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Anybody deal with this? I’ve been a heavy weightlifter since I was 15 years old and never had any issues until a little while back when I started shooting a bit too much. It showed up big time in my left elbow and I quit shooting and lifting for a few weeks and it went away. Lately, it has come back and I’ve quit shooting but continued lifting. I’ve been able to struggle through the pain while doing anything except tricep exercises. Now, it’s affecting me even doing pulls and while working.
I’m going to lay off shooting and lifting completely for about two weeks and ice it as much as possible. I hate having to lay off. I don’t feel right without that type of exercise but I’m forced to now. Hopefully a couple weeks will do it. Hell, I’m only 31!!
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I had the issue a few years ago. I did several exersices aimed at strengthening the tendon itself. I did them every few hours for weeks and it solved the problem for me. One exercise is using a rubberband wrapped around your fingers. Extend your arm straight and lock your elbow and then flex your fingers apart. Tilting your hand back toward your arm changes what is being worked as well. I found a lot of exercises on line and it worked for me. Good luck!
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Neat stuff for those where exercise helps.
I have a bit too much calcium on board in the form of arthritis… mine centers around joints and tendons.
I shoot or do too involved a repetitive activity, my elbows blow up on me quick like… bows with any bit of vibration, accelerate that big time!
It’s for me, calcium gunk builds up in the channel that the tendons ride in and they say the only true fix (for how long they can’t say?) is to operate, move the tendon out of that groove and grind a new one! 😯
Other surgeons wanted to just roto-rooter the old channel clean and put it back :shock::shock:
I opted to do less repetitive movements! I did ball squeezes, and strengthening motion for the muscles around the elbow to support the tendon, but for me, it just got worse.
Xray will tell a qualified doc if it’s arthritis build up or just inflammation. I had 2 shots of cortisone in EACH elbow once… that came from dragging a deer out of the woods and pulling hard on both elbows… lasted a year! Shots worked for 2 weeks!
Good luck!
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Etter, if you can find a good chiropractor who work on the whole body, as opposed to “straight” chiropractic, especially someone who does kinisiology, that person might offer some help. That’s been a great help to me, but you have to find the right person. It’s odd, but sometimes a sore elbow is due to something somewhere else in your body. I had a terrible pain in my shoulder some years ago and the fix was a correction in my ankle on the opposite side. Strange but true. Best of luck! Dwc
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Etter: I have had the same issue. I work out with weights and shoot my bow much like you do. My pain was made worse by bicep curls while tricep exercises did not bother it at all. I finally got a cortisone shot in my elbow and laid low using only light weights and not shooting for two weeks and it went away completely. worth asking the Doc about.
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I have real bad tennis elbow in both arms. Been dealing with it for a few years now. From the research I’ve done, surgery is a 50/50 shot so I’m not real enthused about trying it. I don’t know how similar this is to actual tendonitis but it sounds like its close? I have found a series of stretching exercises that has helped eased the day to day pain which can be quite excruciating.
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I stopped by the health food store today (old workout buddy from high school owns it) and he hooked me up with a mixed pack of supplements that he swears by. Some herbal stuff that helps with the inflammation plus glucosamine and chondroitin to help lubricate and a few other things that actually are supposed to help repair the tendon damage. As I understand, tendons are very slow to repair due to their lack of blood flow. I’m going to lay low for two weeks and give everything a slow go. HATE not being able to do normal workouts. 👿
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I had the same thing in my elbows from shooting and doing pull ups. It took a couple years for the pain to go away. Still can’t do pull ups without new pain.
Two weeks, two months, isn’t enough for tendons to heal. More like two or three years. Pain means injury, so every time you “test” your tendons by lifting weights, you are setting yourself back.
I got these “braces” down at the drug store for tennis elbow. It’s a strap you wrap around your arm just below the elbow. It helps support the tendons. It has an air bag that presses into the pocket on the outside of your elbow.
Tennis elbow – pain on outside of elbow Golfers elbow – pain on inside of elbow. Brace helped with both.
I wore that brace every time I did work: chainsaw, shovel, shoot bow, chop wood, etc. Really helped.
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Steve Graf wrote: I had the same thing in my elbows from shooting and doing pull ups. It took a couple years for the pain to go away. Still can’t do pull ups without new pain.
Two weeks, two months, isn’t enough for tendons to heal. More like two or three years. Pain means injury, so every time you “test” your tendons by lifting weights, you are setting yourself back.
I got these “braces” down at the drug store for tennis elbow. It’s a strap you wrap around your arm just below the elbow. It helps support the tendons. It has an air bag that presses into the pocket on the outside of your elbow.
Tennis elbow – pain on outside of elbow Golfers elbow – pain on inside of elbow. Brace helped with both.
I wore that brace every time I did work: chainsaw, shovel, shoot bow, chop wood, etc. Really helped.
I had a bad flare up about 5 months ago. I took two weeks off and it was fine again for a while. IF this is the way it has to be then it’s how it has to be, but i’ll have surgery before I quit lifting.
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Best to you Etter! I’m not sure the human body was designed to heavy lift into its 30’s. I sure do understand the strength of youth and how I used to look and feel. Just mid 50’s now, but I could walk into the sundown anyday and probably hold my own with a twenty something for a few seconds:lol: Recover, ease up on the workouts if you can, and remember your own body weight is easy and cheap. Stuff I’m sure you know….don’t wear yourself out too early and get chucked on the junk pile with so many years of bow totin’ yet to do.
