Severe Tendonitis anyone??

[fwafwow]

What do you do for a job? I'm asking because if at a desk, where you're resting your elbows can DEFINITELY give you BAD tennis elbow if you don't address it. Like if the arms on an office chair are such that, before adjusting them around YOU.. you might be placing your elbow like on an edge of an arm rest on your chair, soit's pushing into that groove the tendon rides into, without you even realizing you're doing it at first.

Great question. I work a lot at my desk. A few years ago I had some really bad upper back pain, so I spent a lot of time, and money, trying to fix my ergonomics. Better desk, chair, foot pad, etc. That doesn't mean that I always have the best posture, so at a minimum my keyboard time isn't helping.

I apologize I hadn't scrolled more upward to read what you believe might be causing your initial complaint. I just know from being a coder it's real important to get the ergonomics pretty decent if you have to do the desk thing.

And if it's because you're "training like a beast" right now? Then it just means you're over-training, or perhaps more properly, you're not properly giving your body time time it needs, rest, and food it needs, to re-fix itself over and over.

I am sure this is part of it. My PT guy was asking which exercises hurt and made a point of thinking the workout wasn't the problem, and he said you don't want to give up weight training completely, as some of that helps with recovery. But now that it's on both arms, I think I am doing something wrong with my form, doing it too frequently (I seem to have worked some bicep exercises into non-arm days...), having poor posture and ergonomics, or a combination thereof.

My hope is that some of the arm exercises on here and other linked sites will help me strengthen my forearms and fix my tendons so I can get back to at least some of the training. Maybe starting back slowly just so I maintain instead of focusing on lifting more.

If ya start scrimping on any of the 3, but still continue to push past your limits.. you're gonna start doing damage, bottom-line. Also bottom-line? At some point, the same amount of output you can generate all along, will start to cause you to rip and tear things at some point. Probably around 45yo-ish. Unless you're using gear, you're just not going to be able to hit things like you once did and not expect stuff to rip/tear more as you age.

Yep - 54yo here, so I ain't what I used to be, and back then I wasn't what I could have been. I am eating better, so hopefully that will help.

 

[TheGDog]

My hope is that some of the arm exercises on here and other linked sites will help me strengthen my forearms and fix my tendons so I can get back to at least some of the training. Maybe starting back slowly just so I maintain instead of focusing on lifting more.

Yep - 54yo here, so I ain't what I used to be, and back then I wasn't what I could have been. I am eating better, so hopefully that will help.

Honestly? My suggestion to you would be as follows:

Commit... in your workouts... to FIRST after stretching to warm up minimum 10-15 minutes SOLID.. then.... doing PRECOR Elliptical on 9 or 10 incline and try starting at 10 resistance. And the idea is to see by how much you can pass 3.0 miles by the time you hit the 30 minutes mark!

If you feel yourself needing to let-off the resistance at times. Try to resist doing that as long as possible. The goal being get to 15 minutes at first. If bop it down. See if later on you can bop it back up! Then after awhile not even needing to at all! (over time)

And make sure to tell it your weight and age so it can give ya decent guess on calories burned.

THEN! .. Nope! Not weights yet!... Goto Leg Raise station. And try to do, in sets of 10x, as many as you can. I've gotten it up to 10 sets of 10x, at times, now with my back trauma and shoulder stuff and stomach hernia issue I'm waiting to get fixed, I can only do like maybe 6 x 10 these days.

THEN... you go do weights! But think of and use gorging principles and then only do your upper body stuff. So that way your body will focus getting blood to that region with several muscles near each other, so best chance for them all receiving the repairing nutrients that evening.

Then like on a "Leg Day". Try replacing doing weights on and off with INSTEAD... doing the Elliptical in similar fashion... only this time.. for a full 60 minutes! And the Goal is to see how much farther than 6.0 mi you can get to before times up! And be more lenient with yourself about allowing yourself to bump it down a notch. This time try like doing 5 mins reduced, 5 mins back up to the resistance you're trying to maintain from the start. And typically, I usually opted for the Interval training pattern it has. Cause those change-ups can help ya recover a bit while hoofin' it.

And on upper body days? END with shoulder work NEVER begin with shoulder work!

EDIT: RE: Tendon pain? NO.. naw man... at this age bracket you gotta give that tendon time to calm back down man. It's MUCH easier to RIP isht like tendons in this age bracket man. As they say "Belee 'Dat!" Learn to be cool with backing-off the intensity a lil, from what you "Know" you can do. Because, I believe especially with age, we develop even more so the ability to push past the pain when working out, far more than we should be. Before? The vibrant healthy nature of all our tissues could handle picking up that tab owed by us pushing past pain threshold limits being loudly signalled to us by Pain! but it's not as much like that any more. It's kinda like, in terms our workouts, we need to be more willing to admit "Your mouth is writin' checks your azz can't cash" anymore, when it comes to the level of intensity or heavy weight we should be trying to push it up to. Realistically.

