elbow". The docs told me it came from repetitive motion and stress on the tendon. Also said that they could give me a variety of meds, ultra sound, excercises and so on. In the end the opinion was to stop stressing the tendon and wait for it to heal. Did not listen, got to the point where I could barely pick up a cup. After I wised up, it took several months and then one day it was gone.
Moral to the story: Give it some rest or suffer!
You also need to look at how you move that arm. Maybe with some changes, you can still do things without further stress.
Chip Kunkle
 
Keep your palm pointed downward as much as possible when performing other tasks. I realize this would be difficult when hammering. Also, you could have your hand removed, and have a hammer attachment installed on the end of your wrist.:)
 
Another argument to learn proper hammering technique instead of just banging away like putting in nails. There is alot to swinging a hammer that will save you energy and wear and tear on the body!
 
Meds?
Friggin' "doctors" will give you drugs for anything.




Sam Salvati said:
Another argument to learn proper hammering technique instead of just banging away like putting in nails. There is alot to swinging a hammer that will save you energy and wear and tear on the body!
Click to expand...

Sam's right. Don't just wail away at it like you're trying to kill it.
Ask me how I know - I swung a hammer for 25 years. It's as much technique as anything else. Just get the hammer moving and let IT do the work.
Moving steel, like many of us do here, has as much to do with the anvil as it does the hammer! Got to have enough mass under the hammer to transfer the blow to the steel. If you don't, youget mad 'cause nuttin's gettin' done and then you start wailing away at it and the next thing you know, you're making a post on Blade Forums!!

Joe's got a point as well.
You just need to back off and let 'er heal.
I know what it feels like.
Ice it at night. Switch back and forth from ice pack to hot compress.
Take a Baby Aspirin to reduce inflamation.
Call me in the morning.
That'll be $112.50.
 
Karl B. Andersen said:
Ice it at night. Switch back and forth from ice pack to hot compress.
Take a Baby Aspirin to reduce inflamation.
Call me in the morning.
That'll be $112.50.
Click to expand...

Ain't that the truth, LMAO :D :D

Brad, I've suffered from the same thing in the past. I can sympathize with the pain :eek: My elbow problem ended up moving north to my shoulder and neck because I didn't give it a rest like the other guys have suggested.
Do yourself a favor and take a time-out. Thats about the only thing that will let it heal. If you don't, it will continue to give you grief for a very long time :(
Even though I made a joke of Karls advice, its probably the most effective means of helping it along.

I hope you feel better soon :thumbup:



:)
 
+++on the rest and aspirin or ibuprophen for inflammation- if you have strong forearm muscles(like say from swinging a hammer for many years)the previously mentioned velcro type strap might not work for you-from my experience,rest is the key-one PT I saw said to over size your hand tool handles and that did seem to make a difference...just my $.02
good luck
Shawn
 
What I was told, did, and worked for me!

You know those big elastic bands that they bundle up broccoli with!!
Get one and put it around your fingers and thumb and just keep opening your hand! Just do it as often as you can. Also, rub it with TIGER BALM!!!

Good luck
 
I have been told that I have Golfer's Elbow because the pain is on the inside of the elbow as opposed to Tennis Elbow where the pain is on the outside of the elbow. It's rather ironic as I am fond of saying, "When I drive by a golf course, I think what a waste. It could have been a fine rifle range!"

Milt
 
400mg of Ibuprofen twice a day for a week, and rest the arm. I have it right now, and have actually done nothing to cause it. Naproxen (Aleve) twice a day for a week works, too.
 
Stop hammering, you may have to take a longer break from the hammer than you think. Just because the pain may stop doesn't mean you are ready to start hammering again. Thats what I thought until I couldn't pick up a coffee cup whitout feeling pain. It got to the point that I had to see an orthopedic surgeon. I had surgery in april and now I am on the road of a long healing process. If you ignore the elbow and keep at it, as stated before next it will be your shoulder and neck. The damage comes not entirely from hammering but largely from a whipping action at the wrist causing the tendons to inflame. Make sure your anvil is the correct height, the anvil table should be at the same level as your knuckles while you are standing relaxed. You may also need to switch to a lighter hammer, wear a wrist brace to stop your wrist from flexing and when your forearm begins to feel like popye stop you're not getting stonger you're getting injured.
 
I suffered from it for years - had to quit hand gun competition because of it. One night a chiropractor was at a bar I was visiting, he was an old friend, we shook hands and he saw my pain. Said I can fix that!

He took hold of my hand and elbow, told me to relax then hyper extended it with a quick flip!! Thought it would kill me, but within hours it felt better and the next few days all pain was gone and has not come back for over 30 years.
 
Just take pain/thinning OTC medicine, and then heat compress for a few hours, then ice, and repeat.
 
all I can say is listen to the others about the healing . Don't use that arm at all-PERIOD-.
I use to make a sling and tie my arm in it to make sure I did not use it . Took 1 to 2 weeks to heal .
 
Thanks for all the advice....sounds like I'm not alone. The sad part is (or maybe its good?) is that it didn't get injured from hammering. I hurt it while on vacation somehow...woke up with it hurtin one morning and there you go. I remember when nothing hurt....now, everything hurts...what happened? :) Been takin it easy and back on the Motrin horse again....gettin better. Thanks fellas.....
 
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Once it does heal up, a tennis elbow strap metioned above will help distribute the force through the muscle belly and take some of the force away from the muscle origin at the elbow. Those muscles all attach along the forearm and many share a near common attachment at the medial epicondyle at the elbow. A lot of force can be produced tugging hard on a very small area, and you can easily develop a significant irritation at that origin. For the tendonitis problems I have, I use alieve with good success.

Ice massage (freeze a paper/styrofoam cup with water in it, and peel off the rim/side of the cup to expose the ice...massage directly unto the most painful area for up to 10 minutes until it's numb), cross friction massage (probably need a PT to show you this), and rest are the best medicine. If it's bad enough, you can do some treatments with iontophoresis (uses current to push dexamethazone through the skin). It'll heal up nicely if you let it.

Good luck, let me know if you have any questions.

--nathan
 
I've got the band on right now. I hurt it several months ago, went to a Dr. who did injections. (YES, they hurt!) I gave it a week of rest then hurt it again. Went back to the Dr. who told me to take a month off and then did the injections again. That worked for abouth a month. I am now seeing a different Dr. who gave me a topical anti-inflammatory gel and this band and told me to do nothing with my left arm that causes pain for a month. Its been three days now and so far there is no relief, I'm not sure if this is going to work. It seems that, just like everyone else has said, it takes time. Both Doctors have said at least a month of rest, may take more though.

Good luck to you and I hope you can take the time to heal.
 
I've had good luck with this product. (Good for both medial and lateral epicondylitis (tennis/golfer/pitcher's elbow):


http://the-brace-shop-inc.amazonwebstore.com/BandIT/M/B000U8Y7HO.htm


Rest is the best immediate solution. Following that, using rubberbands to open your fingers against will allow the extensor muscles to balance the muscles used for gripping and squeezing which are usually much stronger.
 
I went through this a number times. Rest gets rid of the pain but until I changed my hammering technique, it would just come back. A long time blade smith taught me the Hofi technique for holding/using/swinging the hammer. As others have mentioned above, you let the hammer do the work. Here is a link that helped me remember points that were passed on--> http://www.iforgeiron.com/Blueprints-1000/bp1002.html

Heal fast.

Eric
 
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