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Struggle with tendinitis


Seth

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Unfortunately, I've been gone a while. I shot four majors at the end of last season, only to shoot the last one, the monster match in terrible pain. Full on tendinitis.

Fortunately, my best friend here is an orthopedic surgeon. So I have access to excellent medical advice, as hands and elbows are his specialty.

His recommendation was physical therapy. It's starting to get better but I'm not back yet. I've tried the wrist curls, I've tried the rubber bands and even considered the injection. But gripping without pain isn't quite returned.

Anyone got any ideas I haven't explored?

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Use the rubber bands a LOT. The more the better. I did it while driving, while sitting watching television and any time my hands were not doing something else. My tendonitis was from my work and is now gone. BUT, I still play with the bands.

Also, seek out a good Chiropractor that knows extremities. That helped me a great deal.

Good luck

Gary

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Someone on here had a long post about Tendinitis and mentioned the rubber bands as well. Same as above, I started doing them absolutely everywhere. 10 hours worth at work on the weekends, driving, tv, walking around or even at a match watching other shooters. Haven't had an issue in months.

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What do ya'll mean by rubber bands? LIke the therabands? and what exercises. I've had bad tendonitis since I wrestled in high school and it's been gettting increasingly worse with age (and the fact that I don't take it easy when it flares up). Thanks!

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Something else you can try is massage therapy on the outside of your forearm. You will probably find one or more pressure points about 1-2 inches down from your elbow,about where the extensor carpi ulnaris and the extensor digitorum cross (names really are not important). Try kneading your forearm sliding the ball of the thumb downward. After a few minutes the pain of the pressure point will diminish. Do this 2-3 times a day. Within 5-7 days you may have significant relief. ( I am not a doctor but I did sleep in a Holiday Inn last night)

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PRP - Platelet Rich Plasma

Been there, done that. Physical therapy for 6 months-nothing. From STEM to ultrasound to bands and daily massage therapy, to everything else. Nothing. I imagine not doing anything for a year would help but thats not an option. Depending on how bad your condition is PRP could be a great option. Mine hurt everyday, all the time when picking up objects or even trying to hold my gun. I had tendonopathy (advanced tendonitis).

Cortisone is really a bandaid and can lead to further isssues. If your condition is minor it could help but cortisone actually weakens the tendons

After I had PRP done, I was 80% better in 2 weeks. Second injection and two weeks later I was at 95%. Amazing.

Proffesional sports teams have been doing it for years. Its one of the reasons you'll see a player pull a groin, shoulder or tear a muscle and will play next weeks game.

Research it, see if its right for you, and consider it. This ruined my '09 season, but once done I wish I had done it a year earlier.

I would not hesitate doing it again.

Regards and wish the best,

Bill Drummond

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  • 1 year later...

I get tendonitis flareups from time to time because my gym routine is really hard on my wrists. I find that a wrist brace tightened down during the most demanding exercises is invaluable. I frequently wear it during shooting as well now to make my wrists feel more "solid" with less pain, especially while manipulating long guns one-handed. Taking fish oil regularly will also help quite a bit.

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PRP - Platelet Rich Plasma

Been there, done that. Physical therapy for 6 months-nothing. From STEM to ultrasound to bands and daily massage therapy, to everything else. Nothing. I imagine not doing anything for a year would help but thats not an option. Depending on how bad your condition is PRP could be a great option. Mine hurt everyday, all the time when picking up objects or even trying to hold my gun. I had tendonopathy (advanced tendonitis).

Cortisone is really a bandaid and can lead to further isssues. If your condition is minor it could help but cortisone actually weakens the tendons

After I had PRP done, I was 80% better in 2 weeks. Second injection and two weeks later I was at 95%. Amazing.

Proffesional sports teams have been doing it for years. Its one of the reasons you'll see a player pull a groin, shoulder or tear a muscle and will play next weeks game.

Research it, see if its right for you, and consider it. This ruined my '09 season, but once done I wish I had done it a year earlier.

I would not hesitate doing it again.

Regards and wish the best,

Bill Drummond

+1on Bill's comments. I fought it for years and nothing seemed to provide long term relief. I had PRP done about three years ago and have not been bothered since.

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What was the approximate cost of the PRP? Do you need multiple treatments? I've been dealing with tennis elbow in my left (weak) arm for 2 years.

My PRP treatment was $800, and it took two treatments. The trick in my area was finding the doctor that did that procedure

Also, at that time it was experimental and there was no insurance coverage for it.

All I can say is it worked for me and I've been pain free from tendinitis for years now.

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I feel your pain. In December '14 my tennis elbow type tendonitis got so bad I could barely turn a door knob. I tried a lot of the exercises noted here, but couldn't get together a whole routine that let me start to heal. I eventually found a website (https://tenniselbowclassroom.com/) where the physical therapist explained his theory on how tendons heal (slowly) and a lot of what he said matched up with my personal athletic experiences trying to stay healthy while running in high school and college. A good portion of what helped me (I think) is what mjl noted here:

Something else you can try is massage therapy on the outside of your forearm. You will probably find one or more pressure points about 1-2 inches down from your elbow,about where the extensor carpi ulnaris and the extensor digitorum cross (names really are not important). Try kneading your forearm sliding the ball of the thumb downward. After a few minutes the pain of the pressure point will diminish. Do this 2-3 times a day. Within 5-7 days you may have significant relief. ( I am not a doctor but I did sleep in a Holiday Inn last night)

And then doing the exercises the therapist shows you how to do via video on the website I noted above (some exercises you can do incorrectly and make the issue worse). I'm not 100% yet, but I am definitely above 95% and can shake hands and shoot with no pain now. I noticed relief quickly after starting the "program" and was 85+% after 5-6 weeks. Note, that there was a small fee ($37) for basic access to the website, but I figured I couldn't get in to see a physical therapist for that cost, so it was worth a try. I have no affiliation with the website and am only offering this up as something that helped me.

Mike

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I'm a big fan of Rippetoe...here's his take on tendinitis...

In response to a question on how to rehab tennis elbow –

We've discussed this quite a bit in the past, and the advice I give is to train through it with chins, deadlifts, and grip work.

Smother it with love and make it heal.

And you have to stop caring that it hurts.

.

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