Tendonitis - Any Suggestions

[DJM3808]

I had it flair up in my right elbow at the American Handgunner match a couple of years ago, all the surrender position draws were killing me. I was iceing it all the time when not shooting so was able to complete the match.

I went right to the Doctor after I got home, he prescribed 1600 mg of ibuprofen per day (don't do that without a Doc's OK) and ice it all the time. It took about a week but I haven't had any trouble with it since.

[bill d]

Well Everyones giving you advice. I had tendonopathy is both arms. I could barely pick up a drink without pain. I did ALL the above mentioned (diet, fish oils, ibpro., many NSAID's, physical therapy, ice, for 4 to 5 monnths. EVERYTHING!! You get the idea.) NOTHING HELPED. The doctor said that because I kept doing the activity for months past when the pain started, that there was lots of damage and it would take well over a year to alleviate the pain. If your pain has been there for quite some time and won't go away I recommend PRP - Platelet Rich Plasma

They draw blood from you, put it in a centrafuge, spin it, get all the growth factors and helpfull cells, remove the other inerts, inject it into your tendon sheath and wait for results.

I had this issue and was ready to just quit and continue suffering, then I tried PRP and withing a week and a half I was at 85%. It was amazing!! I then had it done twice more at 30 day intervals and I was at somewhere between 92-95%. The last 5 percent came back within about 4 months after the last treatement with simple massage and ice several times a day. Right now I have no symptoms and I still do the activity the caused it (I stretch all the time, consume fluids, exercise) Thank God!!

When I hear people asking about tendonitis, I cringe because of my experience. I had it pretty bad but most people stop doing what hurts them when the pains starts. I was dumb and kept going and destroyed tissue.

If the pain has just started, do what people have mentioned. It should work. However, if it persists, check out PRP. Many proffesional sports teams use it (football, baseball, ect.) Because it rapidly promotes tissue healing. Several of the Pittsburgh Steelers had injuries the game before the Superbowl and were questionable to play. One with a torn groin and one with a torn calf. Both recieved PRP and played in the Superbowl. I know, it's the Superbowl, they would have played injured, but they did the injections as they have before because it works.

[Godzilla]

Thanks for everyone's replies.

[JeffWard]

nsaids

nsaids= non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

Aleve (naxonpren sodium), (Advil) ibuprophen, etc.

<-------- Fitness and Nutrition Professional. Ice, NSAIDS, rest, massage, and light strength training with bands/elastic resistance.

Or... switch to Production and shoot mouse-fart 147s... LOL

JeffWard

[bulamike]

I go through this a couple times a year from climbing.

First manage the pain, use motrin or some type of anti-inflam. and maintain active therapy ice/heat. also, if it comes down to it, use the band to relieve the

stress on it.

Also, stretching helps.

Lastly, keep up your dosage of MSM or some kind of Joint over the counter supplement. Bioflex/Triflex.

[gmantwo]

Here's a non-medicinal way to make it go away and not return. Do wrist curls, both up and down. Lay your arm along your leg when sitting down with your wrist at the end of your knee. Start with whatever you need to, a soup can if nothing heavier. Let the weight hang down over your knee, then curl it up as high as you can go. Do 10-20 reps lifting the weight slowly. Then turn your arm over and lift the weight that way. If you need to, if the pain is intense enough when you start, lift the weight with your other hand and then use you forearm muscles to let it slowly drop. After you do this for a while, you will be able to lift the weight instead of using your off hand. Work your way up in weight. You'll be sore for a day or two, but I promise this will make your tendonitis go away. Keep those muscles strong and it won't come back.

My orthopedic and a good friend both suggested this after cortizone shots didn't help, and I haven't had another flair up since.

Edited November 26, 2009 by gmantwo

[MikeFoley]

This has been plaguing me for months, so bad Saturday that I couldn't lift my 1911 with my left hand, so I shot a Glock in the IDPA match. I learned from Surge that the healing curve on this is jagged, so I am trying to use it but not abuse it.

[RangerTrace]

My tendonitis came back recently from too many pull-ups and dry fire practice. My diet sucks and I'm not dedicated enough to change it.

However I do take A LOT of fish oil and I've followed badchad's physical therapy routine for a couple of weeks. The pain is just about gone.

Thanks to Jake for the fish oil advice and Chad for the PT advice

[redmanfixit]

Do a search of old threads. This forum is wide AND deep. There is a bunch of good advice on this topic, if you look!

[wooddog]

Ice it. Alot. Like three or four times a day. Put a paper cup of water in the freezer and when it's ice peel the paper down and rub the ice against bare skin until it is numb then rub it really hard for a bit. Stick it back in the freezer for next time. Use an ice pack when you must but the rubbing really helps.

+1 Its a quick and dirty icing method that works well for the elbow.

