tennis ellbow - am i doomed?

it started in january, when i got my left shoulder injuried.
my doc presripted stimulation current
it didn.t work that much.

after a week she gave me painkillers and lidocaine injections and figured out that a neve might be blocked.

now my shoulder is well again but since that incident i got a so called tennis ellbow on my left arm

it hurts more or less the whole day.
it is amazing how much i am doing with my left arm.
i am not able to pull the sleeve of my pullover or to open an umbrella properly.

treatment: stimulation current and lidocain injections.

it didn.t got worse but as well not better.

i also got an orthosis to release the arm and the hand.
it is ok, but than again unbearable.

a good old fashioned packing around the arm seems the best thing.

i stared to use arnica-salve.


does anybody got workable ideas, how to cope with it. how to get the arm cured?

thanks for help.

First things first, as an ex-tennis player I know the pain. It's awful. Quit those Lidocaine injections. Lidocaine can slightly reduce inflammation and can take temporary pain away but over time it was dissolve layers of ligaments and make things far worse for you.

I would recommend starting with a good physical therapist. Get someone who is used to sport injuries because tennis elbow is relatively common but can be tough to beat. Obviously it's a good idea to take a break from whatever is worsening the pain lest it get worse. Have you tried some moist heat on it? Also a god natural method for temporary pain relief is tiger balm. Like I said though, this will need permanent fix to ever get better.

Good luck

-Kyo

thanks for the advice kyo

the lidocaine injections actually don.t take away the pain

so i have to get my doctor prescript me physical therapy, that might be a challenge a fight against the budget ;(

never tried the heating thing before, but i will try my wheat pillow on it
and thanks for the reminder of tiger balm, i know about it but i use to forget it


my doc says it is because of the muscle
is that true?


i really can.t figure out why it started, i didn.t do pretty much unusual with the arm.,
typing is the same for both hands

most trouble is caused by pulling sleeves of pullovers and jackets

I have had it before and it took forever to heal. I took herbs (a tincture my herbalist calls "anti-inflame/pain") and I wore a sling most of the time. I also used a corn bag and ice. For me, the less I used it, the better.

Good luck to you!

a corn ba is what i would call wheat pillow?

that pillow is filled with grains and can be heated in microwave or oven!


in some ways it is similar to yours.
since a week i haven.t been at the doc, no injections, no stimmulation current (which never really works) and it is not better but not worse as well
and wra it up in a medical package seems to work better than that orthosis

strange

thanks BH

reply to post by orange-light


Yes, a flannel bag filled with corn. I use them for all sorts of ails.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


they are great

i love them, sewed a special one to cover my neck and shoulders, which really helped

No argument there

as BH said...corn bag...wheat bag...whichever it is will give you humidity which helps the heat penetrate.

I myself have been a horse rider (competitive jumping) and because of injury and just plain damage I took I have days where I wake up and feel a good 70 years old. My joints have lost some cartilage...I've dislocated several and have arthritis all over the place. I normally do not aim for herbals and such but I think BH has a fine idea down there. the problem with things like Tylenol and Advil is they are fine pain-stoppers and NSAIDS but they can damage your kidneys, liver, and stomach over time. Those injections as I said can make the condition much worse. (Just ask my left shoulder)

Go see a naturalist for this and see if maybe they have a good chondriton/glucosamine supplement as well as the pain reliever BH suggested. Chondriton/Glucosamine have been shown to help replace lost liquid and support to the damaged joints.

Along side of that, maybe go to a physical therapist. Swallow the bill twice and suggest a home therapy where you only check in with him once a month. What he will probably suggest is that you work out the surrounding muscle. The nice thing about doing that sort of exercise is that it helps support the joint and let it heal on it's own.

-Kyo

Just one more thing about corn bags, I made a corn "board" for my back. And yes, I take Glucosamine, Chondroitin and MSM every day.

Corn Board:

So a 'tad' off topic here

how are your results BH?

-Kyo

my wheat pillow

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/92dd143c7316.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/eebd61794329.jpg[/atsimg]

i have to figure out what i can actually get to work
i am from germany and some of the system is different here

but thanks those are some pretty good advices
and i got the feeling today it is better than yesterday


yeah kyo and some days i feel like 800

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
Just one more thing about corn bags, I made a corn "board" for my back. And yes, I take Glucosamine, Chondroitin and MSM every day.

btw. what are clucosamine chondroitin and MSM?

for pain killers: i got ibuprofen with the shoulder but none with the arm

Glucosamine, Chondriton and MSM is a supplement often used to help relive joint pain and stiffness as well as laxity. They are more long term and don't just work by the first few doses.