You can acheive that Hypertrophy many different ways. Ya just need to push that muscle to failure. The only thing with that is... doing so with way lighter weights can feel tedious due to the high rep counts needed to achieve similar results. Cause I mean like... Dumbbell Chest presses with 25Lbs you're like "This is nothing, I could do this all day long!" But you'd be surprised how it hard it CAN feel after like 40-60 reps in one go! Thing of it is, that lighter weight? Can signal to you sooner, before damage is happening, that you're done now. It gives you a chance to NOTICE that pain/inflammation/soreness is increasing to that place where if you stop now... you'll still get a righteous pump and tighten up, but you didn't "cross the line" that day of what your joints and tendons and muscle tissue wanted to allow you to do that day.

Especially since at this age bracket, we tend to have a metric crap ton more things to be stressing about than we did back at 20-30s. And that has a very definitive effect on us! Cause you're in that "home stretch" towards hopefully retirement, so now you hopefully have a higher paying job than before but more responsibilities and demands on you, it's how it always is.

Think of it this way.... If you DON'T tone it down and start listening better to your body now at this age? You're going to pay an even higher cost in terms to the change in your quality of life, because we just don't heal as good the more we age. And things like tendons and trauma to spine? Speaking from experience, and comparing notes with others in that boat? You want to avoid the need for surgical intervention for anything at all costs. Once it's needed? It's been my experience that the area of fixing is never the same again.

There's also financial responsibility questions to answer and think about. How would that mess up your ability to do your line of work if you ended up jacking up your elbow, that tendon? What if it creates an issue for you, that will persist AFTER you're retired and no longer getting health insurance thru an employer?

If you need a surgery, now is the time to get that done. I figure we already know we're aging now, so best to get the work that needs done taken care of at youngest point in your timeline to encourage best healing outcome, ya know?

 

[fwafwow]

Honestly? My suggestion to you would be as follows:

Commit... in your workouts... to FIRST after stretching to warm up minimum 10-15 minutes SOLID.. then.... doing PRECOR Elliptical on 9 or 10 incline and try starting at 10 resistance. And the idea is to see by how much you can pass 3.0 miles by the time you hit the 30 minutes mark!

If you feel yourself needing to let-off the resistance at times. Try to resist doing that as long as possible. The goal being get to 15 minutes at first. If bop it down. See if later on you can bop it back up! Then after awhile not even needing to at all! (over time)

And make sure to tell it your weight and age so it can give ya decent guess on calories burned.

THEN! .. Nope! Not weights yet!... Goto Leg Raise station. And try to do, in sets of 10x, as many as you can. I've gotten it up to 10 sets of 10x, at times, now with my back trauma and shoulder stuff and stomach hernia issue I'm waiting to get fixed, I can only do like maybe 6 x 10 these days.

THEN... you go do weights! But think of and use gorging principles and then only do your upper body stuff. So that way your body will focus getting blood to that region with several muscles near each other, so best chance for them all receiving the repairing nutrients that evening.

Then like on a "Leg Day". Try replacing doing weights on and off with INSTEAD... doing the Elliptical in similar fashion... only this time.. for a full 60 minutes! And the Goal is to see how much farther than 6.0 mi you can get to before times up! And be more lenient with yourself about allowing yourself to bump it down a notch. This time try like doing 5 mins reduced, 5 mins back up to the resistance you're trying to maintain from the start. And typically, I usually opted for the Interval training pattern it has. Cause those change-ups can help ya recover a bit while hoofin' it.

And on upper body days? END with shoulder work NEVER begin with shoulder work!

EDIT: RE: Tendon pain? NO.. naw man... at this age bracket you gotta give that tendon time to calm back down man. It's MUCH easier to RIP isht like tendons in this age bracket man. As they say "Belee 'Dat!" Learn to be cool with backing-off the intensity a lil, from what you "Know" you can do. Because, I believe especially with age, we develop even more so the ability to push past the pain when working out, far more than we should be. Before? The vibrant healthy nature of all our tissues could handle picking up that tab owed by us pushing past pain threshold limits being loudly signalled to us by Pain! but it's not as much like that any more. It's kinda like, in terms our workouts, we need to be more willing to admit "Your mouth is writin' checks your azz can't cash" anymore, when it comes to the level of intensity or heavy weight we should be trying to push it up to. Realistically.