[SteveU]

Patience is your friend. Common sense rules. If it hurts to do "this" then don't do "this". 80 to 90 percent documented resolution within 8-10 months regardless of treatment.

[JeffCSR]

I've only made it to the range once this year with my rifle because of Tendinitis ... I had it so bad I couldn't lift my Bushmaster (8lbs roughly)

Saw the doctor after suffering 3 months, got the cortisone shot and therapy it helped 50% then when it was almost gone pain came right back after swimming on vacation. Thought I recovered again then had to scrub a coffee spill out of the carpet and I'm benched again, can barely lift my rifle, can't hold a phone to my ear etc.

I don't want to run back to the doctor yet but I really will look into the fish oil remedy...

Thanks for the thread.... I'm glad it was posted here because I don't search medical forums

WEBMD.com can be scarier than Friday the 13th

[smokshwn]

http://www.nismat.org/ptcor/tennis_elbow/

I had great results with exercises #3 and #4 after struggling with tendonitis for years.

I built these two contraptions for the purpose after a trip to Wal Mart and $12 later.

[Pezco]

I had tendinitis in my wrist, elbow and shoulder from playing racquetball competitively. I tried all the anti-inflams and ice, but was not able to sleep because of the pain. My Doc told me I had to stop playing which I did and it fixed the problem within a year.

I recently had a flare up in my elbow which I fixed by using grip and reverse grip (bands) strengthening exercises with anti-infams. This flare up was caused by maximum dry fire drill.

[Paul Burtchell]

http://www.activerelease.com/

http://www.activerelease.com/what_patients.asp

Treats and corrects the problem, not just the symptoms.

Check for a local provider in your area.

Edited November 26, 2009 by baerburtchell

[redmanfixit]

I have an angle on this you may never get to unless events conspire to move you that way. I will tell you upfront what my perspective on this is and where it issues from. Medicine as it is practiced in this country is not about wellness it is about sickness. The big money is not in wellness. Unless you are an unusually educated consumer, you are unlikely to find remedies for the underlying causes of a disorder. As with any generality this is not ALWAYS true but it is true a significant part of the time. More likely you will be offered a treatment for a symptom, in the hope that ultimately your body will return to equilibrium on it's own. It works often enough that people accept those times it does not with resignation.

Ultimately people become an income stream for companies that make potions for relieving symptoms without addressing underlying causes. I got to this place in dealing with my own health problems and those of my wife. Both of us were more less abandoned by allopathic physicians and given a prognosis of incurability and degeneration into death. Pissed me off.

If you have a history of problems that includes treatment with antibiotics, and at this point most of us do, you are likely suffering from a combination of nutritional deficiency and infection with pathogenic organisms in your digestive system.

Immediately, anti-inflammatory drugs will bring some relief. Taking them in the long run is fraught with peril and many of the people responding to this thread have mentioned this. Another approach you can take is nutrition based, again people have mentioned this here and it is a good idea to determine if you have food intolerance's or allergies. WAY more people are gluten intolerant than anyone ever realized before now, for example. Direct therapies like alternating hot and cold packs, counter irritant therapies and compression bandages of one form or another, bring relief for acute symptoms. (Deep Heat, Tiger Balm, Icy Hot) Potions and pills.

If you pay attention to advertising on the tube, (you can't totally ignore ALL of it) you will have noticed the recent emergence of live culture digestive supplements being offered. Activia, Good Belly, Danactive, these are appearing all over the place. THESE products are literally the tip of the iceberg in the classical sense.

The area in biology this touches on is biofilms. This is HUGE. The implications for this transition in science and health is staggering. It is very worthwhile to get a working knowledge of this topical area because there is literally a revolution unfolding and it's not on tv.

In the short term do the combination of treatment of acute symptoms. Compression, anti-inflammatory's, ice and letting the injured part rest. Give yourself credit for being able to choose the components that are right for you. Good physicians know that many times, all they have to do is listen to their patient and they hear what has to be done from the sufferer. Easy job and they get the credit and the money.

OK first odd angle. Find a Vitamin Cottage and get a product called BTotal. When you've been on courses of anti-biotic's you have depopulated your gut of flora that make essential nutritional elements for you from the foods you consume. This is a product that is sub-lingual, like nitro for angina. Many of the B complexes that are involved in preventing inflammation do not pass through your digestive system intact. They are broken apart by gastric juices. Normally these are synthesized in your lower intestine by the flora that inhabit that ecosystem. This will bring a surprising reduction of acute symptoms. Also there is the added bonus of more energy and a clearing of your thinking processes. This stuff is very similar to what you may have heard is given by injection to big money patients by Hollywood doctors to compensate for the Hollywood lifestyle. No crank just the good stuff. It's cheap and smart in a lot of ways.

I have no financial interest in that product nor do I have financial interest in Vitamin Cottage. I just think they are worth supporting because of my experience with getting and staying well.