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Etter
I was a competitive powerlifter from my early 30’s to late 40’s class 2 USPF. That 500 squat and 550 deadlift caused many problems later in life. Find a good physical therapist that knows “injuries of excellence”.
As my brother in law the retired doc says–never ever go under the knife unless it’s life threatening.
Good luck with your decision.
Mike
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colmike wrote: Etter
I was a competitive powerlifter from my early 30’s to late 40’s class 2 USPF. That 500 squat and 550 deadlift caused many problems later in life. Find a good physical therapist that knows “injuries of excellence”.
As my brother in law the retired doc says–never ever go under the knife unless it’s life threatening.
Good luck with your decision.
Mike
I dont go heavy on legs and no longer do deadlifts because of the fear of injury. Im only going up to the mid 300s on bench now and never do one rep max anymore. I see a good many guys in my gym that are still going heavy in their 60s. Maybe Ill get lucky like them. This supplement stack is really helping and Im only six days out from my last day lifting. Im just hoping for the best. Im active and do a lot of cardio too but I do not think there is anything better for the upkeep of an aging human than high volume weight training.
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10 years earlier Glucosamine + Chondroitin was the wonder drug today everyone here in France knows that this is a scam
Shockwave new therapy works well ( 1 time a week during 4 to 5 weeks ) but a requirement to leave the arm concerned at absolute rest. forbidden to raise 1 pound for 30 days
Only rheumatology specialist doctor or sports medicine can do this
Second option is surgery
Third option I used for tennis elbow due to pulling hard bows is to tighten strongly an elastic band 2 inches below the elbow with two bones, no risk of blocking forearm blood
This released my tennis elbow and allowed me quickly continue to shoot with a 48 lbs bow
After a shooting session it is good to put ice on the elbow during 20 minutes, no more
All of this worked for me and a lot of friends and for important tennis elbows
Try, it’s free
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Try something like this:
It really helps. Wear it whenever you’re doing any work harder than paperwork…
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I googled tricep tendonitis, and there are braces for that too!
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Steve Graf wrote: I googled tricep tendonitis, and there are braces for that too!
i’ve got to agree with Steve Graf, have had tendon damage and it’s taken me a couple years for them to heal. My latest injury is my left elbow joint, I went out to close my pole shed doors last early October and pulled something in that joint and as of right now it’s just starting to get better. My doctor told
Me to go to the drug store and get the tennis elbow strap Steve talked about. It’s still sore but has gotten better the last couple of weeks. I shoot left handed and that part hasn’t bothered me. I don’t think this going to go away for a couple more years. Try it, good luck to you.
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I have gotten to where there is no longer any pain. I tried to go back to some presses after a month off but when I got into the heavier weight I felt a twinge and quit.
I spoke with an orthopedist the other day. He said that based on how quickly my pain diminished that I should heal fine but to wait until the pain completely leaves again and then wait 4-6 more weeks before trying to resume shooting or lifting in those motions.
Thanks for the notes on the brace, but because I don’t have any day to day pain anymore, I don’t know if it would help or not.
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Etter1
One thing to consider, is that EVERY injury we have while younger, WILL come back to haunt us.
If I were you I would strongly re-evaluate your workout routine. By that, I mean to consider a workout designed for muscle longevity rather that overall strength. One with high reps of low weights. Ever wonder why you see no (or darn few) gray haired power lifters? The muscles and joints cannot take continued extreme heavy use.
On the other hand you can see older folks running, cycling and swimming, sometimes to pretty extreme distances. Our muscles change, just like the rest of our bodies, and there are turning points we have to be aware of.
Those of us with a few (or a lot) of gray hairs on our heads, learn to compensate with our heads, what our bodies used to do.
You can stay strong, and will keep the muscle mass we desire in our youth, but the key is longevity. It does no good to lift very heavy for a few years, only to suffer from painful injuries for many years afterwards.
I finally had to go “under the knife” a couple years ago at age 60, when I could no longer lift a carton of milk. Injuries I suffered in my 20’s, but was able to work around for the next 45 years.
It already sounds like you are very wisely adjusting your routine, but I would consider a complete re-do, for longevities sake.
My surgeries, thankfully, were a complete success, and I have more strength in the left arm than I have had in years.
Hang in there and take the advice of the therapist, it ALWAYS takes longer to heal than we think it should.
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Handirifle, well said in my book. Dwc
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I should have been doing physical therapy as soon as this started. Every idiot doctor I spoke to said to lay off and stop doing everything with my left tricep. Wrong!!!
Ive been doing eccentric exercises for five days and feel better than I have in four months! I started real light and added weight every day. Initially, it hurt like heck but after less than a week I am almost pain free. I feel like a moron. Finally found the right orthopedist. He was disgusted that a doc had prescribed me an anti inflammatory and rest. All those nsaids do is prolong recovery.
After five days I can already do one arm push ups on my right said where I do the entire negative with the left (injured arm).
A final note to answer a lot of responses Ive gotten. My workouts are bodybuilding style. I focus on making gains in muscle mass and strength but I dont do any powerlifting anymore. There are very few bodybuilders (who use proper form) that ever face serious injury. The reason people get injured as they age is because their tendons and muscles are weak. I can assure you all that a proper weight training routine would prevent more injuries in anybodys life than would cause. And I dont know any distance runners at my age even that dont have knee or back issues. I know guys in their sixties still pounding out heavy weights in the gym and they still look forty.
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