You can acheive that Hypertrophy many different ways. Ya just need to push that muscle to failure. The only thing with that is... doing so with way lighter weights can feel tedious due to the high rep counts needed to achieve similar results. Cause I mean like... Dumbbell Chest presses with 25Lbs you're like "This is nothing, I could do this all day long!" But you'd be surprised how it hard it CAN feel after like 40-60 reps in one go! Thing of it is, that lighter weight? Can signal to you sooner, before damage is happening, that you're done now. It gives you a chance to NOTICE that pain/inflammation/soreness is increasing to that place where if you stop now... you'll still get a righteous pump and tighten up, but you didn't "cross the line" that day of what your joints and tendons and muscle tissue wanted to allow you to do that day.

Especially since at this age bracket, we tend to have a metric crap ton more things to be stressing about than we did back at 20-30s. And that has a very definitive effect on us! Cause you're in that "home stretch" towards hopefully retirement, so now you hopefully have a higher paying job than before but more responsibilities and demands on you, it's how it always is.

Think of it this way.... If you DON'T tone it down and start listening better to your body now at this age? You're going to pay an even higher cost in terms to the change in your quality of life, because we just don't heal as good the more we age. And things like tendons and trauma to spine? Speaking from experience, and comparing notes with others in that boat? You want to avoid the need for surgical intervention for anything at all costs. Once it's needed? It's been my experience that the area of fixing is never the same again.

There's also financial responsibility questions to answer and think about. How would that mess up your ability to do your line of work if you ended up jacking up your elbow, that tendon? What if it creates an issue for you, that will persist AFTER you're retired and no longer getting health insurance thru an employer?

If you need a surgery, now is the time to get that done. I figure we already know we're aging now, so best to get the work that needs done taken care of at youngest point in your timeline to encourage best healing outcome, ya know?

Thank you for the very detailed and thoughtful response. I will probably focus on a couple of your suggestions first - like low weight/high reps - but only after I get a bit more recovery in these tendons. I did the Graston scrape for the first time this morning, along with some good stretches from a video another suggested. It could certainly be just in my mind, but the left elbow feels a lot better (as I get some wrist pain from typing this in a poor laptop position....)

I gave up my gym membership a year or so ago. I was paying the full family rate and none of us were going. I do have an elliptical and treadmill at home, but I need to get in shape to start getting into cardio shape. And one of the reasons I was able to do, and keep doing, this weight routine is that each one is quick - between 25 min and 50 minutes, but I kept on adding more exercises. I only do 3 sets of 6, and if I get to 6, then I increase the weight for the next time. Repeat.

Thanks to all for the help.

 

[tony]

Bought a few different elbow sleeves and it was night and day the difference. Pain disappeared. I never really lost any strength.
Funny thing elbow pain disappeared when I retired. I worked fire/ems, years of pulling from over head, carrying fat ass welfkins caused my pain.

 

[JRay]

I tried the usual pt, steroid injections and anti-inflammatory meds for my elbow tendonitis, and I found that peptide therapy solved my issue at least for now. Bpc-157 is what I used and ended two years of misery. It really sucked shooting my bow and that was the major factor that made me get it done. It took a couple weeks to start to feel it and within a month I was %80 better, and another month I was pain free. I'd do it again for sure.

I’m having the same issue you did and therapy isn’t resolving it. Did you get BPC157 injections or was it ingested?

 

[TheGDog]

Thank you for the very detailed and thoughtful response. I will probably focus on a couple of your suggestions first - like low weight/high reps - but only after I get a bit more recovery in these tendons. I did the Graston scrape for the first time this morning, along with some good stretches from a video another suggested. It could certainly be just in my mind, but the left elbow feels a lot better (as I get some wrist pain from typing this in a poor laptop position....)

I gave up my gym membership a year or so ago. I was paying the full family rate and none of us were going. I do have an elliptical and treadmill at home, but I need to get in shape to start getting into cardio shape. And one of the reasons I was able to do, and keep doing, this weight routine is that each one is quick - between 25 min and 50 minutes, but I kept on adding more exercises. I only do 3 sets of 6, and if I get to 6, then I increase the weight for the next time. Repeat.

Thanks to all for the help.

For helping get prepped for goin' up in Alpine?

For 2023 I incorporated using Outdoorsman's Atlas Trainer when taking the Dog for walks. I make sure to always take her at least a mile (smaller dog, metro area, don't judge! hehe). And you'd be darn surprised by how much it ramps things up for ya in terms of your output on that walk. Especially with 90lbs! You become strictly-business when 2x 45's is on boy!

