# my elbow hurts!!!!



## havnmonkey (Apr 22, 2007)

first off I am typing this one handed:madman: because my leftt forearm/elbow is killing me! And yes I do plan on seeing a Dr. about it tomorrow ... However I would appreciate some info from any members who've had experience w/ conditions like Tennis Elbow, Bursitis, Golfers Elbow, and any other elbow area pain. I have medical experience and can usually diagnose my own injuries very well... but it is not my profession and I rarely get hurt:skep: 

My pain starts from the inside tip of my elbow (the medial epicondyle) and radiates down the inside of my forearm towards my wrist. The pain lessens as it nears the wrist. Most of the tenderness is located within 1-2" of the medial epicondyle. There is no numbness or tingling in my wrist or fingers. My range of motion is very limited in both flexion and extension w/out excruciating pain. My rotational motion is hardly affected at all. Pain is a 5.0 until I move and then it shoots up to 9.0 ( a 10 is like when I shattered my arms and the X-Ray Techs bent my arms in all sorts of crazy ways to get the pics they needed-- my ulna was sticking out of my right arm). I have a very high tolerance for pain. There is no noticeable swelling, however the area is very warm to the touch indicating inflammation.

my activities over the last 14 days has been working 4 days on and 4 days off: on my 4 days off I ride about 20 mi of singletrack, 2 light workouts in the gym (hi reps/ lo weight), 1000m in the pool... and the waves have been fun so about 3-5 hours of surfing every day I'm off... The only thing out of the ordinary was a (11 days ago) fight w/ a guy who kicked out the back window of a patrol car while in transport... he was already handcuffed and atleast a dozen of us were securing him with leg restraints and trying to put him in my reinforced car... he was only tensing up at the time, he wasn't able to kick or punch so I don't think I could've hurt myself then... although I'm still leaving that possibility on the table.

I first noticed the pain in my arm 3 days ago. I've been working a lot of traffic crashes over the last week an I was holding the box clipboard w/ my left hand and writing w/ my right... The pain gradually got worse until this morning it is really too much to ignore.

I'm leaning towards Medial Epicondylitis (Golpher's Elbow) but have no experiance w/ anything other than sprains and fractures. Any knowledge about this type of pain would be greatly appreciated.


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## CEB (Mar 17, 2005)

SAME thing happened to me. I'm 50 years old, ride 3-5 times a week in some SoCal harsh conditions, never had a problem. Then got a new bike (Blur) that came with an air fork. Previous bike had a Marzocchi Atom Bomb, a spring fork. I replaced the air fork (FOX Float100mm) with a spring fork (FOX Vanilla R 140mm) thinking the rigidity and "snappyness" of the Float was the cause. IT WAS! Once I replaced the fork ALL the elbow pain went away within 3 months. Good luck!


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## havnmonkey (Apr 22, 2007)

CEB said:


> SAME thing happened to me. I'm 50 years old, ride 3-5 times a week in some SoCal harsh conditions, never had a problem. Then got a new bike (Blur) that came with an air fork. Previous bike had a Marzocchi Atom Bomb, a spring fork. I replaced the air fork (FOX Float100mm) with a spring fork (FOX Vanilla R 140mm) thinking the rigidity and "snappyness" of the Float was the cause. IT WAS! Once I replaced the fork ALL the elbow pain went away within 3 months. Good luck!


great... my new RS Revelation (dual air) just got dropped off at my apartment like 10 minutes ago:madman: ... I'm only 24... I ride a hardtail w/ a Marz. DJ3 (coil)... and I've never had this before

I've been on Advil and ice for the last few days... it's helped quite a bit but my left arm is still all but useless... last day before I see a Doc:madmax: ...


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## ssbeeritual (Apr 26, 2005)

Punching in here for the first time ever folks... I have what you have monkey - it is golfer's elbow and related to the lack of suspension on the bars (rigid, stiff bar-grab related stuff) and for me - sh*te brakes for awhile. Also play acoustic guitar aggressively. And I'm 46. Essentially tearing the muscle off the bone at the tendon. Yay. So, ibuprofen is ok but I had the cortizone shot and did 5 wks of serious therapy and iced the mofo a lot. [Xrays won't show the issue.] Do that. Freeze H20 dixie cups or any 3" dia. paper coffee cup 3/4 full and then apply direct ice to the general lateral elbow area, for 5-7 minutes. Peel the paper down as the ice melts. Grab a towel too, eh? 3-4 times daily.

