rhino Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 Last week I did something to my elbow in the gym, but I'm not sure exactly when or how. Now it hurts on the top of my forearm when supinate my hand, but more so when I pronate my hand. It hurts the most in the elbow itself (on the outboard side) when I do lying (supine) triceps extensions with a cambered/curl bar and the bar is lowered to my head. That's when my tricep and everything connected to it are in the most tension. It feels like it's "too tight" on the inside of my elbow, like there is something extra inside of there that was not before. In that position, and can no longer lower the bar all the way to my forehead because of the elbow. When I do other triceps stuff (like cable pushdowns), it doesn't hurt that much, but it pops and cracks and when I extend it. It doesn't seem to hurt when I am doing any kind of pressing movement. I've had tendonitis many times in the past, and this feels completely different. Cold applied to my elbow and forearm after the gym makes it feel a lot better and relieves the sensations of "tightness" for a few minutes until my arm returns to body temp in that area. Curiously it does not hurt much when I do standing dumbbell curls (although it has limited the amount of weight I can use compared to before I hurt myself). It hurts a bit more doing any kind of rowing or upper back exercise when my arm is extended all the way with a significant amount of weight hanging from my hand (like dumbbell rows). I've been adapting by just not letting my elbow reach full extension on those movements. Ungh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singlestack Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 Now it hurts on the top of my forearm when supinate my hand, but more so when I pronate my hand. Don't do that It hurts the most in the elbow itself (on the outboard side) when I do lying (supine) triceps extensions with a cambered/curl bar and the bar is lowered to my head. Don't do that either. It doesn't seem to hurt when I am doing any kind of pressing movement. Do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pisgahrifle Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 Eeeeugh.... I had something similiar happen in my upper left shoulder last spring. At first I thought it was doing shotgun side matches so much, but it quit when I switched from mechine bench presses to freeweights... Anyway, you may have damaged the cartilage in your elbow. Have it checked out quick or it'll get worse if you try and work it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted January 29, 2005 Author Share Posted January 29, 2005 I mentioned it to my doctor during a checkup on Monday and he didn't seem very impressed. He thinks it's just a sprain, which may be the case. If it doesn't get better soon, I may just make an appointment with an orthopod to see what's what. Tighty ... thanks for the advice. I have to say that these cold packs filled with gel that doesn't get solid are really cool. I can bend it around my arm to get the cold on most of the places that hurt. With cold packs that get solid, I have to use more than one to do the same thing. The down side is that it only lasts about 10-15 minutes before it's at my normal skin temp. If it would last at least 20 minutes, it would be better. Then I could remove it for 20, and then swap for another cold one. I may try putting the gel pack directly on my arm, then putting the solid cold pack over it before I wrap it. I wish I had one of those fancy-dan ice water coolers that circulate the cold water through a cuff that goes over your injury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sac Law Man Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 sounds like tennis elbow... Tennis elbow is an injury to the muscles and tendons on the outside (lateral aspect) of the elbow that results from overuse or repetitive stress. The narrowing of the muscle bellies of the forearm as they merge into the tendons create highly focused stress where they insert into the bone of the elbow. I get it every time I lift heavy in the gym, especially doing tricep extensions..Ibuprofen helps as will a tendon band or strap.. Usually I stop doing the tricep extensions and it goes away for awhile. Hope this helps..John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gm iprod Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 I think you need to see a Sports Dr pronto, I suspect you have the same thing I have just spent 16weeks dealing with, severe tennis elbow. It is unlikely to be just a sprain. Try to pickup a heavy can of anything that just fits your hand with the palm open and down like a basketball player picking up a ball one handed from the top. If this hurts or you feel you should be able to lift it easily and you can't then tennis elbow is likely. I have "tennis elbow" and "golfers elbow" wich is damage to the tendons on both sides of the elbow. The outside is far the worst and taking some considerable time effort and pain to deal with. More importantly deal with this now and you should be fit for shooting quickly, ignore it and you will be taking some time off. my 2c Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted January 29, 2005 Author Share Posted January 29, 2005 Okay ... I can pick stuff up without any problem. I've had tendonitis in the past, but this feels completely different. I'm not ruling it out, of course, but the symptoms are different. Also, when I've had tendonitis in the past, it also hurt to touch the affected area. I don't have that problem with this. I'm actually a lot more concerned with my lifting than I am with shooting. I was able to shoot without any problems last Sunday, anyway, but I didn't shoot a lot of rounds either. I'll be doing a lot more this Sunday, so we'll find out whether or not shooting is a problem. I'm trying to regain some of the strength I lost from Oct 1994 through November 2003 due to forced inactivity. Lying triceps extensions is one of my "bread and butter" exercises, and if I can't do them, it's going to slow my progress on pressing movements to some degree. I can work around it for now, but it would suck if it's a long term problem or even permanent. My primary upper back exercise is one-arm dumbbell rows, and I'm also having a problem with those because I can't fully extend my arm with the weight hanging at the end of it and get a decent range of motion. Actually, this exercise may be how I hurt myself. Yesterday was a back/shoulders/biceps day, and I had no real problems doing dumbbell curls. I suspect that if I had tennis elbow, I would have had some significant pain, especially since I supinate my wrist during the movement. I'd also feel it doing lateral raises. This is weird ... in the past I've been very good with diagnosing my own problems and injuries. This is a new one for me. It makes me feel better to whine about it here, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessej Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 I hurt my right hand wrist a 2 months ago lifting weights. Just happen to sell my