It's worth a try I think

-Kyo

Originally posted by orange-light
btw. what are clucosamine chondroitin and MSM?

Glucosamine

Chondroitin

MSM

My dog with hip dysplasia (not a GSD) takes the above for her hips. They are better absorbed if an Ester-C is taken, too. I take a bunch of pills, but very few drugs. And Kyo is right, these are long-term supplements. I've never had any side effects or problems and I've been taking them for years.

I also take Naproxen (aleve) for pain and swelling sometimes. But it's a pharmaceutical, and I like to stay away from them in general.

Kyo I have great results in that if I didn't take them, I'd be in bad shape. Taking these supplements make it so I can have a fairly normal existence. I have problems with my lower back, knees and I have artihitis in my feet.

I love your wheat pillow, orange! Same idea as my cornboard.

[edit on 24-2-2009 by Benevolent Heretic]

I feel your pain!

I've had Osteobiflex help some, steroid shots, brace.

The best Rx is don't use that arm. I just can't get that done. I'm terminally right handed.

Roper

Lots of good advice given. I got 'tennis elbow' from mountain bike riding amongst other things. I think the figure is like 85% of sufferers have never played tennis. Anyhoo, I got injections, pills and various bs advice which didn't help and actually seemed to make it worse. I then ran across the below link while trying to figure out what was going on and all I can say is he is spot on. -Turns out I have tendonosis. It stinks but the only thing that helped mine was to not ride my mountain bike. It's still there but doesn't bother me much at all. Good luck to ya.
www.bodybuilding.com...

@kyo

tennis ellbow - is it more a joint problem or a muscle problem

i am not sure about that

@benevolent heretic

thanks for the links
but isn.t that stuff more for osteoarthritis?


that tennis ellbow is my only "joint" problem if it is a joint problem

it feels a bit more worse in the evening than in the morning


@roper

steroid shots?

not using the arm - yeah a good joke - as you know by yourself

my pain is left
i do so much stuff with my left hand and left arm
it is amazing


@beetwaxes
i don.t know what was the trigger of the pain
it started with pain in my left shoulder, maybe in the healing case of the shoulder i did wrong movements with the arm
i don.t know

so which movements should i avoid?

most pain is when i pull something
like sleeves of a sweater, but how to undress without doing that?


thanks a bunch for all the input!

it is highly appreciated

Tennis Elbow

Tennis elbow is caused by either abrupt or subtle injury of the muscle and tendon area around the outside of the elbow.

Originally posted by orange-light
but isn.t that stuff more for osteoarthritis?

It's for all tissue, not just arthritis.

Tendonitis

MSM, also known as Methyl Sulfonyl Methane is a natural supplement that is getting a lot of attention due to its role in tissue healing at a cellular level. It is a natural organic sulfur that comes from rain fall and is found naturally in the human body. It has been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects on the tissues. See all about Glucosamine and MSM
...
Swartzburg, our site editor, worked in conjunction with our sponsor, Relief-Mart, to develop a spray for Tendonitis called Therapain Plus. It has all natural pain relievers plus 14,000mg of MSM and Glucosamine.

Sports Injury Clinic

Supplements to aid joint healing

(Glucosamine Sulphate, Chondroitin & MSM)

Sport causes high rates of wear & tear on connective tissue cartlidge, tendons and ligaments). By contrast the body's speed of repair is only average in the very young and it declines with age. Joint and connective tissue can easily be damaged faster than it can be repaired, which ultimatley leads to injury.

That ought to keep you busy reading.

Yup, steroid shot, right into the offending area. If you go the your Doc. and do this, make sure he/she needs to put a pain killer in it too. 1 fast acting and one long lasting.

If you don't, in about two hours you will be calling the Doc. a quack.

Roper

And if you get the shot, don't do much with the arm for a few days! It actually weakens the tissues and you can cause a lot more damage. My doctor failed to tell me this even though I asked him if there was anything I needed to do.
I went mountain biking shortly afterwards and long story short could barely move my arm the next day. Do what you think is best but the steroid shot doesn't 'fix' anything but it will feel better for 6 months or so. That was my experience along with everyone else that i talked to about it. -I'll never get another one myself.

One thing you might want to look into is the electrical stimulation. I work with a guy from Russia who had similar problems and went to numerous doctors with no luck until he ran across one by chance who did the ES. He says it hasn't bothered him since and that was like 25 years ago. I was thinking of seeing if the do it over here (US).