I healed up in March and I have been riding a lot since and playing some and it's damn near back. Just froze more H20 this aft. Damn... I'll be watching this.


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## ssbeeritual (Apr 26, 2005)

Oh, one more thing that's critical - after the elbow is cold (and you want it cold!), put a little lotion on the elbow and massage the thing by pressing a little bit harder - away and across the tendon from you and slide your hand back across in a more gentle fashoin. This allows more circulation and oxygenated blood to carry away impurities and bring on the heal. Do this a few weeks, and maybe take it easy on the bike as well...


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## ahayley (Feb 1, 2007)

I have this issue as well. In addition to the suggestion that it is "related to the lack of suspension on the bars", I think it might also be caused by arm position. In particular, I noticed that the bike I have that caused the issue has me riding with almost straight arms. This results in the muscle, that is at issue, being stretched throughout the ride. When I am pulling/yanking up on the bars to clear obstacles, I am yanking on a muscle already fully stretched. This is what I believe has caused the damage. In addition to fixing my arm, I am also planning on replacing the stem with a shorter one to allow more bend in the arm. Comments? Suggestions?


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## ssbeeritual (Apr 26, 2005)

That may well be it - the stretched muscle - that is the root of the issue. Perhaps raising the bars, as well as placing a shorter stem on it may help. Ice is also key, before and/or after the ride. No bags of frozen peas here - real ice to skin, then a subtle massage across the tendon. Hope that helps!


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## havnmonkey (Apr 22, 2007)

hey thanks for the input!!!!

I ended up icing and resting for my four days off and then applying one of those "tennis elbow" wraps w/ the pad placed on the muscle group just below the medial epicondyle... I wore it for the next four days of work and the pain vanished...

I think my injury was more related to over-training on it (surfing, swimmin, weights, and biking) after tweaking it out trying to gain control of a prisoner...

As of right now, no pain and no signs of tenderness at all! And I'm back to training again...


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## mlepito (May 1, 2007)

Get a Dynaflex gyro ball exerciser. Fixes tennis elbow, golfers elbow, and carpal tunnel. I get them for all my forearm pain patients. It works great. google it.


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## ssbeeritual (Apr 26, 2005)

Right On - Thanks out to both you folks!


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## Natedogz (Apr 4, 2008)

havnmonkey said:


> great... my new RS Revelation (dual air) just got dropped off at my apartment like 10 minutes ago:madman: ... I'm only 24... I ride a hardtail w/ a Marz. DJ3 (coil)... and I've never had this before
> 
> I've been on Advil and ice for the last few days... it's helped quite a bit but my left arm is still all but useless... last day before I see a Doc:madmax: ...


Sounds like you've got tendonitis, I got the best results with a GOOD chiropractor. I used to be a mechanic and had a real bad problem with this. Advil and ice are good for it too.



havnmonkey said:


> ....I ended up icing and resting for my four days off and then applying one of those "tennis elbow" wraps w/ the pad placed on the muscle group just below the medial epicondyle... I wore it for the next four days of work and the pain vanished...
> 
> I think my injury was more related to over-training on it (surfing, swimmin, weights, and biking) after tweaking it out trying to gain control of a prisoner...
> 
> As of right now, no pain and no signs of tenderness at all! And I'm back to training again...


I agree with your cause analysis, that is what started mine. And glad to hear that you're doing well! There are specific exercises that you can do once it has healed up to help prevent it from recurring. Just remember to start out easy. Sounds like you over-use it at the moment....a friend got this from too much sail-boarding and being an aircraft mechanic all day.



mlepito said:


> Get a Dynaflex gyro ball exerciser. Fixes tennis elbow, golfers elbow, and carpal tunnel. I get them for all my forearm pain patients. It works great. google it.


Never heard of that, just checked it out and looks interesting. 

EDIT: Forgot to say that it also sounds like the ergonomics of writing on your clipboard and the way you hold it is very bad ergonomically and can also cause and/or irritate that part of your arm.