limited gun at the same time. It was a good lay off for me. Now I look forward to learning again with an open pistol. What I first perceived as bad was actually a good thing. Hope you heal fast and get better soon. Don't force the issue or tissue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Round_Gun_Shooter Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 I live with this off an on most of the time. (Mostly on) I get relief by excercising the finger extensors. We spend most of our time using the flexors. I used to use a rubber band around the fingers opening my mand against the tension. It takes a little while but it works. Now I use a device my son gave me that works even better. He got it from Musician's friend. I also have a treatment program from Chiropractor who is a shooter also. He has given me permission to share it so e mail it you want to see it. Round_Gun_Shooter@comcast.net Regards, Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 I feel your pain rhino (no pun intended). I hyperextended my left elbow on October 9th and it has been giving me fits since that time. Doctor tells me it's good old tennis elbow, but I have had chronic tennis elbow in the right elbow for 10 years and the pain is different, other than being on the opposite side. It hurts deep inside the joint and it's a burning sharp pain. Next step is a shot of cortisone. If that doesn't work, I will be seeing John Dunn's doctor. John won't operate on me because of the temptation to leave a little something extra inside the joint like a handful of gravel. He wants to beat me fair and square. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dunn Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 Any good surgeon will tell you that patient selection is key to having good outcomes. You try like heck to avoid operating on drug addicts, malingerers, psychos, and friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted January 30, 2005 Author Share Posted January 30, 2005 Hey, John ... any ideas on my arm? Is it possible it's tennis elbow even though it doesn't feel like it? I'm a malingerer, by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 Hmmm...I am two out of the four. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dunn Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 If you have had tendinitis in the past, and this feels like something different, it probably is. Also the fact that it is non-tender to palpation, and has cruching or popping involved is atypical for Tennis Elbow. If you aren't tender over the triceps insertion, I would doubt triceps tendinitis. It could be an intra-articular loose body stuck in the coronoid fossa blocking full flexion, a loose body posteriorly in the olecranon fossa can block full extension. If it has been a week without improvement with NSAIDS, ice, relative rest, it may be time for an Orthopod and an X-ray. Hard to diagnose some stuff without an exam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 Hard to diagnose some stuff without an exam. And that explains why good doctors still insist on seeing their patients occasionally....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted January 31, 2005 Author Share Posted January 31, 2005 If you have had tendinitis in the past, and this feels like something different, it probably is. Also the fact that it is non-tender to palpation, and has cruching or popping involved is atypical for Tennis Elbow. If you aren't tender over the triceps insertion, I would doubt triceps tendinitis. It could be an intra-articular loose body stuck in the coronoid fossa blocking full flexion, a loose body posteriorly in the olecranon fossa can block full extension.If it has been a week without improvement with NSAIDS, ice, relative rest, it may be time for an Orthopod and an X-ray. Hard to diagnose some stuff without an exam. Thanks for the reply! Right now the only real difficulty I have is when my elbow is flexed almost all the way (I can't currently flex it 100% as far as I could a couple of weeks ago). I guess it's time to go see the orthopod! BTW ... I shot over 200 rounds today in practice match with no problems at all. Of course, it was 9mm in a 1911, so it's not really a test, but at least I'm not having any discomfort from gripping the gun or moving around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 It could be an intra-articular loose body stuck in the coronoid fossa blocking full flexion, a loose body posteriorly in the olecranon fossa can block full extension. Couldn't have said it better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blkbrd Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 Your just getting OLD.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dunn Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 Couldn't have said it better. I love the word fossa. Say it with me, "Fossa!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 we gonna fossa you to eat all your lasagna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 For God's sake, rhino, quit WORKING it so hard! You're DAMAGING yourself, plain and simple!! I did that on a stairmaster to my hips a few years back, and, well, you know what happened to one of MY hips two years ago...!! Do you want to go thru elbow replacement surgery??!! (If they even OFFER such a thing!) Back off on the exercise, then see a doctor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted February 2, 2005 Author Share Posted February 2, 2005 Oh, all right! Saturday and Sunday were my regular days off, so I decided to stay home last night and tonight too. I'll probably resume on Thursday ... Actually, it's already feeling better, with the ice and resting it for four days straight now. It still feel "tight" when I flex the elbow, though. More ice and rest ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted February 2, 2005 Share Posted February 2, 2005 Then don't flex it. Just give it a break for a while. You've probably injured yerself somewhere in there. Your forum nurturer here cares, OK...? Of course, if it persists overmuch, do see a doctor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted February 2, 2005 Author Share Posted February 2, 2005 Well, the cold I suspected I was getting over the weekend is now kicking my a** bigtime, so I'll be taking the rest of the week off. SiGGy ... I'll do my best, but it'll get dicey when I need to brush my teeth or wash my hair. Actually, I suppose I could do my teeth lefty ... hmmm ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diehli Posted February 2, 2005 Share Posted February 2, 2005 Well, the cold I suspected I was getting over the weekend is now kicking my a** bigtime, so I'll be taking the rest of the week off.SiGGy ... I'll do my best, but it'll get dicey when I need to brush my teeth or wash my hair. Actually, I suppose I could do my teeth lefty ... hmmm ... And by "teeth" he means... uh... nevermind. Just lay off it for a while, r. Your lil' soldier will still be there when yer all better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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