OK. Second odd angle. Go to ercprobioticenzymes.com and spend time with the FAQ pages. Follow the pointers and beat your head on the information you find there till some of it starts to get through. I DO have a financial interest in this site. My wife and I own it. We will respond to any questions you have and we have accumulated an enormous amount of information about how to stay away from doctors and the obviously deficient American Health care system. Anyone that comes to our website from BrianEnos.com will get a discount on any of the products we sell, as if you were members of my family, should you decide that you might benefit from them. I am not a doctor. I am not making medical recommendations. I am sharing information that has literally saved lives and transformed peoples lives. What's this got to do with shooting?? This is a performance sport. This approach is so fundamental to performance that it would take pages and pages to explain it.

Don't get me wrong. I was a Navy Corpsman for 11 years. I have 20 years in the Allopathic health care system. I LOVE interventive medicine. Fixing blown up, shot Marines and Sailors was and is something close to me that I have a hard time explaining. There are gaping holes in the way the system deals healing processes after the drama is passed and that is not a small thing. The best investment you make is wellness. No one is better suited than you, to keep your health intact. You must seek good information. Ignorance is really expensive and stupidity is fatal.

Wisdom is where you find it. It pops up in unlikely places, you'll find it if you are open to the sound. So... a lawyer once told me one of the smartest things I ever heard.

"Avoid the American legal system in the same way you would avoid a high voltage wire on the ground in a rain storm. If you have contact with it, there are only two possible out comes, you will either be killed outright or you will be badly burned. The only insulation you will find effective is money".

Sadly, now more than ever, our medical system is starting to look that way as well.

[Jim Norman]

did it to myself many years ago, hyper-extension of my elbow.

Did the roll-up the weight therapy combined with laying off the activity and added in MSM, Glucosamin and Chondroitin. Then added in a trip to the acupuncturist. Took a bit of time, but am back as good as it gets. Which is probably as good as it ever was. Other damage came from jackhammers, impact wrenches, hammers, motorcycles and so on.

If I know I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself.

Jim

[JeffCSR]

Started the Omega 3 treatment tonight... God those pills are nasty! Hopefully It'll help.

[Paul Burtchell]

http://www.tmuscle.com/productInfo.do?id=910074

Almost totally tasteless fish oil capsules. A little pricey, but extremely high quality.

[Aloha Robert]

Seems like I am the only MD who has answered so far. Specializing in Sports Medicine for 30 years I know a thing or two about "Tendonitis".

One of reason you get answers all over the map, is very few folks understand what "Tendonitis" means. Generally it means an inflamation of a Tendon, but unless you get VERY specific with a diagnosis, the term is too general to answer. There are more flavors of Tendonitis that you can shake a stick at AND that presumes the diagnois is correct.

To make matters even more confusing, "Tendonitis" is often an incorrect diagnosis or found with other simultaneous problems You need to know a lot about this problem before you come up with an anecdotal answer like " well (fill in the blank) really worked good for me"

First advice find a physician who has a LOT of experience with your particular problem and make and accurate diagnosis of EXACTLY which structures are involved. Then and only then after you have description of problem will you possibly know the answer. If he or she doesnt do a great job convincing you they know exactly what is going on find someone else.

Here are some general guidelines however.

"Acute" Tendonitis ( generally lasting less than 6 weeks) can be treated with a variety of methods some of which are described in this thread and include Anti-Inflamatory medication, ice, reduction of activity (as in you gotta rest it) and sometimes physical Therapy.

"Chronic" Tendonitis is a totally different animal, much harder to treat and rarely if ever respond to some of the simpler measures advocated in this thread.

"Acute" Tendonitis if not properly treated, rested, or otherwise cured can frequently turn into a Chronic Problem.

Exercises of any kind only cure a small portion of very specific kinds of tendonitis but can be terrific in avoiding the repeat of the problem in future AFTER you have improved.

[Bear23]

As another physician, i agree with E-Tac. get some professional help.

I see chronic and acute tendonitis, and or tendonosis every day. See a doc, get a plan, and do it.

[Matt Griffin]

For fish oil, you don't have to pay extra for "tasteless" or anything of that nature, just buy generics and freeze them. That way they don't thaw until they're in your intestine, and you don't get fishy belches.

H.

[Jack T]

Mike, you have tried everything else, why don't you try fish oil enemas? Should be interesting.

Jack

Edited December 3, 2009 by Jack T

[Godzilla]

Mike, you have tried everything else, why don't you try fish oil enemas? Should be interesting.

Jack

I do take the fish oil but with a glass of water..........

[Jack T]

Well, then have Matt (AKA Kid Pebbles) rub you down with fish oil and give you a deep muscle massage. Get some pictures and post them.

I am joking arround, but in all seriousness, he has been hurting for a while.

Need to go find a good Doctor!!

Edited December 3, 2009 by Jack T