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## sanjosedre (Oct 11, 2004)

Hey everyone,
found this great thread & needed some input. I have had bouts with tendinitis in the past & seemed to have aggravated it again. The pain is an ache around my elbow rather than during an activity but I cannot recall how I aggravated it. Since this is the case I have ramped down my riding from daily to every two days. My question is since it is an ache should I rest the elbow more or stay the course with daily Aleve & lessened riding frequency?

Thanks in advance,
Dre


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## mlepito (May 1, 2007)

If this is a mild case then rest is fine, however it seems that yours is a chronic problem. In one of the earlier posts I told the guy about the dynaflex exercise gyro. This thing cures all tendonitis in the arm. It really works well. check it out, google it. It will solve the problem forever.


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## sanjosedre (Oct 11, 2004)

Thanks for the reply, heading to rei to grab the dynaflex after work. 

The problem has been coming & going for the past couple of years. BTW how much aleve does it take for the anti-inflamitory properties to take effect?


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## Natedogz (Apr 4, 2008)

sanjosedre said:


> Thanks for the reply, heading to rei to grab the dynaflex after work.
> 
> The problem has been coming & going for the past couple of years. BTW how much aleve does it take for the anti-inflamitory properties to take effect?


Don't know about Aleve, but I use generic Advil....two pills three times per day for two or three days unless I have a bad ache. Go see a GOOD chiropractor...practically saved my life. Still go every few weeks as needed. Exercise of the right kind in high repetitions and low weight will help alot too. Check that gyro thingy that other guy mentioned, it looks good.

Gentle massage with some Icy Hot helps alot too.


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## mlepito (May 1, 2007)

I didn't know they sold those at REI. Tell me how much it costs there. Online they are like 50bucks. Also watch the anti-inflammatory stuff. Too much will slow healing time. Inflammation is part of the healing process. But it's like cooking with spice. Too much and it gets in the way, not enough, and the area won't heal.


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## havnmonkey (Apr 22, 2007)

Anti-inflammatory meds should be used to reduce swelling in the initial part of treatment. Too much swelling can restrict bloodflow and hinder healing. However, too much Ibuprofren can inhibit the bodies ability to repair an injury. It tells the body to stop working on the injured tissue. 

stretching and therapeutic exercises help stimulate tissue repair and growth... as well as scar tissue removal.


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## hkmeup (Dec 30, 2006)

May want to experiment with bar position as well (especially if you use a riser). I actually prefer the bars rotated up slightly so that the grips sweep up a bit, but found on long rides that this causes my elbows to flare out too much, causing pain in not only my elbows but my wrists. Since rotating the bars back slightly and having the grips closer to parallel to the ground I've had much less discomfort. Interested to see what others think about this as well.


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## Natedogz (Apr 4, 2008)

mlepito said:


> Get a Dynaflex gyro ball exerciser. Fixes tennis elbow, golfers elbow, and carpal tunnel. I get them for all my forearm pain patients. It works great. google it.


Just bought mine tonight, and going to see how it works out. Trying to get my hyper extended wrists back in shape after a hard OTB.


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## sanjosedre (Oct 11, 2004)

Actually I picked it up at Sportsmart for @ $20. So far I can really tell the difference between my two arms as my injured one gets fatigued a lot faster. 

Had a good ride today with warming up with the gyro first, no ache so far. How often should I work out with this thing?

thanks for the support guys,
Dre


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## sanjosedre (Oct 11, 2004)

I just ordered a slightly longer stem (65mm as oppose to 45mm) & will be messing around with bar position to see if it better suits me.

I was feeling rather good until I went for a pretty rough ride this past weekend where I aggravated the elbow after a G-out (my weight was wayyyy to far forward causing a lot of stress on wrists & forearms). Longer stem & bar position should help.


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## Natedogz (Apr 4, 2008)

That sucks, btw what is a g-out? Ice down your elbow tonight and again once or twice tomorrow.


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## sanjosedre (Oct 11, 2004)

Ice is my friend right now,
a g-out is when you bottom your bike riding through a bomb hole, or up a steep lip.

In my case it was a very fast downhill section with a sharp steep lip. All of my weight went forward & I had to push to keep from going over the bars.


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## Natedogz (Apr 4, 2008)

OK, thanks. How about some narrower bars? I've had tendonitits in my elbows and that helped me. Good chiropractor too.


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## dudeStL (Feb 12, 2008)

I'm glad to see this thread. I've been dealing with some serious pain in my right elbow for 2 weeks and needed some ideas.


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