The Olympic weight lock-ring they provide... I don't trust it, so got your typically spring-steel squeeze and let go, locks instead.

Also? Carry a BoomBox and Water on those walks. Contributes to same muscles as a "Farmer's Walk". Also the tunes keep you motivated to keep a certain pace when strapped up with the weight.

 

[fwafwow]

For helping get prepped for goin' up in Alpine?

Nope - I have a WY deer tag, but I don't think it's going to be a strenuous excursion. My cardio does need lots of improvement, but just for a base level.

The Olympic weight lock-ring they provide... I don't trust it, so got your typically spring-steel squeeze and let go, locks instead.

Not sure what you are referencing here - sorry.

 

[fwafwow]

My situation is probably somewhat limited or perhaps unique, but fwiw, here's what I've been doing in coordination with my physical therapist.

When the pain in my forearms started also in my right arm, I finally conceded it was due to my workouts.

• I took off 2 weeks - no workouts.
• I had been doing 3 sets of 6 and if that was doable, then I increased the weight. It worked to build muscle (I had a low starting point!), and increase pretty dramatically what I could lift in those sets/reps, but I think it resulted in me doing too much weight, especially for the age of my tendons. I just just started the workout again and dropped my weight in half and went with 4 sets of 15 or 20 (depending on the exercise). So far, so good.
• I added grips to my dumbbells, as I think I was gripping the small grips too tightly (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09RHGPSZH?th=1)
• I stopped the TENS + dry needling - pretty painful, and it had not been working, even to treat the symptoms.
• I've been doing Graston - first watching the PT do it, now I've scheduled to do it myself ~2x per week
• I purchased and am using daily the Theraband Flexbar
• I'm doing lots of stretches on my forearms - 3x per day

 

[TheGDog]

Nope - I have a WY deer tag, but I don't think it's going to be a strenuous excursion. My cardio does need lots of improvement, but just for a base level.

Not sure what you are referencing here - sorry.

When I was referring to the Olympic Weight lock-ring, I was referring to the Outdoorsman's Atlas Trainer pack. The lock-ring they include... I'm iffy on it's ability to hold a plate on securely, so I just instead use your typical spring-steel type of spring locks to hold on the plates. The kind where you squeeze the two ends together, they circle opens up more to slide onto the bar-end, then ya let go, so it binds itself in place, due to the tension of the spring steel.

 

[fwafwow]

When I was referring to the Olympic Weight lock-ring, I was referring to the Outdoorsman's Atlas Trainer pack. The lock-ring they include... I'm iffy on it's ability to hold a plate on securely, so I just instead use your typical spring-steel type of spring locks to hold on the plates. The kind where you squeeze the two ends together, they circle opens up more to slide onto the bar-end, then ya let go, so it binds itself in place, due to the tension of the spring steel.

Ah. I'm only using dumbbells at home.

 

[TheGDog]

Ah. I'm only using dumbbells at home.

Uh...Ok?.. I mentioned the locking rings in the context of.. if you were to happen to buy yourself the same device I was mentioning, the Outdoorsman's Atlas Trainer. I'm sorry, was that unclear??

 

[fwafwow]

It wasn’t to me because I didn’t look up the product you mentioned but (or maybe therefore) I couldn’t imagine it otherwise applying to my circumstances. I didn’t intend any slight if that’s what came across.

 

[Luvda208]

Have you looked into stem cell injections? I torn the medial tendon pulling something away and PRP was helpful but stem cell therapy knocked it all out. I did Whartons Jelly which is stem cells harvested from umbilical cords. Insurance does not cover it but it was $800 well spent, pain free two days after the injection and 6 months pain free so far after almost a decade of pain.

 

[Cedarsavage]

So I have had tendonitis very bad in both my elbows for about 5 months, had injections a couple months ago. They helped for about 2 weeks. Been steadily getting worse ever since. .y orthopedic surgeon says he can detach the tendons and I should be using both arms like before in a couple weeks. I'm afraid of doing surgery too close to hunting season. Anyone had this done?

I wouldn’t do surgery if it had only been bothering me 5 months. Mine bothered me for several years and flair up from time to time. A pt friend said mine is from how much use mine get in flexion but not in extension. Solution 3x15 wrist extension with 5-15lb dumbbells. I sit on a weight bench, hold the dumbbells, forearms flat on my thighs and curl my wrists up. Works pretty quickly

 

[Mxracer532]

Well it's been several yrs now. But I have had a tenex procedure, and now 3 surgeries. One to reattach the tendon. One to clean up scar tissue and the last was to reattach another ligament, but the kicker is I still have a major popping issue at the radial head. So I am back looking for the best elbow specialist I can find.