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aspiro
Jun 28, 2004, 9:45 PM
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Hey! I've been climbing now for almost two years and I've been having bouts with tendonitis of the elbow. I know that rest and ice are good for it, but are there any exercises or stretches that I can be doing to help facilitate recovery and prevent a reoccurrence of it?
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rockzen
Jun 30, 2004, 2:43 AM
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gradual warm-up is said to help.
dave
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wings
Jun 30, 2004, 3:07 AM
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My physiotherapist recommends frictioning the tendon (rub the tendon really hard until it goes numb). Your body will respond as though it is injured and the overall healing process will quicken.
Warning - if you do this properly, it can hurt like hell. It's supposed to.
Try a google search on frictioning.
Oh, btw, make sure it's your elbow, and not your rotator. Rotator tendonitis can sometimes manifest itself as pain in the elbows.
- Seyil
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billybaggett
Jun 30, 2004, 3:08 AM
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i've been dealing with the same problem for a while now. there are a few stretches you can do...with your arm out straight pull the tips of your fingers back toward you and hold for a few seconds and release. do this with your fingers pointed up and towards the ground. do this while making a fist and rotate your arm slightly. i've also heard that this can be caused by over working certain groups of muscles while leaving the antagonistic ones under worked, so i've been doing little reverse curls with light weights...with arms outstretched and palms towrds the ground curl your hands upward about 15-20 reps.
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verticallyinclined
Jul 6, 2004, 1:26 AM
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After you have fully recovered do 20-30 minutes a day of hatha yoga, this will eliminate future problems and many chronic pains will go away.
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verticallyinclined
Jul 6, 2004, 1:28 AM
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After you have fully recovered do 20-30 minutes a day of hatha yoga, this will eliminate future problems and many chronic pains will go away.
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silkyerm
Jul 11, 2004, 2:19 PM
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I agree with BillyBagget regarding working out the antagonistic muscles. What this means is that when you are climbing you work your foreams really hard, but not the back of your arm (the antagonist muscle) and you work your bicept really hard, but not your tricepts. This causes imbalance between the two muscle groups. I have found that doing reverse wrist curls with light weight and working my tricepts a couple times a week helps cut down on tendonitis in the backs of my arms and my elbows.
If your tendonitis is not too bad try working out with fairly light weights and high reps (20?) and get a good pump a couple times a week. Don't over do it and see what happens. If your tendonitis is bad in your opinion, don't listen to my advise. Go to a doctor or physical therapist.
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nistrong
Jul 16, 2004, 10:13 PM
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In reply to: After you have fully recovered do 20-30 minutes a day of hatha yoga, this will eliminate future problems and many chronic pains will go away.
What is hatha yoga?
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magpie
Jul 22, 2004, 9:37 AM
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Get the pain calmed down before you start strengthening tight muscles- you'll only make the inflammation/pain worse. First stretch and decrease inflammation, then begin gentle strengthening and work your way up. I'm assuming you have lateral epicondylitis or tennis elbow?
I agree with billybagget on the forearm stretches. Do them 3-5x/day and in the midst of anything that's bugging you. I think all climbers should do them! General plan: heat the muscles (shower, hot pack, cardio...) then stretch gently but loooong. (20-30 seconds). You can then massage the tendon area, (it doesn't have to go numb in my opinion, but do what you like...) but then be sure to follow with icing of that area. (you don't need to ice the muscles, just the tendons...)
Tennis elbow often happens when people overuse their wrist extensors (muscles on back of the arm), or the muscle that flips your palm up. Look at the position of your wrists when you do things other than climbing and watch that they're in a 'neutral' or slightly flexed position- not bent back. You're probably typing right now with your wrists cocked backwards.
Wow. This is a book. Sorry.
Once you're feeling better, begin the strengthening and watch your positioning. It's so hard to do this on line without direct contact with you.
Hand therapy can help loads. If it's nagging you, get it looked at and treated sooner than later!!!
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